With all the obsolete wires and fuses the old fuse board is looking a bit crapy. I needed to upgrade to new fuses as well as fix some of the wiring. I had already had the new fuse blocks in storage somewhere under the bus so it was time to dig them out.
The old fuse board.Lots of wires to play with.Don’t think we need them all.
Out with the old & in with the new
When I was fixing the engine brakes, I thought it was mechanical to start with, but after some tested it turned out to be electrical. I had to trace the wiring from the back of the bus to the front which took days, as the fuze board was a mess. In the end it ended up being a 24v relay in the spot that needed to be a 12v relay, the only one in a 24v system.
So now to fix the board, after finding the new fuze box’s under the coach in the bins and labelling then. It was time to remove all the old fuze holders one at a time, then wiring in the new ones so I didn’t lose track of were the wire’s went.
New fuse box’s tagged ready to go in.The start of sorting out the wires.What a mess this is.
You can see why I am not cutting all the wires at once and only cutting one at a time, then fitting then to the new fuze box’s. Other wise I wouldn’t know which wire went where.
Top row in place after a lot of soldering.Now the bottom row.It never ends.Even have some spare’s for latter if I need them.Job done and it even work’s.
There are still some fuze’s that will be not needed latter on, but for now I still need them. When we fit the sola power system in there will be 10 of these fuze’s that wont be needed, but till then we do.
It was one of the jobs that was started down at Leigh Creek, but I ran out of time before heading up north to Yulara. The old running lights did make it to QLD with a quick fix up here and there. We are waiting to move under cover in to the big equestrian indoor arena at the Toowoomba Showgrounds to start fixing the roof leak found on a good down pour while up here.
We have been in the Toowoomba area now for four weeks and I must say it’s quite a nice place. Apart from having to move out of the Showgrounds for one week as the place was booked out. We decided to stayed on a farm for that week at a farmstay called The Chookhouse. It was great, the owners were very nice, it was the first time for them having a 12m motorhome parked there.
The Chookhouse stay
LED light time
The old running light had seen better days and as the front of the coach had already been fix in S.A , we now thought it was a good time to finish them.
Out with the old running lights.
The former owner had already fitted new LED indicators/reflectors which made the old running lights at the side of the bus look even older.
Just a little bit stuffed, how where they even working?New wires solidered and insulated.I’ll have to patch up the holes later before the paint job.Nice new LED’sMore soldered and insulation under the coach.Top ones need fixing too.Think they will see us now.
That will do for now
Until the inside is finished, the outside will have to stay looking like someone does not love it. I’m really looking forward to the outside being all painted, it’s going to make such a big difference, that will have to wait for another day.
With the bedroom done to a point that we are happy with it’s time to clean up. The house sit has been great! We looked after two dogs, Lexy and Kingston. The cat, Charlie who had a swagger about him strutting around like he owned the place. Walking the dogs every day kept them happy and me a bit fitter.
A bit of a mess
What a mess we have
The rubbish bin’s were full for about 2-3 weeks as we cleaned up and set up the trailer for a tip run to get rid for more stuff …..that we really don’t need.
I have too much crap.We need to sort out if we store it or get rid of it ?The fun of it all.
Setting up for a kitchen
For the time being (as we will be living onboard again), we need a make shift kitchen again. This time it’s going to be a bit bigger then last time with more storage and bench space.
This will do for the time being, on this side.Looking down towards the back.
Still have a lot more to set up, but for now this is stage of the cleaning up, a lot more will be done later. I have to cleaning out the bins under the coach so we can start packing the tools from the shed away.
Where is the drivers seat?
Think the driver’s seat is here some where ?
Sometimes I think we are mad fitting out a motorhome on the road while at the different times living in it. It has had it’s moments, but life is good and we are having fun most of the time. But now it’s time to head off up the range to Toowoomba. Charmaine will be much happy with no more having to sleep in the troopy for a week at a time.
Time to leave ChuwarNow it’s back to living in the coach.What a great 6 months we had.
Kingston
Can I have some more please?
Lexy
Sexy Lexy, sitting still OMG!
Charlie
Charlie, the old man doing his thing
An interesting next 12 months
The next 6-12 months are going to be more interesting as we will be living and working on the coach at the same time, not sure how that’s going to work out at this stage, but we are thinking of how we are going to manage it.
Toowoomba Time
Living back in the coach for now, it’s nice to be back on the road. I am thinking about looking for some part time work while still working on the coach. I’ve fortunately found a small water leak on the roof with all that ran we got the last few weeks, so will be fixing that first. I have some sparky stuff in and around the coach that’s needs a good redoing and rewiring, then onto the water tanks with some plumbing work.
