the saga begins...

Thanks for the encouragement swampfox.

I forgot to update that later sunday evening it cleared up and I managed to fasten down the straps.  That stabilized the entire tent significantly.  I've since bought 4 more anchors to split the differences on the 2 long sides, but haven't had a chance to install them yet.  So far the tent has survived 50mph+ gusts with 1 wall skinned, 30mph+ gusts with 3 walls skinned, and now sleet/snow/ice with 20mph+ gusts.

You're right that this is a great opportunity to spend time with Dad.  It is good that we have such similar interests.

I have to say that as this project has progressed, I've become rather concerned with the basic platform.  The frame is rusted, and I don't yet know just how bad.  Every bit of lamination is coming delaminated.  The cockpit visibility is horrid to the sides, and I'm not sure my ideas for trying to fix that will work.  The 32' rig is 27.5' inside... and the more I look, the smaller it gets.  I'm also getting stressed about weight.  The GVWR is 16,000#, and the toad is almost 3,000# of that, leaving 13,000# for rig + cargo.

Dad and I are exploring options for all of these problems, but nothing definite yet.

I think I've commented before that it would've been just as much work to start a bus conversion... I think if I ran across the right bus at the right price I might just change horses mid gallop.  ;D

In any case, the shelter is progressing at an OK rate.

Last night I wired up the pigtail for the tent lighting.  I'm taking the old 30A RV cable and putting it into a box with 2 15A GFCI outlets.  The LOAD side of the outlets feed 2 14 gauge wires that will run to the 2 light switches and feed the lights for the 2 sides of the tent.  We estimate 10-12A per circuit max.  The RV cord will plug right into the RV pedestal dad has, leaving the other 2 20A circuits in that area of the yard available for tools, battery charging, compressors, etc.  Note, these are all 120V circuits.  Everything is ready with the 2 14 gauge wires hanging loose for the moment until I can mount it inside the tent.  But that has to wait for the roof to be up.

Dad and I have a good plan for accomplishing the roof install.  I'll try to take pictures as we work this time, or perhaps get someone else to take pics while we work.  It is a somewhat clever plan if it works.  Heck, it is clever even if it doesn't work.  ;D

jim

I'm also getting stressed about weight.  The GVWR is 16,000#, and the toad is almost 3,000# of that, leaving 13,000# for rig + cargo.

Click to expand...

Jim, relax about the weight.  The GVWR refers only to the motorhome's weight and the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR) refers to the combined weight of both vehicles.  So your GCVW is 16,000 + 3,000 = 19,000 total.

ArdraF

ArdraF said:

Jim, relax about the weight.  The GVWR refers only to the motorhome's weight and the Gross Combined Vehicle Weight Rating (GCVWR) refers to the combined weight of both vehicles.  So your GCVW is 16,000 + 3,000 = 19,000 total.

ArdraF

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, my motorhome is an orphan.  Worse, it is on an orphan (although adopted) chassis.  There is no body manufacturer to call to get a GCVWR.  John Deere/Oshkosh chassis is now maintained by Freightliner.  While the people at Freightliner were quite nice, they said that they didn't have a GCVWR for this chassis, and that usually the body manufacturer set that.

I've learned enough here to know that this basically means for safety and liability reasons I need to consider the GCVWR to be 16,000#.  While I suspect that the weight of the toad on top of 16,000# wouldn't ever be a serious problem, I have to respect the safety factors.  Since I intend this to be my home for an extended period of time, I wish to not tempt fate too much.

Also, my current toad is starting to develop a lot of costly problems.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with the 110 miles it gets driven each day over rough roads.  In any case, I have started rethinking using this toad when I hit the road.

Another factor that weighs in (no pun intended) is that my GF has a dirt bike (approx 250 pounds) and I plan to get one as well (approx 300 pounds).  Attaching those via a hitch mount would put a lot of leverage on the rear of the chassis.  If I switched to a pickup truck as the toad, I could carry the bikes in the bed of the truck.  Yes, another thread here about that has fueled my thinking.  I actually have 2 pickup trucks (which I was planning to sell before hitting the road), a 1993 dodge dakota and a 1982 chevy c30.  I hate the dodge and it also has lots of costly problems that have to be dealt with.  The c30 is just big.  6,000# or more big.  There's no way that towing either the dodge (5,000#+) or the chevy (6,000#+) would be safe with this chassis, especially if we end up loading some of the things we want in there.

