OFF GRID HOUSE BUS CONVERSION NZ

  • Season 1 Episode 3
  • Where: New Zealand
  • What: 1984 Isuzu JCR500
  • When: June 2020

The project continues with a lot of prep work and repairs.

Mostly a lot of the super non-glamorous stuff but just has to be done… type stuff. Like, cleaning, rust repair, and making her watertight. An ongoing battle in an old bus!

We finish welding up the floor and also start fabricating a cage for our freshwater tank that is going to live between the chassis rails under our bedroom floor. The floor is a welcome milestone as it is getting colder here now and it is had to keep the bus dry with no floor to stop moisture coming up resulting in a lot of condensation overnight.

Most notable would be two rusted out and leaking old vents on the roof. Once removed, we sealed the huge hoes with a large sheet of aluminum, riveted on together with a considerable amount of J-B Weld RTV silicone. This ought to do the job, but we are also planning on painting the roof for a bit of extra protection as well as aesthetics. More on that at a later time.

Ok… the price for the most annoying job this week goes to the ceiling. Whatever sticky tape they had used to put the old ceiling up with was a bear to remove(!), but we finally got it done. The metal ribs are now clean with a fresh coat of rust protection on and the ceiling is ready for insulation. The same goes for the dash and upper cabinets in the front of the bus. Good times!