After our first experience attempting to cross the bus into Mexico to get to our painter was a bust, we were a little gun-shy to try again. But, what was the worst that could happen? We would have to turn around and come home again...for the second time? We
Toyota Sienna Seats in an RV - Part 1: The Passenger Seat
When we first bought the bus, we knew right away we needed to do something about the driver’s and passenger’s chairs. First off, cosmetically they were in really bad shape. We looked into recovering them, but the more we sat in them, the more we realized it wasn’
Building Walls {for Mexico}
After being denied border crossing into Mexico when they said the empty bus (though it is registered, titled, insured as an RV) was too much bus and not enough RV to enter, we knew we needed to throw together a temporary interior. We had a couch that we could put
Mexico or Bust! Getting Our Bus Painted in Mexico
We have known that our bus would need to be painted since we bought her about a year and a half ago. What we didn't realize was how expensive it would be. If you have been following along with the build, you know that we are a "DIY" type of
Mini-Split A/C Update #1: 8 months post-install
RV rooftop air conditioners are generally loud, inefficient, and take up a lot of rooftop square footage that we want to use for solar panels. For those reasons, we decided to install a mini-split a/c about eight months ago. Immediately after install, we were thrilled with both its efficiency
Polishing the Aluminum Bumper
We have shared with you before how we have polished aluminum: first when we removed layers of paint and polished our aluminum dash during our dash rehab, and just recently when we deep cleaned (but not truly “polished”) the anodized aluminum bay doors. This time, we took on the front
Deep Cleaning the Anodized Aluminum
The exterior of our 1964 bus has seen better days. I wish we could have seen it in its working years. It was probably beautiful with some red and blue stripes (we can tell what colors it has been as we have seen the layers of paint chip and peel
DC Power Part 2: Testing, Running Cable, Generator Hook-Up
Last week, we put the converters, relays, and fuses on our board and got it wired into the supply side. We did some preliminary testing to ensure that everything was connected correctly.
This week, we finished wiring everything up. We ran the control wire for the "backup" system power, ran
DC Power Part 1: 48V to 12V Converters, Relays, and Fuses
After getting the A/C power mostly squared away and tested, it was time to tackle the 12V DC "house" power side of things. Most modern motorhomes actually have three discrete electrical systems powered by two separate sets of batteries. The first electrical system is to power the vehicle part
The Epic Tale of the Bus Door
One of the first things we noticed when touring and buying our bus was the front door that didn’t close quite right. We could see that it was “a bit” bent and didn’t align with the frame of the bus correctly. We didn’t think too much of
Plumbing the Sink Drains
Last week, we showed you how we plumbed the vent pipe with a T near the bottom for draining the kitchen sink and washing machine.
When we planned the layout of our bus, we decided to keep all of the fixtures that need plumbing as compact as possible on one
Plumbing the Vent Pipe
After plumbing the toilet drain and waste tank sewer drain, the next step in plumbing was to plumb the vent pipe. The drains for the kitchen sink and washing machine will also drain through the vent pipe, so installing the vent pipe was an important step to finish up before
Victron Quattro 48/5000/70 Inverter Part 2: Charging & Testing with Our Air Conditioner
In our last post, we went over our process for selecting the Victron Quattro inverter. We discussed a few of the benefits offered by this inverter as well as gave an overview of how we wired everything. Now we finally have enough of our system hooked up to run a