Well I found a bus..

- Watched the auction Like a hawk and in the last dying min, submitted my Bid.. Damn it I won the Auction.

Now just to do the final inspection[got to fly up],arrange for transfer and pay for it..

So at this stage I'm a provisional owner of said Coaster bus..

- gone out the door are the Automatic and an Import..

If all goes to plan the bus, has already been complacenced as a 5 setter and under 4.5t.. so there goes once hassle..

it has been partially fitted out and I'm going to have a Look at what has been done and keep what I like and redo the rest..

- the Batteries are sitting in the garage at the moment, just need to work out their final resting place and start the real install..

I'm going to install a Tropical Roof for the bus.. which shall be made up out of the panels I plan to install..

so Once I get further into it I'll do a Build diary to show what I'm doing as I go along..

Juergen

Sounds like you're off to a good star. Best of luck with the project..

Hey Juergen, how about a few more details of your Coaster, is it a long or short wheelbase year etc.

    In my fifth year on mine.

           Great vehicles

                                John

Good luck with it all.

Ok Before I even get to the Build of the bus..

Here are some current Pick's of the Bus..

Here is the Front Profile of the Bus..

Top shot of the bus..

-- Going to paint this with Thermo shield Paint.. Before I install the Tropical roof of Solar Panels..

So there are the Picture of the Bus..

It's got a fair bit of stuff done already.. I'm going to tweak it..

I'll use most of it but I have to rearrange thing's.. I'm moving one of the Beds to the Back of the bus and install the shower/toilet are towards the front..

The double seat is being removed as I only ever plan to have 2 extra people in the bus.. In  it's Place I'm going to be fitting a 200-300lt house fridge..

- Remove the Aircon duct work and free up more heat room.. [ Replace the Aircon duct with 100mm Pipe and custom make outlet to suit..]

Install the Batteries and all the rest of the Gear.. 

At least most of the work is done..

- Just got all the fiddly bit's to do..

Juergen

Got Back from the Gold coast Sunday Night..

Started to have a Look at the layout of the Bus and Modify it to my own specification's..
- Now understand I'm building this Bus to be able to run all the good stuff, with out hooking up to an outside source of Power.. Solar @ this stage only.. Possible wind Later on..

What I have done so far..
- Removed the Double set to allow me to move the main Kitchen Bench towards the Front of the Bus.. The Location that the previous person was going to use for the fridge is Gone.. I'm using a Standard Caravan fridge... Small Domestic for me..
- so the Kitchen unit is Relocated..
- I have to get a new sink as the one supplied was a small unit sink.. about 400x800mm way to big for what I want to do..

- The Narrow Bed is Gone... Which Adults are comfortable on a narrow 2" Bed.. [Not Me]
- The Other bed has been Moved so it's Closer to the Front of the Bus.. [Still Straddling the Rear Wheel arch but hard up now..

ALL of the Current Wiring has Been Removed as it was not up to My standards..
- There was actually a Few Thing's that could of caused a serious problem..
--> Have to Laugh.. they installed a 12v 2500w cont 5000w surge inverter to run off a SINGLE 100Ah Battery.
>> Issue with the inverter is the fact that the cable to run the inverter where not up to even covering the 2500w Load.. 208A's

So Basically I have gutted the layout of the bus So I can fit in the stuff I want/need..

Oh yeah it came with a Hot water system, 2 @ 12v Pump's and No fitted Water tank's..
- The water tanks supplied.. did not work for the original setup as there is no place to physically place them.. At least Not under the Bed.. and definitely NOT under the bus.. Wrong shape wrong dimension's..
That does not matter as I had already purchased a set of tank's to use for this Project..


The Bus is at the Mechanic's Getting a few thing's Fixed..
- timing Belt Replaced..
- filter Kit thru out.. Oil change.. and a Tune..
- A few smaller issue fixed..

I'm going to give the current Basic system a Run this Weekend.. and do an overnight at the Range..

Next week I'm going to build the Main bed in the Back of the bus and start on the Battery system install..
- also investigate to see if I have all the gear to make the tropical Roof So I can mount the Mini solar system on the Roof of the bus..

Narrow Bed Removed, Rear shelving Removed..

- the Aircon duct on the Left of the Picture has Been removed to allow for installation of  thing's Like a Shower.. Some Overhead Storage for Light stuff..

In this Pic. the Red and Black Cable Going to the Charger on the Left should of been used in the inverter circuit.. but due to the nature of the person doing the wiring. they thought they would use them for the charger..

- also There was no form of Protection in either set of Power Cable..

If an issue had of occurred, then the Poop would of hit the fan royally.. No way at all to stop a critical failure[Fire situation..

The system was not designed to be able to free camp without the use of running a Generator..

[Me thinks it would be a good exercise to work out the cost of running a Generator for any length of time.. With regard to a good Solar/Battery system..]

So that is my Current Progression..

Juergen

Adding an extra alternator to charge storage batteries works great.. There's plenty 120 amp Alternators out there now
with built in regs etc..I start my gen set only when boiling water or making toast.. After 8 AM and before 7 PM ..

If there's people nearby I use the gas..
TV's etc run direct off 12 V..