Converting a heavy-duty bus/coach/truck into a motorhome (page 92 of 161)

True, dreams help a lot... But making them a reality isn’t always easy... Happy holidays to everyone...

That’s it, we’ve become "curiosities"!!! But what an "honor" to get posts from VoyageForum’s "regulars" 😉!

But enough joking—I wanted to thank Christian06 for his patience and his tutorial... I think you should suggest it to François so he can post it somewhere, because this isn’t the only place I’ve seen VF members struggling to upload photos!

Otherwise, another big thumbs-up to boniz38 for deciding to panel his windows... In my opinion, it’s the best solution (for those without double glazing). About your plan, just a couple of small remarks/questions. Since you have a loading area, you absolutely need to stick to building your structure with 40x40x2 bars, and I’d advise doing the rest of your window coverings the same way—not only to meet standards but also to avoid buying two different bar references, which means extra offcuts, the risk of mixing them up, and it’ll make it easier to connect with the existing structure. Just a reminder: your partition (the double blue line on your plan) between the bench and the loading area should be built the same way (structurally). I don’t know what you’re planning to put in that area, but a door between your "living space" and the loading area could be handy—maybe by making part of the bench removable... On the other hand, I didn’t understand what the red square in the middle is for. You also know you don’t *have* to put a partition behind the driver (your double red line)... By the way, how are you planning the sleeping area? Converting the back bench? You could also leave one of the original windows there to enjoy the view from your living room—either on one side (preferably the passenger side) or both... As for the thickness of the panels, it depends on how you’ll attach them to your structure: the downside of 2mm is the weight (and the cost!!), but the upside is that if you weld, you’ll match the thickness of your structure (the bars), so it’s easier... Patrick and I went for thinner (1mm).

I’ve also got a couple of questions for Cateludo. Your paneling looks like great work—how did you attach the panels, riveted or spot-welded? If you could share a bit more about the process... What’s the base of your bus—I didn’t recognize it in the photos? Anyway, a word to DIYers considering window paneling: here you’ve got two adhesive pros (Patrick26 and Cateludo) who went for the paneling solution!!!

One last point, and I promise I’ll stop—but I like to understand (professional deformation), and when I don’t, it "bugs me" 🤪... My dear MrKonn, why leave the windows behind your panels??? Removing glazing (especially if it’s in seals—I haven’t tried glued ones) is super easy! Then, and this should answer François57’s question "if it’s enough to replace the window with a panel," I’m afraid that if you don’t reinforce the panel from behind, it might shift during installation (unless you tension it) and go "clang, clang" (I’m doing the sound of the panel deforming when you press it 😛) due to thermal expansion and wind while driving... I know you’d seen examples of windows just replaced with panels, but I don’t buy that solution.

Cheers everyone!

🙂 .... It’s been a while that you’ve been a curiosity on the forum, but it’s hard to discuss with you because personally, I don’t understand anything about your conversations... way too technical, but it’s pretty amazing to see the level of passion in your exchanges...

So, kudos and happy holidays to all you "crazy enthusiasts" out there... 😉

It's true that for now the discussions are pretty technical!! But things are moving—just a few months ago, most people were still just talking about the idea, and now quite a few have taken the plunge... they're "packing their bags"!!! I think in a little while, once some projects are finished, the topic can shift from "converting" to "traveling in a heavy-duty camper built from a bus/coach/truck"... that’ll open up the discussions 😉!!

For my part, I’m more drawn to the building process than the travel itself (but what am I doing in a travel forum !!), though who knows when the journey actually begins... your signature says it all!!

And when a dream meets a passion... it sounds like a Christmas story!!! 🙂

Oops, I didn’t see that you’d posted your guide in the "Comments and Suggestions" section... But there was clearly a need: nearly 400 views and 40 posts since yesterday!!! Well done again!!!

Hey,

Thanks SJunior for the details... I’ll go with 40x40x2 for everything then—it’s better! But for the window paneling in the living area, do the bars need to be placed every 40 cm or not necessarily?

