Hey, gang! I’ve been busy with the housebus this week, but can’t say that I’ve managed to actually complete any specific thing. I’m continuing to work on small projects into the weekend, so I’ll just talk a little about the things I’ve done, and leave space to update with the things I’m planning to do:

Wiring the Reverse Cameras

As I’ve been feeling the pressure to have the bus be mobile again, I’ve been wanting to get these exterior cameras hooked up. It’s a decent system, with two adjustable rear cameras and left and right side view cameras. The rear cameras can be angled so I can see the ground directly behind my rear bumper, and also have one pointed further back to see traffic. The big challenge for me was getting them all wired up together – each camera needs power, and included just a jack with bare wires running off the back. I’m not confident at soldering things yet, and I didn’t want to do anything permanent that I couldn’t undo later. Thankfully I finally hit on these 3-wire lever nuts that let me connect all six wires in together (four cameras, the monitor, and the power feed) without soldering. After some trial and error, I also managed to pull the power from an unused always-hot 12v receptacle inside the switch console under the driver’s window (I’m guessing it was there as a phone charger maybe?). When I get around to redoing that side console I’ll extend the wiring for the cameras and put the whole thing on a switch so I don’t have to worry about it draining the battery.

The next thing to deal with is actually installing them outside the bus. I’ve been hesitant to do this, since it means drilling holes and introducing new leak points, plus I’ll have to re-mount at least the rear cameras when I get to the attic build portion of construction. But, I’m okay with moving them, and really should just get on with this so I can call this project Done.

Installing a car radio

This was a super-low-priority project, but I figured since I already had the crimpers and wire connectors out, I should just take care of this too. First thing I had to do was cut off the old harness from the stereo, since it wasn’t compatible with the 3×3 junction box under my dash. Thankfully, I know enough to recognize the colors of the car stereo wires so finding them in the bus wasn’t that difficult. Splicing the wires back together, plugging in the harness, and setting the stereo in the dash was severely rewarding, and it’ll be even better once I dig out the bus’s old speakers and reconnect them into the system.

Recaulking some windows

Weather has been great this week, so I stole the opportunity to remove one of the windows that’s had some pretty bad leaks and go over it finally with some fresh butyl tape and a new bead of caulk. I also caulked two other problem windows in the front of the bus, AND caulked up over the driver’s side flashers, which have also been leaking again. Mistake I made early on was using this urethane adhesive when I should have been using actual exterior caulking. Lessons learned! At some point I intend to go around the bus and do fresh caulking everywhere, but right now I think I’ve got the major leaks stamped out, so I’m moving on.

Getting a lot of free and cheap wood

Picked up the remains of what looks like a king-size wood bed frame on Wednesday. They had to cut it into pieces to get it out the door, I think, but there’s still enough good usable lumber there. I suspect the actual headboard might be basic particleboard, but I can still use that in my kitchen cabinets. I also hit up ReclaimNW, a new construction salvage place in my neighborhood, for some 2×8 lumber so I can build up the riser that’s going to be my bathroom floor, over my wheel wells. I managed to negotiate a price for a couple great old douglas fir beams that was comparable to buying new, so I feel good about that. Looking forward to getting a lot more material from them soon, as I start looking toward building up my attic space.

I still need to finish processing the plywood I picked up earlier in the week, I got a small prybar the other day that I hope will make that easier, without completely destroying all of it.

Updating the sketchup file

Just keeping this updated with new measurements, rearranging things, seeing what I like and what doesn’t work. Pretty much any time I get new building materials I jump into this file to see where I can use them.

Building up the Riser Platform

This is the exciting bit that’s had me nervous all week. But I’ve got the wood now, and the screws, and the tools, there’s nothing keeping me from doing it. So, let’s go! I think I’ll make this a separate post, though.

Finishing the wall framing

This is going to require another trip to the wood store to get some 2x4s, and I’m not sure I have room in my car for that much wood. Not sure, gotta do the math.