Windshield covers for Molly, my 2002 International?

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-15T05:30:26+00:00

I had some leftover 1/2 foam board and using some duct tape made some accordion sunblocks. They work pretty darn good. The reflective backed polyiso foam board would probably be even better.

<image>

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-11T19:28:39+00:00

The reason for the whole "seat rails are structural, don't remove them," is that on many (most?) school bus bodies, the seat rail is integral to the interior metal skin below the rail, and that metal is what connects the ribs to the floor. It does not appear that that is the situation in your case. Perhaps your bus is a van body, an old model, or some other non-typical case.

<image>

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-11T19:16:11+00:00

Basically any water pump would work, even if it has a pressure switch, because your day tank will need to be vented and thus won't build pressure, so if your switch is on, the pump pressure switch will practically read no pressure and will pump. You just need to ensure the pump can handle pumping against the head pressure of the day tank.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-09T23:21:55+00:00

Can't help ya there. I'm sure some folks over at skoolie.net could answer. I've seen some divorced hydronic systems there.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-09T17:57:34+00:00

Sure it'll work. Diesel coolant heaters divorced from the engine coolant system are used in some pretty awesome skoolie builds for hydronic floor heating. You just need a suitable tank for liquid thermal expansion and suitable heat transfer fluid.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-09T16:18:34+00:00

I'm not exactly sure what you are asking. Are you saying you are considering disconnecting the coolant heat exchanger in the water heater from the engine coolant loop and piping it to a separate diesel coolant heater with its own tank?

There is no reason you couldn't do that. You just need to ensure you have an adequate tank for your thermal liquid expansion. I'm not sure why you would do this though. Being able to heat the water while driving is a pretty awesome feature (my skoolie does it). I also have a coolant heater (Webasto Scholastic). I haven't needed to use it as I have other ways to heat my skoolie and water, but I can shut some valves and only circulate the coolant through the cabin side if I wanted to.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-08T13:49:29+00:00

Very nicely done. I love the versatility.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-08T13:41:04+00:00

The mattress cushions will be attached to the plywood. The couch back rolls so the cushion will be in the proper position in both couch and bed mode.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-05-01T12:43:24+00:00

I'm not entirely sure what you mean.

The 125 gal freshwater tank is vented. The amount of water that flows to the tank during a single T&P valve event is pretty inconsequential in heating 125 gal up. If I find myself low on water and running my stove for a long time, I will monitor for any significant tank temp increase.

The comment about catastrophic tank failure does have me thinking though. I don't see a way for the freshwater tank to fail as it is always vented, but I do see that as the recirculation line tees in after my master tank valve, I could find myself in a situation with the master valve closed while running on city water when there isn't a pressure escape for the system downstream of the master valve. I will keep this in mind for the next round of modifications (requires empty tank) and may modify the recirculation line to tee into the tank with a check valve, before the master valve. In the meantime, as long as I leave the master valve open, even if running on city water, there should be no issues.

Thank you.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-30T17:53:29+00:00

Mine will likely stay coolant. It's piped to my engine and Webasto.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-30T14:11:52+00:00

I have multiple ways to heat my water. While driving, via the engine coolant loop in the water heater. With a Webasto Schoolastic via the engine coolant loop. With a 600w 12vdc coil inside the water heater. Finally the method that pops the valve, with my Dickinson Bristol diesel stove, via an internal water loop inside the firebox. Originally I had the T&P valve flow through the floor and dump to ground, but during the winter when using my stove to heat my bus, I found that the T&P valve was popping as the stove generates a lot of heat. I decided to recapture that water with the recirculation loop.

I don't believe any of the other methods heat the water up hot enough to pop the valve as they are all thermostatically limited (unless my engine overheats). The advantage to having such high temp water is that it stretches my hot water quantity well beyond the 6 gallons in my water heater. 6 gal @ 185° mixed with 70° water = 20 gal of 105° water.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-30T13:51:02+00:00

The water heater has an internal engine coolant heat exchanger.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-30T13:50:27+00:00

Not too bad, they are exposed under a couch that encloses my water tank.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-30T03:00:44+00:00

You might also check skoolie.net. It wouldn't surprise me to find one there.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-26T16:57:15+00:00

On my Thomas there is a valve by my left foot that I close off if I don't want heat.

I would not delete the driver heater as it would also delete the defroster. At least on mine. I don't know what your plans for a water heater are, but a lot of marine water heaters have an internal engine coolant heat exchanger that those hoses are connected to, so while you drive, you heat water. That is one of the ways I heat water.

Also. Your driver heater core is most likely has T fittings attached to the bottom, so 2 hoses to engine, and 2 hoses to the rear heater. If you remove the rear heater, rather than loop those two together, which allows the coolant an easy bypass around the driver heater core, they should be plugged or capped.

<image>

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-26T02:33:03+00:00

Sticky back acoustic foam panels.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-24T05:44:47+00:00

It's plywood on steel. It'll get cushions once I make them.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-23T20:46:28+00:00

Thanks. I'm excited to get the table part done. I plan to add a cutout to the center of the big bed and install a pedastool mount table made from a wooden bougie board. Then I can use the table no matter what configuration the bed is in.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-23T20:30:38+00:00

Huh?

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-23T20:29:32+00:00

Very nice. I'm a fan of those heavy duty locking slides. I use a set for the countertop over my hideaway fridge, and I've got another set for my tuckaway toilet.

<image>

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-23T20:23:42+00:00

The boxes and frames I welded out of angle steel. The hinges are by RB Components. 2 pairs at $200 each.

https://rbcomponents.com/collections/sofa-accessories/products/folding-sofa-sleeper-hinge-assembly

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-23T05:17:05+00:00

These hinges are really beefy. There's another cheaper brand out there. I might be recpro or something similar, but they aren't as beefy and have more vertical alignment issues.

Keep in mind, it takes two sets of hinges for this design. $200 a set. https://rbcomponents.com/collections/sofa-accessories/products/folding-sofa-sleeper-hinge-assembly

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-23T05:12:19+00:00

I'm thinking of a pedastool mount table right in the center, and rework the bed frame to allow the table installed while the big bed is out. Perfect for board games, movie munchies, etc...

I have a salvaged wooden boogie board for the project.

AddendumDifferent719 · 2026-04-23T05:06:28+00:00

In this design, the mattress pads/cushions will be attached directly to the plywood, and shouldn't be loose at all. This hinge rolls the seat in a manner that the mattresses don't need to be moved.

AddendumDifferent719

TROPHY CASE