I don’t think I’ll put a door between the cargo area and the living space—it’s for loading motorcycles, so no real need to access it. Plus, I’d probably get annoyed with a removable thing like that. Otherwise, I don’t have a partition behind the driver’s seat—it’s the original window structures. The red square marks the engine hatches, so they need to stay accessible. For sleeping, the bench table lowers, and you can sleep 3 or 4 there. Same for the passenger area up front—it converts too. So I’ll have 6 sleeping spots (what am I gonna do with my 9 seats..?). Too bad the S53’s storage compartments are small—I could’ve made a bunk in there for my buddies... lol

Anyway, I keep drawing, and the more I draw, the less it makes sense... I’ll get there someday, but I don’t want to end up thinking, "I shouldn’t have done it this way..." once it’s all done. For example, for the windows, I was thinking of using camper-style ones (like Patrick’s—the super expensive ones from Narbonne). I think they’d really give the bus some character! But with what you’re telling me, I’ll think about it again. Anyway, if you’ve got other suggestions for my plan, I’m all ears.

Merry Christmas to everyone, and long live buses!

Boniz

😮 ..... That's exactly what I was saying ..... mind-blowing .... !!!!!!!

Alan,

I just realized, reading your latest post, that our discussions aren’t actually easy to access 🤪

The simplest way is to start the discussion from the beginning of page 19😕!

It’s tedious, but it helps us understand each other by the time we reach page 78!

Hang in there if our discussions interest you—otherwise, feel free to skim through them if it makes for a good read🙂

PATRICK26

Okay, I’ll think about it, because given the work Cateludo has done, the coach (which looks like an E7 to me, but I’m not sure) looks great, and the work seems well done at first glance. But the problem with this kind of windows is that once you remove them, you’re left with the frames, and I don’t know if the thickness of the coach in that area is the same as in the underbody (since when I opened my side panels, as you can see in Mrkonn’s blog, the framework continues and it’s made of 40mm bars). But extending this structure all the way up seems like a pain—well, when the time comes to make my windows, I’ll try to build a similar structure and ask for more detailed advice.

Alan,

I realize, reading your latest post, that our discussions aren’t actually easy to access🤪

The simplest way is to start the discussion from the beginning of page 19😕!

It’s tedious, but it helps us understand each other by the time we reach page 78!

PATRICK26

It’s Christmas... 😏 do I really have to plow through all these pages on the topic—59 pages... 🏴‍☠️ do you realize what you’re asking me to do? 🤪😇😉 Or do you just really want to convert me? 😛

No, I’m just genuinely impressed, and like many of us, I think, I enjoy dropping by now and then to check in... just to stay in the loop and, most of all, to get to know you all better.

Well... if someone had told me I’d post this much on this thread... 😏

Oops, I didn’t see that you’d posted your guide in the "Comments and Suggestions" section... But there was clearly a need: nearly 400 views and 40 posts since yesterday!!! Well done again!!!

And on top of that, without me even having to ask François, he added a link to this post directly from the Help-FAQs (which you can find at the bottom of the pages) in the section:Is it possible to display images or photos in our messages? 🙂

That’s the reward for all the work put in 😎

😮 In reply to SJunior and those still wondering, yes, my bus is indeed a Saviem E7 coach (33 seats) with a 6-cylinder MAN engine putting out 190 hp, I think. And no, Alan, it’s not Chinese!!! My window sealing is done like this: I took the opportunity to build my "load-stop" partition using 40x40x2 tubes, then continued with the window frames. Each frame has two horizontal tubes welded in, spaced about 36 mm apart—so -40!!! Anti-rust treatment and brush-painted, it’s hidden!!! Then, my pre-painted 6/10° sheets, I think, were exactly 3 m long, so for two windows, I only had to trim them by 20 cm in height, with the cut hidden by a thick original aluminum cover strip!!! Pure bliss!!! These sheets are simply glued with polyurethane adhesive on their support surface and riveted with 3 mm aluminum/stainless steel pop rivets every 5 cm. The adhesive is marine-grade (there’s some real experience here!!!), and the rivets are aircraft-grade (more experience!!!). 😎 And for Alan, it’ll be 4 DOLIPRANE and off to bed!!!

Here's a little preview of the work: In the back, the "load stop" partition that isn't finished in the photo. On the port side (left for the uninitiated), the metal sheeting is done, windows are installed, and insulation has started. On the starboard side (right for the clueless), windows have been removed and 40X40X2 tubes are positioned. Cheers... HIC!!!😕

http://img84.imageshack.us/img84/6062/cloisonar004bismp8.jpg

Here’s the detail of the partition that also serves as a platform for the bed, with storage underneath—half accessible from the bedroom and the other half accessible from the "motorcycle/surfboard garage."