Camping time at Toowoomba Showgrounds.Lake side viewsVery nice place at the Showgrounds.
Temporary living
Ok it’s still needs lots of work, but who cares. We are in our own place and it’s a comfy home for us.
Tea for two.Temporary dinning area till the bathroom is finished.Feeling a bit green tonight…lol
But first I’ll have to run some 12v cables for the LED lights for the vanity as well as the laundry area so they can be switch on by them self. Than we will need 240v power for the front load washing machine under the bench, some were as well as a power point.
Power for the washing machine.240v ran in the conduit and 12v for the vanity light.More power bits. On this side will be the start of the kitchen.12v power for the LED lights and a 240v power point.I’m leaning the wall back at the top so I can see in the mirror.First ply board in place.That side is finish for now.
Clean up time
Now that is done it will be time to start cleaning up as I’ve made a mess, our house sit is getting close to ending and we will need time to organize the coach back into some kind of a place we can live in again. I’ve still have to put the sola panels back on and rewire then and a bit more to tidy up outside before we can start packing up.
If one thing for shaw, this motorhome will have lots of storage space which puts a smile on Charmaine’s face. With this next cupboard there’s no smile on my face, it’s going to be a pain to fit into place as well as make. Good thing is no body can hear me cursing from inside the coach. First off I’ll just finish off the bathroom vanity side wall for some were for the overhead cupboard to be fitted too.
Vanity side wall.Ready for next stage.Some body been writing on the wall.
Now that I’ve worked out where it will be going I’ve screwed some scrap to the wall to hold the cupboard in place till it’s all screwed into place. It’s modification time let the fun begin.
Overhead cupboard needs some modification.think I got it right.One more bit to go.It just fit’s.More storage for Charmaine. 🙂
I think it’s coffee time now, maybe after I clean up a bit. Well that was not to bad after wall, I just like to bitch sometimes. So the next job will be the back wall behind the sink area as well as some sparky stuff.
After finishing the vanity and fitting the sink in place with all the plumbing, now was the time for the draws. There will be three a deep draw down the bottom and two smaller draws above that, which will have to be modified to fit around the plumbing.
More draws to make.One down two more to go.
Now the fun begins
The bottom draw just missed the s/trap which was good, but the next two won’t be so lucky. I’ve even dropped the draw runners down as fare as I can go so we have more room for the top draw.
Cut out for middle draw for the P/trap.Look it fit’s.
Now that was not to bad, but the top draw is going to be another thing. I’ll be left with only around 220mm of draw space on either side of the sink and 60mm at the front of the draw, but that should be heaps of space for Charmaine.
Top draw not as much fun.Covering up the timber bit’s.How to make one draw into two.Even have somewhere for the toothbrushes.Didn’t lose to much space in the second draw.
Well I’m glad that’s over, but I will properly going to have the same thing in the kitchen though.
Out of the bedroom and now into the bathroom. Starting on the vanity and laundry side, it was time to make some more cupboards up. There will be a 900mm three draw as well as a 300mm cupboard and beside that we will be putting in a front load washing machine under the bench top.
More box’s to make upVanity in place just needs something to sit on.Now that will do.Sitting in place.Temp bench top.
Time for the plumber’s hat
Now I can fit the sink to set up for the drain pipe as well we need to put in the hot and cold water pipe’s, as the wall lean in at the top I’ve offset the cupboards off the wall. This will give me some space to run the pip work and drop it through the floor.
Now for the plumbing.Drain hole for the sink and washing machine.40mm drain pipe.Hot and cold water set up for sink.Not much room behind there.Water all plumed up for washing machine.
Most for the plumbing has been done, but now I’ve got to put in the back wall behind the washing machine area before I can run the drain pipe all the way.
Something to hide the pipe work.Drain and tapes finished for the washing machine.
I’ve built a wall so I can finish off the washing machine area and on the other side will be the start of the kitchen, but thats an other day.
Lot’s of beach space for a motorhome.
Well that was fun
The next job will be to fit the draws under the sink, and as you can see the sink will be in the way for some of them. Looks like it will be modification time again.
I must say it does get better on the second one as you know not what to do already. This side will also have the stereo fitted above the wardrobe as well as a speaker, so I’ll have lots of wires to play with here. The switch for the bedroom lights will be on this side that will only be 12v for the LED light strip’s.
Setting up to screws to put the wardrobe in place and the power for the other wardrobe light running under the floor.Screwed and glued into place.
Stereo time
Got to have some tunes in the bedroom, so with a bluetooth stereo we can have sound for our phones or the laptops when watching a movie in bed. So it’s time to put the wardrobe on this side as well as fit the stereo so I can totally finish off the wardrobe.
