Diff Depression.

It's been about 4weeks or so since my endeavour to find a diff for our bus.

Yesterday I drove to Gympie Queensland to pick up a good Eaton no4 with a ratio of 4.5 to 1, got home and was happy and slept well that night.

Next morning I pulled the right hand axle out and noticed a twist and other signs of things to come.

As you see from the photo this diff has a few teeth that have come loose.

So we are no closer to going down south or anywhere until we find a new diff.

One good thing to come out of this all is that I have found some genuine Aussie blokes that have gone out of their way to try and help us, I have learnt a lot from talking and know what I have to do but it still comes down to getting that diff!!

 

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diff

The last week has been full on, working on getting the diff out.

Surprisingly the biggest job was making the wood blocks to support the bus when I jacked it up.

I cut down a spotted gum tree (sorry tree huggers, it was me or the tree) to make the blocks, this took a whole day to do, now it was safe to get under the old girl.

Saturday morning I had to go to town and get a new impact socket set as I needed a 1' 1/4" socket to undo the U bolt nuts, of course other things catch my eye and I came home with a lot of other goodies to go with the socket set.

Eight nuts and two air lines later and it was sitting on the ground only now I had to get it out from under the bus. I used the bobcat to pull it out and all went well.

When I get the other diff (Eaton No 4) I will have to make a few changes so it will fit under and bolt up.

...........

Well it's been two days since I have typed the above and a lot has happened and NOT happened.

This is the story.

The Leys diff is a very high ratio at 6.2 to 1 and on top of that it needs rebuilding.

So I decide to install a Eaton no 4 two speed diff and start to get a few prices, prices range from $1500 to $8000.

A $2,200 one was out at Dalby, Queensland about a 3 hour drive from our home, I was told that it's a very good one and to bring my diff out and exchange them for the $1,500, sounds good?

Well when we got there it was the worst diff I have seen in along time, it looked like someone with a 303 / 30'30 was trying to shoot there way out the back of the diff, the S cam brakes were cut off with a oxy and it just went on.

Very very cheesed off indeed seeing I was told it was all ok to go in the bus.

Over 7 hours driving later I was at a diff repair shop in Caboolture and dropped the original diff off to be rebuilt, looks as if it will be 85 Kmh all the way down to Melbourne.

So we are still planing on going just a bit slower than expected, I am still going to get a better diff when we come back home.

Is this ever going to end?

Adrian

 

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Bathroom and Diff

Hi all,

So the last couple of weeks has been full of working on the bathroom and trying to sort out the diff.

The bathroom has been lined with a waterproof material that has proven to be horrible to work with. It doesn't like being cut or having holes drilled in it. But it is looking pretty good so far, hopefully we can put up the shower curtain and some towel hooks without destroying a wall.

The floor looks great! We got a box of vinyl planks from Andersons and they have worked really well.

The toilet is also installed, so the only thing left is the hand basin, door and trim.

Now, the diff has caused more than a few headaches and panic attacks than should be allowed. But we hope it is close to being sorted out.

In the picture is the bus diff next to a ford falcon 9" diff for comparison....it is huge!

This is a carpet python that paid us a visit and stayed a few days...he was very sedate, probably because it was fairly cold and wet.

Bye for now, Adrian and Jess

 

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It's really taking shape

Hello friends,

I think we are running on schedule...not that we really have one but we do have a deadline for being ready to travel - October.

So this week Adrian has been working hard, getting more of the walls sheeted and building the bunk beds.

For the front of the bunks we used a sheet of 17mm plywood and drew the design on, then Adrian cut it out with the jigsaw and used the router to round the edges. I really love this part of the bus! Now I am trying to decide if I stain it or paint it.

He put the wall sheets in around the dinner table and it looks so neat and clean now!

This is one of the bedroom windows completely installed.

Starting to look like a home on wheels.

Please feel free to leave a comment, we would love to know if anyone is reading this.

Bye for now, Jess

 

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Ceiling and wall sheets

So lots has been happening.

We have the ceiling all sheeted now. We used Embossed Gray for the ceiling. The rails running along the roof will be covered with a capping that will also hold wiring.

And work on the walls has begun. The wall sheets are called Classic Blonde. We are getting them from The Bunker at Buderim.

