And so the adventure begins.

[AKat777]

No toilet tissue? Yuck!

lol Of course there was bathroom paper involved... just saying the kitty litter took away most of the smell

 

[AKat777]

Slow Progress

Well, we made some progress this week, but very damn little. Framed in the loft for the bedroom (pic attached) and starting on the walls this weekend. Hope to have it all framed and wired this weekend, but I am sure work will interfere (again).

I am happy to report the Ryobi genny works great... The noise level is very low, and from 50 feet away, you wouldnt even know it was running. Also, with the auto-idle feature, it sips the gas. It ran for 7+ hours today powering the laptop, a fan, couple lights and the battery charger. On less than a gallon of gas. woot.

As far as the insulation goes, I am at a crossroad. I have already put in 1350 for the closed cell spray foam. And another hundred on the little spray cans. The 1200sf I bought wont cover the whole house like I wanted (3 layers for R21). So I am faced with skimping with R14, or buying another 600 bucks for another kit. To be blunt, I dont like either choice. I am spending more than I wanted on the conversion, and not having what I originally planned will bother me if I dont keep spending.

 

[AKat777]

Side Door

So after looking at the side door, the answer to keeping the door from being closed/locked from the outside was pathetically simple, lock the catch without the door handle inside it.

2 more wall sections, and then it's time for the first layer of foam. Might do 2 layers then do the wiring, depends how much room the foam takes up. Will post the pics sometime tommorow.

 

[Oscarvan-TC]

Double the money, triple the time.

Welcome to project world.

 

[AKat777]

Double the money, triple the time.

Welcome to project world.

Speaking of costs, now is a good time to start a list of costs in case anyone is wondering.

Truck 6250.00
Foam Insulation 1350.00
Gap/Filler Insulation 60.00
Ryobi Genny 599.00
Various Hardware 55.00
2X3 studs 100.00
LED Lighting 75.00
Batteries 150.00
Batt Charger (10 amp) 54.00
400W Inverter 29.00
12/3 wire 75.00
Misc stuff I forgot 200.00

Total (at the moment) 9200.00

Still to be bought:
Shower 400.00
Exterior Door 400.00
Water Heater 300.00
Countertop 100.00
Cabinets 300.00
Insolet 1800.00
Water tanks (2@300) 600.00
Inverter/Charger/Switch 1000.00
Bringing the total around 14100.00
I expect at least 1k in overruns, bringing the whole project in at 15k. I had a pipe dream of keeping it under 12k, but 15k will be acceptable. since the truck will be making me money

 

[Oscarvan-TC]

If you keep it under 20 you will be doing very well.

 

[bushpilot-TC]

seriously 14k....not to sound like a snob but thats CHEAP....
what are you gonna do when you discover how much diesel, insurance, food, beer and TIRES cost ??

 

[AKat777]

seriously 14k....not to sound like a snob but thats CHEAP....
what are you gonna do when you discover how much diesel, insurance, food, beer and TIRES cost ??

My insurance is 500 a year. I am very much aware of the cost of diesel, I drive the show from town to town, and I see the fuel recepits. And food? I can live on PopTarts forever (kidding)

Couple things I forgot on the above list I will add in later. Need a door (new or salvage) inside the passenger door. I am thinking of recessing the wall enough to use a regular exterior house door. A lot cheaper than using a RV door. And I didnt include the cost of the AC or fan unit. AC is 400.00 from Homeless Depot, and the fan cant be more than a couple hundred at most for the top end fan.

How much did Doc spend on his rig? We have very similar trucks...

 

[Doc Weaver]

From purchase of the truck to its current painted state, I have about $23500 in Rojo. There will always be unexpected extras, ie: things that break, fabrications you didn't count on, hoops you have jump through to keep it safe or legal, etc.

 

[Bob86ZZ4]

So after looking at the side door, the answer to keeping the door from being closed/locked from the outside was pathetically simple, lock the catch without the door handle inside it.

Uummmm,.,. did you read my post #78? on page 8?

 

[AKat777]

Uummmm,.,. did you read my post #78? on page 8?

