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Sxy Flxy

- by Pete Snidal (C)2002

The Floor Plan - Putting It All Back Together

Once the gutting and re-panelling were complete, the floor plan became important. We had agonized over this for a number of hours, and by the time it was needed, it was ready. We drew it up for the computer in Windows Paint - this made it easy to change things as we went along. The final version looked like this:


There were a few variations made as we went along, but this was the general idea. The driver's seat was replaced with a two-person bench, for example.

We decided to leave the right side as open as possible for driver's view of the right lane, both by turning the head and by the full-width mirror that always seems to remain in our busses - it's nice to be able to see what's going on both in the rear of the bus itself, and to the right in the outside world.

With a floorplan decided, the work continued a stage at a time. The route of march was first to replace the bulkhead between the main (passenger) compartment and the rear baggage compartment. Then I thought I'd install the water tanks between the rear wheel wells, and the bed and related cabinets directly in front of this. Then the route of march would be the front bulkhead of the closet - behind the driving position - and carry on down the left side.

1. The Bed Cabinetwork

A "Captain's-Style" bed incorporates water tanks, dresser drawers, a shelf cabinet on the right side, and rear cabinets, accessible from the baggage room, over the wheel wells - just right for deck chairs, portable barbecue, and other camping gear.
(Below) the beginning of the reinstallation of the rear bulkhead. Doorway is provided for access between baggage compartment and bedroom, and for airflow when parked with doors open.



(Right) The water tank enclosure and related cabinetwork sketched in
Two views of the bed and rear area - the first (below) before the cabinetwork down the left side, and the larger one (right) after completion of the closet, fridge enclosure, and kitchen cabinetwork - as well as installation of the floor linoleum. RV Toilet shown is just parked there, it will later be installed somewhere else.





2. The Cabinetwork

With the rear bulkhead and bed in place, and the flooring down, it was time to get to work on the rest of the cabinetwork. Order of march was from driver's seat back, and then down the right side with the dinette, a small drawer cabinet salvaged from the original conversion (to give it a "heritage" feel), and an enclosure to cover the right front wheelwell. First element to go into place was the bulkhead behind the driving position. This was followed by the closet. It was begun with two bulkheads from floor to ceiling, one on each end of the left front wheelwell. Then a box over the wheelwell, with a flip top for what little storage room was to be available under the closet, formed by the bulkheads, a top, and front.

The rear bulkhead of the closet formed the front one of the fridge enclosure, which was built next, then the fridge was installed.

Louvered closet doors were donated by a fan of Flxy, who found them discarded at the dump, thought, "Just the thing for Flxy!, and brought them over - about the time I was wondering how I'd be handling the door problem."



Now, we're really on a roll! The kitchen cabinets came next, fitting in between the rear fridge enclosure and the rear cabinet bulkhead, which of course would define the front of the bedroom. 		By this time, it was winter, but the propane furnace had been installed, and it proved to be easy to keep this insulated little cocoon snug as a bug. At last! - A heated workshop!

3. The Dinette

Now for the dinette. The seats were built with "flip-up" tops for underseat storage, and flip-forward backs for more storage.



Table was a straightforward affair, with drop-down capability for emergency bed.

Done!

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