Did I mention I was hoping for a minimum of 4 T105 batteries, preferably 8?  Those are also quite heavy.

I seriously believe I would have to compromise too many things I don't wish to compromise in order to continue to use this chassis.

However, there's a good chance I could fix the existing chassis up enough to be a hunter's bargain without increasing my costs too much.  I'll have to look at that option.

As they say... if only I knew then what I know now.  ;D  I really didn't know enough about my purchase when I made my purchase.  Now I know a lot more, and I hope I'll be able to make a better informed decision.

jim

I had forgotten about it being an orphan.  Well, you just need another challenge.  You don't have enough of them!  ;D

ArdraF

ArdraF said:

I had forgotten about it being an orphan.  Well, you just need another challenge.  You don't have enough of them!  ;D

ArdraF

Click to expand...

;D  You're right, I need to maintain my optimism.  ;D ;D ;D

jim

Baadpuppy, I am continuing to just really enjoy your saga. I almost feel I should contribute. Keep going, as you are. Lots to learn and lots to gain. Nothing like it! You will never forget this. I am 72, and the moments - days - months I remember best, are similar in many ways to your saga.

Having said that, - - -

As they say... if only I knew then what I know now.

Click to expand...

At my age, I am still saying that! It never ends. Life is like that!   :

I really didn't know enough about my purchase when I made my purchase.

Click to expand...

We never know enough. This too, will continue. Fifty years from now, you'll have quite a collection of these. Ask your dad how many he has! 

Now I know a lot more, and I hope I'll be able to make a better informed decision.

Click to expand...

That's how the world works, and you can count on it. Still, more of these down the road.  :-\

Your experience in this saga is really priceless - as I said - even to me!

Thank you for the brief returns of my youth! I appreciate it!  ;D

Ray D  ;D

Ray D, thanks for the feedback.

After doing a LOT of research and talking things over with my dad (who is essential in completing any of this), I've decided not to build up the cobra.  Instead, I'm going to get a school bus and convert it.  Specifically, I want a flat face forward control bus, 70 passenger capacity or greater, diesel engine, allison automatic transmission.  I keep going back and forth on front engine vs rear engine.  Both ways have benefits and drawbacks.

This was not an easy decision to make.  It isn't easy to admit to yourself (let alone others) that you made a large mistake and have to more or less start over.  I suspect some of you are reading this and thinking "I hope he knows what he's getting himself into" or "this just gets crazier by the post".  ;D  I admit it, I'm not one to take the path of least resistance.

There are many reasons behind this decision.  None of them by themselves are enough to make such a decision, but taken all together I believe they support my decision.

Here are some of the reasons behind my decision:

• Affordable diesel rig
• Stronger transmission
• extremely solid chassis and body
• more options on layout vs an existing RV
• higher GVWR than my existing rig (29,500# is common)
• better wall structure
• easy to modify and customize
• strong community providing support for customizations
• the bus will be longer than the current RV, giving more living area

There are other reasons behind the decision, but I just can't think of them all.  There's also a gut level feeling about it that is hard to describe.

I know some campgrounds don't like school bus conversions, but I think a flat face forward control rig tastefully converted will still be permitted most places.

I still haven't decided on air vs hydraulic brakes.  Both have benefits and drawbacks to keep in mind.  I'm leaning towards air brakes even though that might mean getting an endoresement on my license.

For many reasons, I'd prefer a rear engine.  However, I keep seeing front engine school busses that don't suck.

I plan to part out the old motorhome.  I know some racers that want the engine and transmission.  The RV parts I don't plan to use should fetch a little money, perhaps on ebay.  The aluminum in the walls and on the roof should fetch a pretty penny at the scrap yard.  The air conditioners are reusable or saleable, and work great.  The generator needs work, but I will likely keep that for the bus.  The tires on the old motorhome are 6 months old or so.  I'm hoping I'll be able to sell them complete with wheels and at least get back what I put into them.  They have less than 500 miles on them after all.

I doubt I'll get back all the money I have into the cobra, but any bit will help offset the costs.

I still have to finish the tent, which I hope will be done this weekend.  Then I'll have a place to begin serious teardown on the cobra.

I'll keep everyone informed in this thread as to the progress.

I'm thinking once I get the bus and start building it up it might be deserving of its own thread in the bus conversions section.

jim

Baadpuppy, I kinda saw this coming over your last few posts.

Perserverance is important. However, knowing when to reverse course or make a radical turn, is just as important. You are closest to the job, and consequently have the best position to know what should be next. Throwing good work and money, after bad, never was a good strategy.