Did I read it? Yup. Did it sink in what you meant till I re-read it? Nope.
I can save myself couple hundred bucks by mounting some sort of deadbolt on the inside of the existing door so that it catches the inside of the wall to keep it closed. I think that's what you meant by a surface mount. Or I just might build in a door. Door would have to open inwards, just in case I needed to give the outer door a good shove. Someone in the show suggested using some 1/8" braided wire with a lock to keep the outer door locked open. But now that I know the outer door cannot be locked with the lock in place, not that worried about it.

Anyone think of any advantages to having the door open outwards? Most household doors open in.

 

[Doc Weaver]

Anyone think of any advantages to having the door open outwards? Most household doors open in.

space! if it opens in, you must leave swing space and walk in space when the door is open.

 

[Dwayne1-TC]

Problem then is that the hinges are outside. Real easy to pop and then open the door. There goes your stuff!

 

[Dragonslayer140]

Most doors that swing out utilize hinges with non removable hinge pins to prevent that from happening. (out swing doors tend to be used on commercial rather than residential, and tend to be more $$$)

 

[Oscarvan-TC]

If they want to get in they will get in. The average cargo box door with outside hinges is not an easy in.

 

[AKat777]

well security issues are important, but not a paramount factor here. As Oscar mentioned, if someone wants in, they are going to get in. Hell a set of good bolt cutters or a torch, and they are into the most expensive part of my rig, the workshop.

 

[AKat777]

space! if it opens in, you must leave swing space and walk in space when the door is open.

My current design takes that into account with a door opening in. As you face the side of the truck walking in, on the right hand side between the door and the attic area is going to be a full length cabinet for storage. the door will open against this area.

My only concern with a door opening outwards is if somehow the cargo door closes, I cant get a good shove on it to open it. With the catch locked without the handle in it, it's impossible to close you in the side door, but you can close it pretty well. At the show we call it a 'dummy lock' where it looks like it's closed and locked from a few feet away.

 

[AKat777]

Cargo Door

Well the door is in. And it took an insane amount of time to put in as well. I couldnt wait for a custom door to be made, so the house door is actually taller than the cargo door, which created a large amount of problems. I had to remove the brickmold and custom build it afterwards. Framing it was fairly basic, almost the same as a regular door in any house. Only thing that worries me so far is how much the door will move getting bounced from place to place. It shifted slightly on the first move, but it still works correctly atm.

One thing I did find out that I didnt count on was the door swinging depending on the pitch of the ground. I am used to house carpentry which is level. The door after I put it in wanted to constantly swing closed. Then when I moved, it wanted to constantly stay open. LOL. I guess a bungee cord will solve that problem. Kind of a gaff solution, but I knew building this I would run into things I didnt consider, and that it wouldnt be as pretty or sexy as many of your rigs out there. And many of you were correct. The inswinging door took up a *large* amount of space to open, but we are ok. The door needs to be closed to get to the future floor to ceiling cabinet on the right wall as you walk in, but that's ok I can live with that no problem.

I am currently living in the conversion, such as it is currently, so I needed that door installed right away, or I could have waited for a custom door. I will post pics later, along with pics of the first round of spray foam. All in all, I would not use the spray foam again I dont think. It was much more money, and I didnt get the airtight seal I was looking for. There was too much in the way to work around. If I had stripped the box completely to the ribs first, it would have helped. But at that point I could have used rigid foam and gotten almost the same results. Live and learn.

So the next step is some sort of screen door. And I know this part is going to be fun because it needs to fit flush to the door casing so it will not bump into the cargo door. Has anyone done something like this? I know the RV doors come with the screen door already on the inside, and I think I am the only one who used a regular house door?

 

[Ran D. St. Clair]

Or forget the screen door and put filtered closeable vents in the floor. Just make sure you have twice the total area of your ceiling exhaust fan, otherwise it will restrict the flow too much.

The problem with a screen door is you give up privacy to get air. Plus the inside door has to be open, taking up space.

 

[AKat777]

Sorry I have not posted in awhile. I was working and working on the truck as well. Progress was made, I will post pics later on.

Couple things I wanted to post right away tho. For the people who thought the door swinging in was not a great idea, they were right. Once the roof vent/fan is installed it will be much better (the vent will allow light in). But as it stands now, it's a PITA.
On a good note, the door has not shifted as I was afraid it might because of boucing down the road (the truck has put on a couple thousand miles travelling from town to town.)
The other biiiiig mistake was the 5/8 plywood for the floor. I should have gone with 3/4. The floor moves.

I will post pics later on.