Sometimes we spend a lot of time in the design phase before we build something, but for this project Don is winging it. He has a plan in his head and he’s just figuring it out as he goes along.
He first built the couch armrest closest to the driver’s seat which will store shoes, sunglasses and random things. The armrest on the other side will hold the cat food and water with a door down to the cat litter box room. So first, we need to build the cat room.
Our goals for this room was to use scrap materials, make it easy to clean, insulate it and make it safe and functional for the cats.
Basically Don built a box out of plywood. The floor of the luggage bay is corrugated, so to create a flat level Don used some 1x2’s under the plywood box floor like floor beams. Underneath the floor we were able to easily push leftover sheep wool insulation in here with a stick. For the walls and ceiling area we used leftover foam board insulation and just glued it to the wall. The plywood box is made out of treated plywood as it will be harder to control moisture in this luggage bay. It is held together with glue and pocket hole screws.
We then glued and stapled linoleum to the entire box which will be easy to clean as it will get dirty in here. Don arranged the linoleum so that if any liquid gets into that room it should flow towards the luggage bay door and out and not seep down under the box floor.
The box sits pretty tight in the luggage bay but to secure it in place Don drilled holes from the bottom of the bus up into the wood box, and then used heavy duty bolts (left over from what we secured our roof rail for our solar panels to the ceiling), sikaflex to seal it up from the bottom so no moisture goes up in there, big washers and loctite threadlocker around the lock nut.
We will be making more additions to this room including an exhaust fan to pull smells out, a ramp from “upstairs” going down into the cat room, compartments to store litter scooper, dustpan, fresh litter and a slide out tray that will hold the litter box, which should make it easy to empty it. Stay tuned - coming soon!
Up Next
We test out our new Starlink Dishy McDishface 2 to ensure we have the best internet connectivity when we hit the road.
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Grade 8 Zinc Plated Steel Hexagon Bolt
Grade 8 Steel with a course thread. Designed for use in high stress applications. ensile Strength: 150,000 psi. min, 1/4 – 1.5 inch diams). Thread size of 3/8"
Grade 2 Zinc Washer
Fender washers have a larger outer diameter than a typical flat washer to provide a greater surface bearing. They are generally used in applications where a larger outer diameter is required for an increased bearing surface and surface load reduction. 3/8 " internal diameter.
Stainless Steel lock nut
Our hex lock nuts are very strong and are great for both indoor and outdoor use. This stainless is superior to regular steel and provides excellent rust resistance. With a nylon insert, these lock nuts greatly reduce loosening under vibrations and torque.
Loctite 243 Threadlocker
LOCTITE® 243® is designed for the locking and sealing of threaded fasteners which require normal disassembly with standard hand tools. The product cures when confined in the absence of air between close fitting metal surfaces and prevents loosening and leakage from shock and vibration. Suitable for applications on less active substrates such as plated surfaces, where disassembly with hand tools is required for servicing.
Sikaflex 221
Sikaflex-221 is a high-quality multi-purpose non-sag 1-c polyurethane sealant/adhesive that cures on exposure to atmospheric humidity to form a durable elastomer. Sikaflex-221 bonds well to a wide variety of substrates and is suitable for making permanent elastic seals of high adhesive strength. Suitable substrate materials are wood, metals, metal primers and paint coatings (2-c systems), ceramic materials and plastics.
