Photo of the Day

Page Seven

OK, it's been, like, uh, three years since I updated this page.

THREE YEARS??!!!

Well, yeah, it's been almost that long since I did any work on the bus. After installing the rear door and windows, I put in some rigid insulation around them, and then succumbed to project burnout. I felt that I needed a less ambitious, short-term project. Something that I could see the end point of and complete to get a feeling of accomplishment from. That project was the EV Pusher Trailer.

Time carries on... This last Spring (2003), a friend told me that he would be coming to town to visit in July, and asked what he could do to help to get me started on the bus again, something that would make enough difference to get me enthused again. We came to the conclusion that installing the windows and door in the sides of the bus would be a huge boost, it would turn the stark interior of the coach into something more like a home. So, in early June, I ordered $5,400 worth of Marvin Tilt-turn windows and a Pella patio door, all scheduled for mid-July delivery.

The friend arrived on July 4th, and the door and windows arrived on July 15th, a day of veterinary emergency for me (details elsewhere on the site, I won't bore you).

So, how did it all turn out, are the windows installed? Does the door work??

Not so fast, first we have to back up to the point at which the last POTD page left off, which was test-fitting some trim to the top of the door and bottom of the upper windows. I did purchase some aluminum rectangular stock, made a template and took the lot up to Portland to have the trim custom bent at a fair amount of expense. Here are two images of the test fitting of this trim:

On the left, you see the trim simply stacked on top of the door and sidelights. On the right, I've inserted spacers to mimic the vertical trim of the windows into the top plate and give it more weight. This also creates a powerful Art Deco feeling to the trim, which is even better still. It also has just a bit of an oriental touch, without being overly stylistic. Guess which one I'll be using on the final design?

Let's see, what other good excuses can I come up with? There was the storage locker project. One of my clients was disposing of a 1960's era ice delivery unit, one of those big freezers that you could stuff coins into a slot and get a 50 pound block of ice or a huge bag of cubes from. He was going to cut it up for scrap, but offered it to me instead. I could see some potential for it as a storage building, so I took it. Of course, the ground had to be prepared, railroad ties laid down, and the box delivered by way of a flatbed tow truck. After that, it was a several month project to patch up the exterior metal, paint out all of the graffiti all over the sides, add insulation and interior sheathing where the evaporator and coin slots were, paint the interior, install lights and outlets, build inside shelving, and finally add on a shed roof to park my abused pickup truck under. It was lots of work, but now my workshop is much tidier, with much of the materials for the bus neatly stored in an insulated container with a locking door. The pickup can be pulled out, giving me a covered work area with two skylights just outside the door to the bus.

Here's a shot from early October while I was getting ready to install the living room window. Once again, the scaffolding comes in handy. The two smaller windows are the kitchen and bathroom, from left to right. A couple of scraps of rain gutter are screwed in place above these windows to keep any rain from wetting the new installation. There's now a permanent gutter the entire length of both sides of the bus, something that will have to be removed when the bus is on the road, but a good investment in weatherization for the stationary periods.

Interior looking forward with the living room window on the floor being assembled. Note the full-light patio door on the left. Things have come along a bit since these were taken, I'll have to wait for some halfway sunny weather before taking some detail shots of the door and finished windows. Wow, that was just a month ago, hard to believe that it was sunny and hot, and now it's, well, not so much...

My digital camera is not getting along well with the computer at the moment. Now that the days are short, nights long, and many minutes to spare in between, I'll be doing some additional updates to this page and get the photos posted.

This time, I promise it won't take a day over two years....