Framing the inside of my Skoolie #skoolieconversion #diy

Added: 2026-05-25

[00:00:02]get a solid signal. And ifbody's watching, make sure let me know if my mic's on or not. Kind of hard for me to tell. I've got it. It says it's linked, but we'll have to have to play that by uh ear, so to say. Anyway, so right now I'm doing some framing. And I'm framing this way for the areas which um don't have windows because it's a lot lighter and it's actually cheaper. This is plywood and it's 3/4 inch plywood and I ripped it down into two inch section so I can get 24 of these for every sheet of plywood. And then I just put a little spacer block pretty darn close.

[00:00:44]And uh this is a 2 by3 I used as the window sill.

[00:00:49]And I'm putting vertical blocks in between because in these areas I'm going to have a horizontal cedar plank. So obviously right here there's not going to be any wall. So I've got to do things just a little different. And right here is the reason main reason I used a 2x3 is on this one I can't drill in because there's wiring in this hat channel. So I've got to do a vertical uh screw to keep this from bowing out eventually.

[00:01:24]And that also brings me to my next point is this is where a couch is going to be and I don't want it because I'm going to build off of this. I don't want it to be the least bit flexible or have the ability to warp. So that's why I used 2x3 right there. And it looks like some people are watching. Let me know if my microphone is working. Um because I'm trying a new mic out today and I want to make sure y'all can actually hear me.

[00:01:52]So, I guess if you can't hear me, then no one's going to let me know. Anyway, um, so I've got a bit of work to do. I took a break from filming the full length video that I'm going to be uploading soon. I got delayed a little bit.

[00:02:08]Hey, loud and clear. Good to go. So, hopefully it's very like there's a lot of echo in here. So, I'm wondering how this mic is doing. Does it sound good quality or not? It's a DJI mini. So, I've been putting it off forever, but I can't stand the fact that if I'm away from the camera, you cannot hear me. So, this uh hopefully is a game changer. And uh anyway, so back to what I'm talking about. I'm framing up for the walls. This is going to be some form of cedar. I've got a few different types. I've got some like really nice aromatic cedar. Good to go.

[00:02:49]No echo. Good. Good. Good. because that was the thing. It sounded like I was in a like a well the last time I did a video in here. So, I've got some really good quality cedar that I'd like to use.

[00:03:00]It's aromatic, but it's very expensive.

[00:03:02]So, I think I'm going to save that for like out here, but I also want it to be seen. And I've got a wall going right here. So, I think that's going to be where the cedar wall goes. Uh, this is going to be the kitchen. So, right here is going to be the uh the stove. And I've got some live edge black walnut countertops. I'm going to be making and I'm considering I tried to cut is I'm going to put a uh whatever you call it a floating shelf along here. So, I've been trying all day to freehand with a chainsaw and I got really close on some of those cuts, but for like 150 bucks, um trying to remember the brand, but they make a actual jig to turn your chainsaw into a sawmill. So, I'm going to probably next time YouTube pays me, I'm going to try to get one of those and do that because I really want to do everything myself in here. If it's not reclaimed, I want to actually make it myself.

[00:03:58]And uh let me show you the layout. So, this is going to be bathroom area.

[00:04:03]That's going to be couch.

[00:04:05]Then, right here is going to be hallway.

[00:04:07]There's going to be cabinets here for the kitchen. Right here is going to be where the wall divides the two. And this will be a closet. That'll be more storage. This will be the bed. And then this line right here is going to be a wall. And this will be converted into a essentially a shed. I'm going to have my fuel cell right there for the diesel.

[00:04:27]I'm going to have a diesel fireplace right there. I'll have my diesel little vore heater pumping in. Um um so I'm going to have my diesel heater pumping air in here, but I want the uh tried andrue to sit out there. You don't need any power to use it. And this will be where the solar setup goes, uh, solar cells, things like that.

[00:04:52]I'm not real big on storing a bunch of batteries and stuff like that under a bed. Just really not. So, I'm going to try to set it up in the shed area or underneath or somewhere that's not going to prevent me from getting out of here if I'm sleeping and, you know, something catches fire. So, that is safety is definitely important. So, I'm going to get started. I want to show y'all some of the cedar that I've got, though.

[00:05:19]And uh I've already fallen out of the back of this bus once. Let's not do that again.

[00:05:25]Actually did it on the last live that I did. So, this is some of that aromatic cedar shiplap. It smells really good. Pretty stuff. And then I've got Where's the other cedar boards? Oh boy. Where'd it go? Um, I don't know where the hell the Oh, here it is. So, this is 1/8 cedar. I think I'm going to do the ceiling with that.