I hope we hear from you again, soon, with a new thread.

By the way, this board might be a good place to start the parting out process. Good luck as the project continues.

Ray D  ;D

Now that is no small change in plans.  We wish you the best of luck on your modified plans.

I had hoped to get this part done yesterday, but it turned out to be cold and rainy and windy.  Today was just cold and windy.

We had the whole family participating in this.  Me, Dad, Mom, and 10yr old niece.

First, we rolled out the plastic and cut it to length leaving plenty of extra.  Then we assembled 5 8' pieces of furring strip into a single 40' piece using lattice board to sandwich the joints.  The pneumatic stapler is a wonderful tool.  After that, we centered the board along the long edge of the plastic, and stapled it to it.  We also stapled 4 pieces of rope at the 4 junctions.

After that, we proceeded to roll up the entire sheet of plastic.  This was easier to type than it was to do.  In any case, we finally got it all rolled up.

The original plan was to hoof it over to the tree side of the shelter and fasten up the trailing edge, then flip it up over the roof pulling it over with the ropes, which would have it unroll as we went.  Then we decided to start on the yard side where we could use the motorhome as a scaffold.  We should've stuck with the original plan.

The weight of the roll was greater than I expected, so things didn't go anywhere near as smoothly as I had hoped.  However, in the end, we were able to pull the second side over the top of the roof with the ropes, and things did unroll as needed.  Then we had to do a lot of fastening on the ends an the loose side.

We finally got that all done, and backed the motorhome into the tent, and called it a day.  I'm still cold. 

Pictures are here.

Things left to do on the tent:

• Electrical wiring for lights
• Install human door
• Rake out all gumballs from interior
• Lay down "flooring" tarp to catch anything dropped and keep it out of the yard proper
• Install tarp over rear opening
• install 5 more anchors and straps (2 per side, and 1 on the "front" end)

jim

Well at least this part of the job is almost done! 

ArdraF

You forgot to put in the skylight! 

It's kinda dark in there...

KodiakRV said:

You forgot to put in the skylight! 

It's kinda dark in there...

Click to expand...

You've got that right.  I've already started on the wiring using a flashlight for illumination.  Tomorrow after work I plan to find a worklight and do more.  It is WAY too dark in there.  On the plus side, it stays warmer than ambient while the sun is shining.  ;D

jim

baadpuppy said:

....  On the plus side, it stays warmer than ambient while the sun is shining.  ;D

Click to expand...

That'll be good until about ... May 1st.

well, we've been adding in all the electrical work.  Got 4 lights hung and realized that we'll need a LOT more lights.

Today dad and I went to lowes to get more anchors and straps, and more lights.  While we were unloading (inside the tent), the results of this weeks freak weather started to take effect.

See, we've had an extreme amount of wind and rainfall this past week.  While the tent has held up admirably, today we got a few more inches of rain.

The motorhome, out in the yard, sank up to the wheel in the front.  Then the wind shifted position to a direction it seldom comes from.

We have sustained 30-35mph winds with gusts of 50-60.  The ground is so saturated the anchors are pulling up.  The roof has started to collapse.  Dad and I were inside when the roof first started to go.

We've moved the motorhome and trucks to try to break the wind before it beats the tent to pieces.  Other than that, we just have to wait out this bleepin weather.  Then I get to see how much is salvagable.

I am a bit disheartened by this turn of events.

jim

so today the wind has reduced significantly, the sun has come out, and the wind has changed to its "normal" direction.  Oh, and the temperature dropped 30 degrees from yesterday.

I took a few pictures of the wind damage.  Find them here.

The good news is that the damage isn't as terrible as I feared.  While several pieces of wood are snapped, one bolt is sheared, and the entire roof is in need of replacement, that isn't too bad.

I plan to repair the roof and strengthen it at the same time.  I'll have to buy new plastic of course.

I also plan to put triangular bracing at every place 2 pieces of 2x4 or 4x4 come together using 2x4s.  Combining that with some extra angled bracing all across the verticle 2x4 and 4x4 boards and the entire box should strengthen significantly.

We'll also finish putting in the rest of the anchors and straps.

A setback, but not a disaster.

jim

baadpuppy said:

...I plan to repair the roof and strengthen it at the same time.  I'll have to buy new plastic of course.
...

Click to expand...

Glad the damage wasn't as bad as first feared.