Cut out for the stereo.Well that fit’s.Now to cut the face board to size, not much room to play with.Test to see if it all fit’s.Screwing it all together.All in place, now I’ve got tunes when working.
Finishing it off now
Now the stereo’s in place Charmaine spotted a space behind the stereo that she said would be good for more storage. Looks like I’ve got to make an other cabinet as well, it will all so give us access to the stereo if we need to….hopefully not though.
Here’s the whole she saw.An other odd shape box I had to make.No more whole and access to the stereo if I need it.Cabinet door fitted, this will be covered the same as the wall later.Still have to finish the walk way and utility door.This side done of now.Utility / Bedroom door in place.Light fitted into the utility cupboard, comes on when you open the door.Bedroom door closed or utility door open depending where you are standing.Job done for now.
Apart from the cabinet, draw fronts and wall cladding the bedroom is finish. We still thinking of ideas for the walls, and will get all the draw / cupboard fronts when the kitchen and bathroom are finish. This way we can get them made up all at once, so that will be in the future some time off, for now.
We bought new wardrobes just to cut them up just because nothing ever fits when your making a motorhome. This will definitely be a custom motorhome with lot’s of storage space, Charmaine’s very happy.
First off we had to make some room to build them as most of the supplies are in the coach as well as being a work place.
There’s a bed behind there some where.
Wardrobe time
Making up more boxes again, screwing and gluing them together after cutting them down to size. We had to cut 35mm off the bottom and around 250mm off the top to make them fit the place as well as some where to put the speakers. The off cuts will be used to make up some more cupboards that will sit on top of the wardrobes, the more storage space the better.
One down one to go.Both made now sitting in place.One more box on top made up of off cut’s.The trim around the wardrobe take’s time.Speaker time.A test fit.
Utility cupboard
Behind the passenger side wardrobe there will be a narrow utility cupboard wide enough to fit the cordless vacuum, the deck ladder for the back hatch roof top deck access and other cleaning things. This one has to be made from scratch as it’s such an odd shape, it will have three to four deep shelves, for laundry washing bottles ect .
More ply to give some more support.The start of the utility cupboard.Power to charge the cordless vacuum in the utility cupboard.
At this stage I’m just making it up as I go along, but I think its enough for what Charmaine needs for the use of this space. Now it’s time to cut the rest of the pieces up that I need so to finish screwing and gluing it all together. The top of the walls actually lean in around 85mm and by not going all the way to the ceiling I don’t have to worry about the curve for now.
Screwing the utility cupboard together.Time for some shelves.Screwed into place.Oh no not another angle!!Packing on the side.Lot’s of fiddly bit’s.Toilet wall in place.
Now for the other side wardrobes
I had already built it so, it’s just a matter of starting on the trim to go down the side between the wall the support under the wardrobe. Then build a small cupboard to go on top and somewhere for the other speaker with the stereo. The passenger’s side has all the wires, 12v lighting as well as the speakers on that side.
With the bathroom floor in place and water proofed it’s now time to start on the walls. But first we have to work out were the toilet window will go and lets hope it’s in the right place.
Passenger side marking out for toilet window.Let’s hope it’s in the right place.We have a hole in the side of the motorhome.One toilet window in place.Window from the inside.
Now to start on the wall’s
First off is to cut the insulation followed by gluing it in place, a job I love to hate. Second stage is to cut the first sheet of ply to size and making sure the window is cut out in the place. Now it’s time to start fitting it to the side of the coach.
Gluing the insulation in place.That will do for now.1st wall sheet up with window cut out.
There will be one more sheet put up on this side for the moment which will finish off the bathroom wall and part of the kitchen.
The shower and toilet side is done.
The vanity and laundry side
This side will be straight forward as there is no window to go on this wall at all. So it’s just gluing the insulation in place then cutting the ply to size. Screw some packing in place so I can glue and screw the ply to the wall.
Vanity and laundry side, with packing screwed into place.More insulation in the wall cavity.Insulation all in.One more sheet to go.Drivers side done in the bathroom.Looking from the front of the coach at the bathroom.Some more sparky stuff.Top of the toilet and shower wall finished.240v for a power point in the vacuum cupboard and 12v for a toilet light.Start of the wall between the bathroom and kitchen.Bathroom / laundry side.Just needs painting now.
After running some more power cables around the top of the walls and finishing off the transition from the walls to the ceiling. Just some more painting for Charmaine to do to finish off the bathroom walls for now. Look’s like the next project will be to build some wardrobes to close off the bedroom from the bathroom.