[00:05:49]And the rest of this is cedar picket, which I'm going to be building furniture with. And probably doing some other less seen walls with it, like behind the couch, etc. So, let's started doing some framing. And, uh, thanks, Turner. You drive a propane bus. That's pretty cool.

[00:06:11]And speaking of propane, I'm going to put the propane tank underneath here.

[00:06:14]There's an actual cabinet. So, it's going to go right into where the stove is. Super stoked about that. And I'd like to try to figure out how to set the water heater up. Like, this side's great for the water heater. So, I'll probably have to run a line underneath.

[00:06:29]I can't do a back flip on anywhere, man.

[00:06:32]I'm I'm like I I have zero finesse or grace or anything else. So yeah, I definitely need to draw out a uh a blueprint and and that's pretty much what I did. Uh but I used duct tape and the original blueprint that I drew to scale that took me an hour. I looked like a four-year-old did it. But um I decided to change plans. So I know what I'm doing in my head. And there's another channel, uh, it's called J Bus, J A Y B- US. And literally right now, he's converting his own schoolie. He raised the roof on his like 24 in, which I'm just not going to do. I'm going to live with a little bit of limited headroom, but I'd like to get this thing looking original. That was kind of the goal, like like to each their own. But for me, a schooloolie is meant to look like a school bus and try to keep it like I want to make this one pretty much a sleeper. So, you know, it won't stand out too much, but we'll see how that goes. And uh I'm going to start cutting some of these in real quick and then we'll get back to the talking about the project. A lot of cool stuff's about to happen. So, safety glasses, get my saw, my pencil, and I'll show youall some pretty cool screws and stuff.

[00:08:04]And uh I'll show youall what I'm talking about. These screws are pretty damn cool. So, these screws are pretty cool.

[00:08:09]I was going to tag them, but it wouldn't couldn't figure out how to do it for the live, but these are Tech wood to metal screws. So, you can drill through the wood straight into the metal. And uh that's what I'm going to do. And whoever was saying I need to have everything in life planned out. Not everything in life has to be planned out. Sometimes it just takes the fun out of it. Makes it feel like work, especially if you're in a blue collar construction field like I am. So I already screwed this up terribly. Um so I'm gonna have to back this off some.

[00:08:47]Thanks, uh, NATO senim. Thank you.

[00:08:53]So, I got to back this out a little bit just because it's out of rotation. It needs to be flush on the bottom there.

[00:09:03]And, uh, yeah, I just wanted to take a break from the non-interactive recording side of things for the day.

[00:09:12]I uh got a little frustrated last week because I framed up the entire inside and I actually posted a couple videos on that. Um and then I changed my mind of what I was going to do.

[00:09:26]What is my timeline for completion? I'm hoping for this year, but that's going to require a lot of YouTube money. And uh you know, I get a couple hundred bucks a month right now. Some months I do really good, but I just got to keep pumping out content because that's where I started screwing up. I was posting a lot, things were going really good, and YouTube rewards you for posting uh more often. So, I kind of kind of dropped the ball there because I got so consumed in this for like the last two months that I forgot to do what I was supposed to do with it, and that's share it with you guys.

[00:10:05]So, I'm going to be putting a vertical in between. Should be right around 20.

[00:10:10]Yeah, glad I checked. This is 16 and a quarter.

[00:10:16]So, where I got the 20 in my head, it's not 16 and a quarter. So, I'm going to take these little leftover pieces. This is what I actually had framed the inside with. And I'll show you what it looked like. It was framed up with this. and it's doable, but it's not very good for insulation. And uh the more I thought about it, I was like, you know what? I need to step this off the metal because metal is a conductor of heat and that's going to kill probably 35 40% of the efficiency.

[00:10:50]So that's why I pulled it all back apart.

[00:10:57]Yeah, Turner. Man, that's it's sometimes like, man, the way YouTube like they want you to be original. They want you to create stuff that you enjoy creating, but when they put you under the gun kind of takes the fun out of things. So, that's why I just decided, this, Mark and just cut it way I do it at work. Um, I just decided to start re uh reinventing how I do things.

[00:11:29]So, if I want to go live today, I'm going to go live today. If I want to just do short form content for the next week, that's what I'm going to do. So, not every step of the way needs to be a video. This is not an instructional.

[00:11:43]This is just me sharing my journey.

[00:11:46]And I'm so used to being instructional that it's hard not to be technical with everything I say and do. And that mostly comes from my line of work, but Oh, yeah. Don't do that.

[00:12:07]Yep. Right into the metal she went.

[00:12:10]Glasses are fogging up.