It would help with your lighting problem if you could get heavy duty clear plastic instead of the black plastic...

KodiakRV said:

Glad the damage wasn't as bad as first feared.

It would help with your lighting problem if you could get heavy duty clear plastic instead of the black plastic...

Click to expand...

Agreed, the damage was basically just the roof and the walls near the roof where poles poked through.

The reason I stuck with black plastic for the roof was that I had already purchased it for the sides.  There isn't enough scrap left to re-cover the roof, so I plan to get clear/cloudy instead of black this time.  At least in the daytime it won't be dungeon-like in there.  ;D

That weather was really freak weather for us.  I've heard there were many microbursts in the area during the storm.  Dad and I both think that's what broke the roof.  After all, it withstood 3 days of high winds and rain.  The wind wasn't as rough at the time it broke as previous wind.  Dad and I happened to be inside when it happened.

I have lived here thru several hurricanes in the past, and only isabelle and gloria had me as worried as this storm did.

On the offchance that hurricanes this year might be this bad or worse, I plan to do a lot of structural reinforcement on the entire structure.  That includes some beefing up of the roof.  ;D

jim

well, this weekend I got more supplies, and managed to get some of the anchors installed.  I also cut 18 boards 4' long with 45 degree angles on each end to brace each of the 18 4x4 and 2x4 verticals (9 per side).  Today when I got home, I moved the motorhome and cut down all the roof top plastic sheeting that was still flapping around.  I also inspected much of the roof structure, and it isn't too bad.

I still need to finish installing all the anchors and attaching the straps.  Once they're attached and reasonably snug, we need to work down one side making sure all the verticals are plumb, and install bracing along them.  Then we can install the bracing for the other side (plumb can't be adjusted there as all the rest of the structure can't move without losing plumb on the first wall).

Once all the bracing is in place, we can tighten down all the straps, and hopefully the walls won't move anymore.  Well, I expect some flex, but nothing like what we've seen with the top of the wall moving 2 foot or more through the air.

I also discovered tonight that both of the upper 45 degree corner braces on the big open end had pulled loose.  Looks like the screws were too short.  I won't make that mistake again.

Hopefully the weather will remain pleasant a few more days. 

jim

Wow, almost 2 months without any progress.

Let's see... mostly we keep moving the RV in and out of the shelter so we can cut the grass.  We haven't done much to fix the roof of the shelter yet.  I kinda lost the drive after all the damage from weather.  The weather is finally settling down into a reasonable pattern (somewhat), so hopefully I can get back to work on the roof in June.

In the mean time, I've been doing my best to save as much $$$ as possible to buy a bus.  I've also been scouring the net looking for a good deal on a bus with the specs I wanted.  The specs were basically turbo diesel rear engine flat nose with MT643 or better transmission and air brakes, preferably a Bluebird or a Thomas built bus.  The longer the better (preferring a 40' or so bus).

Well, after tax season and saving as much as I could and then the "stimulus", I managed to have enough money to buy one.  And then one that was almost perfect for my needs popped up on ebay.  I finally won at midnight the 18th/19th.  $2,333.00 and she was all mine.

This is a Thomas built bus, Cat 3208 Turbo Diesel engine, pusher, MT643 transmission, w/air brakes.  On the plus side, it has been stripped down to the floor/walls inside, and much of the prep work for painting the exterior has been done.  Additionally, it is titled currently as a "house car" in NC, which means I don't have to do the paperwork to change a schoolbus into an RV.  On the down side, it is a little older than I had hoped for (1985), and it doesn't have an air suspension which I would've liked.  However, neither of those issues was a deal breaker for me.  It also happens to have some kind of automatic snow chain deployment thing.

On the weekend of May 30,  my aunt and I will drive down to NC to get the bus.  She'll end up staying in a hotel that evening and driving back home in my truck the next day.  I plan to take the bus on down to Athens, GA area to visit some friends of mine.  Then I'll drive back home that sunday in the bus.

Once the bus is home, I can use it as the scaffold to work on the roof of the rv shelter, and get to work on the serious demolition of the old Cobra motorhome.  There's a lot of good scrap metal tied up in that thing, and I hope to get back some of my money by recycling.  I'm hanging on to the RV bits, figuring I might be able to use some or most of them in the conversion.

I can't wait to get the bus home and get started on the conversion process.  ;D

Once the conversion starts, I'll start a new thread in the bus conversion area to follow that.  Of course, I'm doing my best to update my blog as I go along as well.

jim