We celebrated the marvelous new paint job on the bus, and quickly it was back to work. There’s still lots to get done to get us back on the road.
Master Tech had a goal of getting Zephyr water tight and climate controlled by Labor Day weekend, so that we could spend the weekend doing a reasonable shake-down in their parking lot campground.
While that didn’t happen, a lot of work has happened.
Including lots of conduit being run.. which is fitting, because the overall theme of the past few days has been a Con-Du-It attitude. Maybe it’s sleep deprivation, but we’re going with the pun.
The crew here has been focused on our bus, wrapping up lots of projects. And owner Tim spent most of his 3-day weekend in the shop, on our bus. There’s no doubt our job is a top priority, and we so appreciate it.
Here’s a quick video wrap up of the progress, and below a quick re-cap of the progress in words:
Some of the highlights of the progress:
- Trim pieces have gone back on the bus – including gutters, lights, and railings. Zephyr is looking like one SWEET bus.
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Windows on the bus All of the brand new windows have been put in, and they look simply amazing. We went with a lighter tinting on the front living room windows to give us more natural light. We’ll have MCD Shades installed that will give us the option of darker tinting and privacy.
- The solar panels have been re-mounted and hooked up – all that is missing is access to the sun.
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Tim installing an A/C – shoe captions welcomed! (Shop policy to not wear shoes on our newly painted roof.) Our new Dometic Penguin A/Cs have been fully installed, including conduit run to them for power (the original conversion power lines run through spray foam insulation have been unusable and unsafe for quite some while. Conduit is just easier.)
- Installation of all of the holding tanks is complete. The fresh water tanks have been fill & overflow tested, the SeeLevel monitors have been installed can mostly calibrated, new dump valves have been installed, and tank wash systems have been installed on the waste tanks.
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Propane tanks and holders. Propane tanks have been mounted into the old well ventilated generator bay. We’ve gone with a combo of a 30lb and 20lb tank, to give us lots of fill/swap flexibility. We had this same setup on our Oliver Travel Trailer, and loved the versatility.
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The custom awning mount.. looks like it belongs! A custom fabricated & designed awning bracket mount has been powder coated and installed. This will enable to us to mount a case style awning without arms onto our curved roof. We’re really impressed with how nice it looks.
- Lots of wiring work has come together, and our new control switch panels are ready to be buttoned up. Master Tech ordered in custom printed LED switches for everything, and they look great.
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Custom control switches for hydronics and remote generator start. The MCD Shade installation has begun.
- All work in our bedroom and bathroom have pretty much been done, allowing us to start putting things back together. It was a triumphant moment to unroll our new Denver RV Mattress Euro Top that Lippert Components sent us for review. After sleeping in 18 different beds in the past 3 months – we can’t wait for some much needed restful sleep in our own new bed!
There’s still things to come together, but we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. (Hopefully it’s not a freight train, there are a few of those around.)
We’ll continue reporting from the shop – posting photos to Instagram and Facebook daily, and will post another progress report when we have one ready.
Hopefully the next one includes us rolling outta here??
Thanks for your continued support, enthusiasm and positive energy that helps keep us invigorated. Zephyr will be AWESOME when this is all done..and it’ll all be worthwhile.
Bus Updates & Info:
Zephyr’s Summer 2015 Renovation Hit List — the original project list, including our decision points for various items (such as why we’re going propane and not diesel on the hydronics & generator).
Bus Renovation Progress Report: A Riveting Tale of Why We’re Way Behind Schedule — Our first report onsite back in Elkhart.
Bus Renovation Progress Report #2: Week of August 17 — Getting the project back on track.
Bus Renovation Progress Report #3: Roller Coaster Week — August 22-27 —
Bus Renovation Progress Report #4: The Paint Job! (August 27- Sept 2)
All about our Bus — A little history on our bus from start to now.
Some of the products mentioned in this post that we’ve selected:
PS. New Unlimited Verizon Data Plan Offering
In case you missed all the announcements in our various Mobile Internet venues, there’s a new unlimited Verizon based data plan for $47.75/month (no contract, no device purchase) that might be worth checking out! We have all the details – including the warnings & caveats posted here:
Chris & Cherie,
Sorry to hear about your hiatis….as well as the fact there are people out there whose sole purpose in life seems to be taking satisfaction in bringing others down. Hope to see you guys back online soon once you’ve take some time to “re-charge”.
