Converting a heavy-duty bus/coach/truck into a motorhome (page 59 of 161)

😠 WHAT IS THIS! 🤪 All that effort for nothing!! 😛

Don’t take it the wrong way!!😕 The bus project we’d worked on got scrapped, and I called the scrapyard too late… It had already gone through the shredder! So I switched to a Setra S 215 RL and had to tweak the AMAZING plans you’d made for me on PC. Unfortunately, I don’t have your skills in computer-assisted design. As a result, I’ve created a hybrid of your ideas and my own plan. My oven is still under the stove! I added 15 cm between the wall and the countertop because the floor-to-wall joint is rounded. That way, I can make a technical duct for my utilities and drains, and most importantly, I can fully recess my washing machine under the countertop. I might do the same on the opposite side if my dryer doesn’t fit depth-wise. You see, we didn’t work for nothing—I can still be influenced by your absolutely great ideas!! On the other hand, I’m pretty stubborn too, and I moved the seats all the way to the front and removed the middle door again. I kept the long toilet layout and will probably add a small corner sink inside. Moving the countertop near the sink forward also lets me align it with the bathroom—no more ugly break, and I can fit a 70 cm-wide cabinet with a countertop and sink. Luxury for a motorhome!! There you go—you see once again that we didn’t work for nothing. That said, I’m still open to all constructive criticism! Thanks again for your expertise, and I hope to see you soon. P.S.: Don’t look for your pencil—I accidentally took it with me, sorry! I’ll return it as soon as possible!!

Hello,

I’m taking advantage of your post to revive my survey, which definitely isn’t getting any responses🏴‍☠️. It’s the survey about toilets:

What exactly are you going to install? How will you use your motorhome? And the newbie question: what are the pros and cons of your system?

Well, since you’ve got the bus and the plan, all that’s left is to get started, as they say! Good luck ;-)

See you, Seb

Hi,

Can I share my thoughts?

Yes, no, well actually, it's not about the layout—it's just about the seats: there are 10 seated places, and the DRIRE might refuse your bus for that. That’s what happened to me. I had even labeled the road seats as specified in the regulations, but the engineer refused because they were original road seats. I had to remove the seat next to the driver and declare the space as "equipment space" for 85 kg of load (75 kg plus the seat weight), and also put a label "seats unusable while driving" on the 4-seat bench-bed.

I tried negotiating with a sign like on the bench, but no! Nothing was stopping me from taking 9 passengers. I didn’t want to be difficult (when you need a stamp, you stay cool), but I felt like saying nothing was stopping me from taking 14 people either (not counting stowaways clinging to the chassis ).

Why remove an original seat and leave a bench borrowed from my dad’s old Estafette van???

Anyway, just a little heads-up to warn you. See ya!

A pencil thief! Remind me what you do for a living? Anyway, I’ve got a Dremel as collateral... No offense taken, though! 😉 Tons of good excuses, but wouldn’t you have a problem converting a PDF to an image? And then, as they say, "who cares, it’s not our bus" 😉 Anyway, as soon as you’ve got the measurements for your 215, send them over—I’m sure there’s a way to avoid cutting the roll bar for your bay window (you’ll let me know as long as Evobus allows it)...

The toilet I plan to install is a Sanimarin 35. Advantages: the black water tank can be placed up to 25 meters away from the toilet, and no chemical products are needed. Drawbacks: higher water and electricity consumption compared to cassette toilets and others. Eco cycle: 0.8 liters, full cycle: 1.06 liters. I’ll only use my bus camper van for vacations and weekends. Designed for 6 permanent occupants and 8 occasional guests.

Smart move, dear GX!! My bad—I forgot to mention I swiped a Vanhool layout to get an idea of the front space in the bus. I didn’t bother removing the guide’s seat since I just wanted to sketch my plan at the back. The base I’m planning the conversion on is a Setra S 215 RL school transport model, and it doesn’t have a seat next to the driver anyway. I’ll see if I can add one later, but that’s for down the road...

Hi there,

I hope it’s okay to send a message to the group—some of you were there during the weekend of the 17th.