The sheets are working well, they curve with the roof and slip into alloy channels.

Work on the bunks has begun, along with finishing the walls. It is all happening.

 

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What's next?

Hi,

So it has been a while since we blogged our progress on the bus conversion. A lot has been happening, although to most people it looks like not much at all :)

Testing to see if the bathroom door fits

Adrian has finished the frame work for the bathroom and fridge. And he has welded up the rectangle frames for the bunk beds, these will be held in place by the plywood walls.

The frames for the bunk beds

The floor has been replaced in the back half of the bus. And insulation has been put in the walls and ceiling, we have used styrofoam sheets and can already feel the difference. I will take pics of this before the finishing sheets go on.

Testing a wall sheet to see if it curves around the wall

Last week we picked up the plywood sheets for finishing the walls and ceiling. We also picked up alloy strips for finishing edges along the ceiling.

Getting an idea of what the ceiling will look like

There is lots happening and the push is on to have her ready for our first big trip in October!

Bye for now, Adrian and Jess

 

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Windows in and bathroom begins

Hi all,

So the windows are all in. There is still some painting to be finished but structurally the outside is done. Oh, except for the awning. And the roof is going to be repainted and repaired.

Ad started to work on the bathroom and realised that we put the window in the wrong place so that slowed progress a bit. But we have figured out a way around it, otherwise the window would have been moved and I think it would have made the exterior look messy.

While the floor is up he is fixing the tank connector as it wasn't letting the water through. All up we should have 1000 litres of fresh water. It looks like a real mess at the moment.

Til next time, Jess

 

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Progress

Hi all,

Just a couple of progress shots this week. I have been sick and was very slack about taking photos.

I finally took a photo of the drivers side with all the panels in their final position, painted and windows back in...it is looking awesome! Like a real motor home!

Adrian has been working on the passenger side this week and they decided to break it down a bit and do 2 sheets at a time. So these ones are fully done and today he is going to start framing the rest of this side.

The paint job on the rest of the bus will be touched up once to the window sections are all done.

That's all for now,

Jess :)

 

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Looking more like a motor home !

Hi,

Lots has been happening sice the last post. All the prep has been done on the drivers side - sheets put up, windows fitted and rivet holes drilled.

Then it rained a bit causing problems in progress but highlighting why we are doing this...so much water has come in on the passenger side up the front that the floor will probably need to be replaced sooner rather than later. While waiting for the showers to go away the frame work was started on the passenger side.

But today it was a beautiful clear morning so it was decided that the painting should begin...

So the sheets came down off the drivers side and got hung in the car port and painting has begun! So far the panels have been under coated and had two coats of the white.

We hope to have the drivers side finished very soon!

Bye for now, Jess

 

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We have a window hole

There has been loads of work happening this week!

Adrian is working on one side of the bus at a time. At the moment it is the drivers side that is having the windows done. There is no rust in the frame of the bus, which is a relief because we have seen so many buses get started and then rust is found and it turns into a nightmare.

We have started at the back with the main bedroom framework. And made sure the window would fit....look how small it looks up there! (Not its final position, we are putting it up towards the top more)

Then all the old windows came out.

The next bit of framing for the bunks area was done (I wasn't there to photograph that - might get a pic from the inside later) and some more sheet steel put on and suddenly we have a hole!

And the window looks sooo tiny! It is the smallest you can buy actually but a good size for the bunks and bathroom.

Stay tuned! We seem to be on a roll!

Jess :)

 

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Where are we at?

We finally got the bus registered into our name about a month ago and have begun work to fix it up to suit our family needs. The bus was originally set up for two people with the bathroom taking up both sides of the mid bus area so we are combining that into an ensuite style room and bunks on the opposite wall. We have had to work out the basic interior layout so that work on the outside could begin.

We have new motor home windows to go in, the original bus windows leaked and don't allow much airflow. We picked these up last week from Aussie Traveller.

This is one of the bedroom windows - nice and big!

We are in the process of getting steel, the framing steel got picked up yesterday and the sheets should be able to be picked up tomorrow. The work is underway to get the outside looking like a motor home.

The old windows are being taken out. With lots of help from our oldest!

I hope to be able to regularly update the blog now that I have set it up on the ipad, so much easier than the PC!

Bye for now, Jess

 

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