Have a great day, everyone, and Merry Christmas! Ludo.

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!

Whether you already own your fully converted vehicle, are in the middle of converting it, or it's just a project or a dream... forget about it for a moment and think of your loved ones.

May this evening be sweet for you and yours.

When will we see a modern Santa who’d just chill with his reindeer and do his rounds in a converted bus😉?

Warm regards to everyone!

PATRICK26

😉 Hey neighbor,

Okay, I'm back. For your project, don’t get discouraged by what you’ve read—come see me first. You’re only 35 minutes from my place! You can check out what a 20m² conversion looks like after 15 days/3 weeks (yeah, it’s doable—with two people). BUT no insulation, a shower running on a jerrycan, hot water by heating the jerrycan in a "one-pot", and you dunk the showerhead in it. 😄 Yeah, we’re used to roughing it in showbiz... 😏 If you saw the backstage temps where the "top models" change... 😐 Anyway, you’ll get an idea of what it’s like to live in year-round... though it’s still better than cardboard under a bridge. 😐

6m² isn’t too tight if it’s just for sleeping and eating... (get a fold-down or Murphy bed). Most camper vans are smaller! But here, we’re warped—no one thinks "camper van", everyone thinks "motorhome". Makes sense...

Me, I’m converting my Master with 6.34m² of floor space plus the cab, where 3.87m² is blocked for gear. That leaves 2.47m² of living space plus the cab, and in there, there’s seating for 5, a 0.50 x 0.50m wardrobe closet, a shower, an 85L compressor fridge, a single-burner stove with a tiny sink (which’ll double as a sink), a chemical toilet, two 6kg BUTANE gas bottles (allowed in the living area), a 50L water tank or jerrycan (I like them—they’re easy to fill), a high cabinet (1.40m x 0.20 x 0.25m), plus the cab roof, and a fold-out bunk (0.70m x 1.90m). In the "lost" storage spaces, there’ll be a water pump and the electrical system. Grey water goes under the vehicle, and the heating was supposed to be a Webasto, but there’s a homologation issue in France. I’m considering a small electric convector... 🤪 A fold-out bunk in the gear area (yeah, the girls are part of the gear 😄)—plus a possible small crosswise bunk in the cab. THERE YOU GO! It looks TIGHT, but it works. 😛 It’s the opposite of my old camper with all that wasted space! Time-wise, I’ve been at it for 3 months, and there’s still work to do—especially since I’m planning a removable conversion for the storage area to add 5 beds and a week’s autonomy in "deep winter." My issue—and the DRIRE’s—is which category I fall into (camper van or double-body "5-seater van/5-seater caravan"). The answer’s coming next year. 😏

Anyway, it’s not for year-round living. 😏 I’ve got 200m² of living space at home, plus 300m² of outbuildings, plus a few more m² elsewhere, and it’s still not enough—I rent. 😏 And there’s at least a hectare of wide-open land full of everything... 😕 🏴‍☠️ BUT HOW CAN YOU LIVE IN AN S53??? 😕 I couldn’t—unless I had 50 trailers. 😄

For public reception norms in a motor vehicle, if you’re from Angers, swing by La Daguenière. There’s a spot (where exactly???) where a yellow S53 is often parked at an intersection near Rétif in the St Barthélemy d’Anjou industrial zone. It’s labeled "SNAC-RESTAURANT" (I think—I’m adding "I thinks" to my posts now). If the owner’s cool, they might give you info...

Keep me posted. Otherwise, for your project, I’ve got other ideas that might work better than a big bus. Oh, and watch out for the BM10—those coaches are for *very* tough minds. 😄 😄 😄 Given the headaches... 😏

THERE YOU GO. With that: MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL—and even to the others.

GX47

I join Patrick in wishing you all a Merry Christmas...

Merry Christmas to all the adventurous souls and the less adventurous ones who browse this forum. May the sweet dreams that drive us all last a long time.

Best, Pierrick 🙂

😉🙂🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉🙂😉

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL

HO HO HO!!!

Happy New Year to everyone and MERRY CHRISTMAS