If anyone has photos from that weekend, it’d be great if you could share them with me.

Cheers and see you soon!

I don’t have any photos from the weekend, but I might have some merguez sausages in the freezer 😉

Hi,

Thanks for your reply, gasmobil. I’ve never owned a camper van, so I’ve got a lot of questions about this...

If I’m not mistaken, you’ve got a pretty low bus. What’s the height difference gonna be between the tank and the toilet? Did you plan for a check valve (do they even sell those?) to stop it from backing up when you’re on a slope?

And with that, what’s the plan for getting rid of black water? Are you gonna have to clean your black water tank every now and then?

take care, seb

No check valve. Even in standard cassette toilets there’s no problem, even though you’re literally sitting on the original 17-litre tank. I put my black-water tank in my storage compartment, so it’s even lower than the floor—so no backflow there either... That said, in the SANIMARIN 35 there *is* a check valve. Just to clarify, as the name suggests, it’s originally designed for boats. For emptying, I’m simply planning to use a pump and a 40 mm corrugated hose that I can unroll to reach the drain inspection chamber. After all, it’s not always possible to park a coach on a motorhome service area. The coach I’m getting should be about 3.20 m tall, with storage compartments around 60 cm high as well. I’ll know more on Wednesday—I’m going to see it and test-drive it in Paris.

Hey Patrick, sorry I don’t come on the site often! I bought my Mercedes bus and I’m picking it up at the end of November. I’ve made the interior layout plans—what do you think? I’ll have tons of questions in the coming months, even though the messages from different members already give us a lot of answers. Thanks everyone!

Hey everyone. So, I finally got my book—the AFNOR S56-200 standard booklet titled "Prevention of fire and asphyxiation risks" in our beloved vehicles, caravans, etc. I thought it would cover electricity and all the insulation and paneling materials, but nope, so I’m disappointed. It doesn’t talk at all about materials like M0 or M1, 2, except near heat-generating appliances. Since you mentioned needing fire-rated materials, where can I find the text that covers that? Same for everything electrical—where do I find that info? Honestly, for now, this AFNOR standard doesn’t seem too complicated. I was expecting to slog through 50 pages of endless, incomprehensible jargon for a newbie like me, but it’s actually just 16 pages and everything’s well explained. It’s reassuring, but it also pisses me off—where’s the catch???

Good evening, I’m glad I’m not the only one in this situation—I just got my AFNOR guide too, and I have exactly the same questions. Have a good evening

Oh, the catch is you probably don’t have the right one😕 because mine’s called "Guide to Converting Camper Vans" "Health and Safety for Occupants" and it’s 133 pages long. But honestly, I don’t remember it covering the M1 classification. Fun fact, I know a pro converter from a well-known brand who doesn’t even care about it! I’m planning my Master’s conversion and asked him to sell me M1-rated wall lining—he just laughed in my face.🤪

I’ve got a paper somewhere from Heuliez saying the floor of my bus is M1-rated, but nothing for the walls or seats. I’m gonna burn one and a piece of the lining I changed just to see...😏

Man, I'm fuming... I searched for "norme nf s 56200" in their search engines and boom. Found the guide and ordered it straight away, but I'm livid—the guide alone costs as much as the actual standard... ughhhhhhh.

Oh well, no choice, thanks for the reply

Hey everyone, we’re jumping in too! I’ve got a meet-up next Monday to check out an S 53. So all your tips interest me, especially about the initial purchase. Thanks!

Hey there, I passed the photos I had to Patrick, who compiled and put them together in a file that goes with his post at the very bottom of page 46. Cheers😉 GG

Hi Gege.

Great to hear from you again. For the compiled photos, all the pics in one 60k file... tough. When I spoke to Patrick on the phone, he told me he’d take care of it over the weekend... four weeks ago. Since I’m naturally impatient and I know Patrick’s really busy, I don’t like to push too hard, so I decided to follow up with the participants instead.

Sorry about the accents—I’m training on a QWERTY keyboard with no accented letters.

Cheers, and see you soon.

Patrick—not the 26th, the 30th.

For the photo you can see on the last post on page 46... It's in Patrick's message. 😉