TheSamba.com :: View topic - 1976 Bus Powered by EZ36 Subaru Motor and 6 Speed Trans

Sat Jan 04, 2025 11:09 pm

Long day in the garage today, I finished laminating the cabinet behind the drivers seat, head knocker, and the Zbed panels. Im glad to have this done, not a tough project but just time consuming. I still need to glue the map on the countertop and pour epoxy over it.

I also added an additional support piece of wood to the bottom of the bed panels. I noticed that when i sat my 245lbs worth of body on them they flexed causing a noise.

Lastly I welded up an anti sway arm to my hitch. During the trailer build i added the other end to the frame of the trailer. Now for paint and I can remove this off the todo list

Tue Jan 07, 2025 8:59 am

I didn’t know where you’re gonna go without a good map. This one is of all the national parks and national forests. I got the map off of Amazon, cut it to size and glued it down, and then covered it with epoxy.

Tue Jan 07, 2025 9:52 am

I really like the map idea and the support runners help make the bed/bench more solid. I made some up for mine too.

Tue Jan 07, 2025 11:05 am

Time for some solar, my plan is to build a support array that will mount to the roof panel and pivot out of the way when camping so i can still use the deck. I am surprised at how heavy these are. Not sure 100% as to how to make them pivot but i figure I will see a way once I mount them. As for the size, the panels end to end are 92" and the deck is 93". Sounds like i will add a bit to the frame and it will be perfect.

Tue Jan 07, 2025 11:09 am

looks great, you are a machine!

Tue Jan 07, 2025 10:23 pm

I built the array frame from extruded alluminum, The pivot arms will be made from steel and work in tandem to move the array from the deck area. In my mind it makes sense. I will build it on Friday and post some pictures. Have a great night everyone.

Mon Jan 13, 2025 8:42 am

Solar array is all set and ready to install. I need to order some clips and fuse inserts for the positive side of it. Now to mount it to the roof deck. If all goes well this should be pretty straight forward.

Mon Jan 13, 2025 10:25 am

Sci,
Great swiss-army knife build! Curious with all the additional weight, during your test drive(s), besides the temp issue possible from the larger tire size, did the 215/75/75 rub badly?

Mon Jan 13, 2025 11:40 am

Convoy wrote: Sci,
Great swiss-army knife build! Curious with all the additional weight, during your test drive(s), besides the temp issue possible from the larger tire size, did the 215/75/75 rub badly?

Surprisingly before the cabinets, A/C, solar, and the Lithium batteries I only was 384lbs over what a standard Westy weighs. With these items I bet Im at 300lbs more. My target is to keep it under 4k.
Normal Westy 3296lbs
weight before recent adds 3680

As for the temp concerns, the larger tires did make a amazingly big difference. I only had an issue with rubbing at full lock for the fronts. With the slightly larger than stock ones now the steering is lighter, the temps are lower, and the ride is better. Problem is what to do with these other tires and rims i took off.

Mon Jan 13, 2025 1:48 pm

Sooooo excited that the new house batteries arrived today. 400ah in all weighing in at ONLY 88lbs total. This new tech is crazy how nice it is. Now to charge them, synch them, and balance all the cells together.

Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:04 am

scirocco_crazy wrote: Sooooo excited that the new house batteries arrived today. 400ah in all weighing in at ONLY 88lbs total. This new tech is crazy how nice it is. Now to charge them, synch them, and balance all the cells together.

Looking good! Where are you mounting the batteries?

Tue Jan 14, 2025 10:25 am

Dang! You should have gobs of power!

Tue Jan 14, 2025 1:00 pm

[quote="Shonandb"] scirocco_crazy wrote: Sooooo excited that the new house batteries arrived today. 400ah in all weighing in at ONLY 88lbs total. This new tech is crazy how nice it is. Now to charge them, synch them, and balance all the cells together.

Looking good! Where are you mounting the batteries?

They will go inside the cabinet under a removable panel

Tue Jan 14, 2025 1:03 pm

TomWesty wrote: Dang! You should have gobs of power!

I sure hope so, if my calculations are correct I can run the AC at full tilt for 8 hours while sleeping. Add to it 400watts of solar for the day and DC to DC charging while driving and it should be pretty decent. This is all assuming being off the grid, i added 120V 30A so i can run unlimited when at a campground. My hope is to not be at a bunch of these though.

Tue Jan 14, 2025 1:05 pm

Check out this pop up power strip I found at a local RV surplus store.

A couple more nights of wiring and this all should be done. Sooooooo many options to keep in mind when doing this.

Tue Jan 14, 2025 3:49 pm

scirocco_crazy wrote: Check out this pop up power strip I found at a local RV surplus store.

Well, sooooo much for Hart Mountain National Antelope Refuge, Frenchglen, Steens Mountain, the Alvord Desert and the entire Owyhee Canyonlands, Baker City, Hot Lake, Hells Canyon, Joseph, Wallowa Lake and the Lostine River Canyon...

Tue Jan 14, 2025 6:16 pm

Sunnydog, some folks just have no respect for the PNW…..

Sat Jan 18, 2025 10:50 pm

Soo close to connecting the batteries and testing the systems. I was at it for 16 hours today doing tons of electrical and I want to be fresh the first time I turn it all on. So far here is what it looks like. Have a good night.

Sun Jan 19, 2025 1:32 am

scirocco_crazy wrote: TomWesty wrote: Dang! You should have gobs of power!

I sure hope so, if my calculations are correct I can run the AC at full tilt for 8 hours while sleeping. Add to it 400watts of solar for the day and DC to DC charging while driving and it should be pretty decent. This is all assuming being off the grid, i added 120V 30A so i can run unlimited when at a campground. My hope is to not be at a bunch of these though.

Hmmm 5000 BTUHr AC for 8 hours will use 4000 watt hours of juice , and you’ve got 4800 watt hours capacity. I doubt your duty cycles on the AC will be 100% so you’ve got margin to play with. Even 50% cycle will keep a stationary Bus nice and cool.

Solar charging will be problematic, you need 4x the rating of the panel to recharge fuel to dirt and cosine loss, and that’s too much panel fir the roof. Dollar plus 6 hours driving at highway will make it work.

Fri Jan 24, 2025 2:02 pm

Im sooooo excited for some clearing in the weather to do some realtime testing on this. From your lips to the my busses ear that it will work out like planned.

Abscate wrote: scirocco_crazy wrote: TomWesty wrote: Dang! You should have gobs of power!

I sure hope so, if my calculations are correct I can run the AC at full tilt for 8 hours while sleeping. Add to it 400watts of solar for the day and DC to DC charging while driving and it should be pretty decent. This is all assuming being off the grid, i added 120V 30A so i can run unlimited when at a campground. My hope is to not be at a bunch of these though.

Hmmm 5000 BTUHr AC for 8 hours will use 4000 watt hours of juice , and you’ve got 4800 watt hours capacity. I doubt your duty cycles on the AC will be 100% so you’ve got margin to play with. Even 50% cycle will keep a stationary Bus nice and cool.

Solar charging will be problematic, you need 4x the rating of the panel to recharge fuel to dirt and cosine loss, and that’s too much panel fir the roof. Dollar plus 6 hours driving at highway will make it work.