I hope you’ll take the time to provide some help. I subscribed to the HSVWiFi.com offer you shared above. And for several months was enjoying the service. However in early November I received notice that Verizon was discontinuing the service as of 11/30. Today I confirmed. It’s dead. 🙁
Have you had the same experience? Are you hearing the same from others? Or is Verizon being selective about who they retain and who they discontinue?
In advance, thanks for any help you can provide.
Chris A.
Hi Chris.. we covered this over at RVMobileInternet.com earlier last month: http://www.rvmobileinternet.com/omnilynx-automatic-payment-cancellations/
Greetings from South Dakota – Just wondering, we were up in North Dakota looking at a Motor Home as we wanted to trade our old unit for a newer one. We looked at a neat little diesel pusher with the SD Plates Number 2NOMADS – thought of your nomads series and wondered if they were, perhaps associated with your group. They had yet to clean out their rig and had a cross in the windshield. At any rate, they were up there to pick up their brand new 2016 rig. We didn’t end up purchasing that rig as it was a bit small for us, and ended up buying a Rexhall Rexair 35 triple slide made in ’03. Nice rig and we plan on wearing her out, as she only has 48 thousand miles on her now.
We’re not immediately familiar with that license plate. But you never know. Lots of us out here.
Looking awesome! Projects like this never go as planned, but you guys are doing right. Better done a little late and totally amazing than on time and not quite right. Stay strong guys, you’re in the home (literally) stretch now!
P.S. Used your number and snagged myself some OmniLynx
Absolutely.. we definitely don’t want things rushed. Just wished they were a little better as their expectation setting.
Yikes! That is a busload of projects. Good luck buttoning everything up in your brand new bus!
It will be like a brand new old bus.. 🙂
The bus looks beautiful, she’ll really shine rolling down the road with all her custom goodies.
Make sure you have your sun glasses on 🙂
I am so glad to see your ride looking so nice. I’ve been watching but I’m just keeping quiet..(lurking?)….
Can’t wait to see the final result….
David
And we can’t wait to share it…
Your stamina is remarkable. We’re exhausted just watching. We’re sending you both lots of positive energy, and wishes for a rapid conclusion. We’re already chilling the wine we’ll be sharing with you out in the desert this winter. Hang in there. We love you both.
Can’t wait to hug on you both this winter, there will be much catching up to do loves!
Really liking the way your bus build is turning out! Thanks also for the tip on the OmniLynx internet deal, i used your acct# to sign up. My wife and i will be hitting the road as full timers soon, and we hope to meet you all one of these days!
Enjoy the unlimited data … replying on our new account right now. 🙂
It sure is good to see all the progress finally coming tomfruition, even tho it has been a while in coming.
I hope it all wraps up for you soon, and you’re able to put it all to the test in some fine boondocking locations! 🙂
Hang tight..
We are so looking forward to some awesome boondocking this winter !
The home stretch, finally! I remember how tense it was waiting to move into our new trailer back in February. You will have to spend a couple weeks just marveling at the wonderful newness of it.
We will for sure appreciate all of these improvements for years to come, and will enjoy the honeymoon phase once we are sprung free.
Following the updates, but hey – somebody got a haircut over the weekend! Looks wonderful, as do all the new improvements to your bus. Your ability to politely discuss all the delays is impressive and a good example of the attitude needed for the full-time lifestyle. Can’t wait to watch you drive it out of that shop and off into the sunset. Or the parking lot campground. 🙂
Thanks for noticing the new cut 🙂
You guys sure have a lot of irons in the fire with all that you do. I’m glad for you that your bus renovation is almost done. Hopefully, we’ll meet up with you down the road as we begin our full-time adventure early next year.
Our goal going forward… less irons 🙂 Getting all these projects done will hopefully help with that well into the future.
I’ve been following the bus renovation and glad your getting close to the finish. It’s looking very nice. I’m looking forward to the updates. Wishing ya’ll the best.
Thanks.. the finish line is approaching!
They really are cooking. It will all be worth it when it is done and you have some time with all the renovations. Like the pain of writing the check fades with time.
They seem to be doing great work but not such realistic time estimates. A common problem in project management. On the other hand, there’s all those weeks of sitting to make up for. Keep your eyes on the prize.
Indeed… the work is fantastic, and we’ll love this for many years to come!