September 11th 2003
I forgot the camera today. The kids have been hit by some kind of cold
or something - sore throat and the bit... I've managed to steer clear of
the thing, but I do feel more tired and un-motivated than usual.
We visited the bus and worked a bit more on the insulation. I checked
on the fridge and sure enough the water bottle was frozen solid. We moved
all of the drinks from the cooler to the new fridge. It is exciting to
think that we can now leave some condiments and drinks at the bus. We had
been hauling a cooler with ice back and forth to the bus every day.
Both Becky and I were feeling pretty burned out and with both the kids not
feeling well, we decided to call it an early day. We went home to relax
and take the afternoon off with the kids.
I received "The Bus Converters Bible" in the mail. I am very
disappointed. I don't know if I am too picky or what, but I did not learn
a whole lot from this book. The content is geared toward the high end
conversion folks that want to hire professionals to do the work for them.
At least that is how I felt as I read through each of the chapters.
I was hoping to find some tips on how to skin the outside of the bus or some
information on how to make use of the existing A/C or something, but I find that
I am no more confident in anything that I am doing now than I was before I
received the book. I learned much more real world information from other
bus conversion web sites than I did from the book. I guess it might be
that the model of bus I am converting does not lend itself to some of the things
that the book covers. The sheet metal surrounding the windows in our bus
appears to be very much a part of the structural support for the roof, so
covering them up will involve some welding... I have no clue how to weld
(yet).
I find it hard to believe that the
average bus converter would find this book all that useful... The lack of
images & diagrams left me struggling to understand what was being described most of the time.
Basically everything in the book I had already found on the internet free of
charge, so there were never any "Ah-Ha" moments.
I read most of the book in about 3 hours. The things
that I wanted to know - like how to add sheet metal to the side of the bus (step
by step like he did in the raising the roof portion of the book). If
the insulation on a bus is such a huge issue, how do you deal with the large
front windows? How are interior walls constructed? Why?
Several times in plumbing section he spoke about the dangers of high water
pressures and the need for a pressure regulator, but the regulator was not ever shown in
any of the diagrams which were repeated several times throughout the book.
There is no reference in the book to painting the bus - a HUGE issue in terms of money
that I was very disappointed to see absolutely nothing about in this book so
far. How do you economically paint a bus that is 40 feet long. In
addition, there are a lot of descriptions of things that leave me looking
fevorishly for any kind of illustration because the descriptions are hard to
follow.
Sorry if I make anyone mad or anything. I have not been in the bus
conversion circle, but I can't in good conscience say anything
good about this book for the price that the publisher is charging... Look
for a used copy (I just returned mine to www.amazon.com for a refund).
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