[00:12:13]I got to worry about moisture from the metal in the winter. No, I don't. Um, with the right insulation and the right amount of waterproofing, if you notice all these black dots, that was a Flex Seal that I sprayed on all the older rivets. And then everything in here when I'm done is I don't have the rest of my rivets yet. This is just tacked up with a couple. But when I have the rest of my rivets and everything's secure, I'm then going to go through with like a quad cocking all these seams. Uh, every rivet, every hat channel is going to get sprayed down with Flex Seal. And the only place I really have water coming in is up there and up there. And so I'm going to be deleting those anyways. That's going to be probably where an air conditioner goes. And this will be like some kind of a vent fan type type deal. They also have a pretty cool vent fan that um has a built-in skylight. And I don't know if it's all hype or not. I'm going to do some research when the time comes.

[00:13:14]Not there yet. Matter of fact, what I'm going to be doing sooner than later is just sheet metaling over where these holes were because I have to do that anyways to frame out for the whatever I put there just to keep the water from for the time being just not coming in here.

[00:13:35]But hell yeah, that ain't going anywhere. It's going to give me something solid to nail off to. And what I'm likely going to do, um, because not every room is going to be the same, I want this to be the cedar.

[00:13:52]That could be anything because that's going to be cabinet space, countertop.

[00:13:57]So, it could just be, you know, glue on.

[00:13:59]It could be I'm not spending money on something that you can't see. And most of that wood that I have back there was left over anyways. I didn't spend, but out of that whole pile, like 140 bucks and it's probably about $600 in lumber, but I've just been saving stuff off of jobs that I do instead of throwing it in the trash because they're like a lot of it's fence pickets that were just not good enough to be a fence picket, but it'll work for what I'm doing.

[00:14:25]So, let's see what we got here.

[00:14:32]That's better.

[00:14:35]So, oh, that one's perfect. I'm not even going to cut that one. And it's already got a Man, it's already got a screw in it. That's going to just It's just going to work.

[00:14:50]If I sound like I'm breathing heavy, I notice it too today. And I don't know if it's the weather change, but don't think I'm having a heart attack.

[00:14:59]Just probably been Yeah, Jimmy, give me like two minutes.

[00:15:04]And I probably been just breathing too much of this crap.

[00:15:11]And that's the point where I'm going to tell you all about these screws.

[00:15:17]They are not completely reusable.

[00:15:20]See, this one's already been used. I'll show you all the difference. Wow, that's hot. And uh show you all the difference real quick between a used one and a new one.

[00:15:30]So, this is a new one. Focus. You notice how there's those little tabs right there on the side? Well, as soon as they go into the metal, those tabs break off.

[00:15:39]And what these tabs do is they are essentially a paddle bit to go through the wood to make the hole in the wood bigger than the hole in the metal so it doesn't push the wood back off while you're trying to attach it as you just got to see.

[00:15:55]So, yeah, that's flush perfect right there. some areas and I mean a bus is not going to be square so that might be why I'm having a little bit of trouble here and there but nothing that's going to be a problem.

[00:16:15]Did that grab?

[00:16:17]Nope. That one stripped.

[00:16:20]So, some of these screws just do that and some of them don't.

[00:16:26]And it's probably just the metal I'm screwing into. It's just trash.

[00:16:30]I was watching a video the other day.

[00:16:32]Chuck Cassidy was saying people making claims that bus is made out of high strength steel. They're not. And I can attest to that because this metal is pretty damn soft.

[00:16:49]That one went in though.

[00:16:52]Yep. If you hear that that that little bit of chatter off of the impact, then you know you're in something.

[00:16:59]Put one down here.

[00:17:04]That one red. Good deal.

[00:17:07]All right.

[00:17:12]So, anyway, um if you notice this stuff is rusting, show youall something real quick.

[00:17:22]This is cold rolled steel.

[00:17:26]And if you know anything about it, if you've ever owned a cast iron skillet or a walk, the second you wash it, it starts rusting like literally the same day.

[00:17:36]And you can kind of see these streaks or discolorations coming through.

[00:17:42]And that's where I've primed this thinking, oh, it's going to stop the rust. But the primer I used is not a sealed primer. So, it's allowing water to go through the primer and rust to be pushed out. So, I get to go sand all this back down, prime it, and then paint it before it rains again. Lessons learned. Normally, I paint things indoors and usually all at once. So, this didn't have a speck of rust on it two days ago. As y'all can tell, it kind of rained here and the humidity is high.

[00:18:14]So, but yep, no big deal. Lesson learned, though. And I think the primer I used, I didn't like it too much. You notice like this stuff's really not attached. It wipes off, but that's from the primer.

[00:18:30]It It's just And that was before it rained. That was as I sprayed it on. It was dry like confetti falling out of the looked like a silly string almost. So, I think the primer I bought was trash.

[00:18:41]Anyways, so lesson learned for a $20 can of Upupole brand. I usually use um uh what's that brand?

[00:18:52]Uh Seymour. Usually you see more.

[00:18:57]Pretty sure legally you have to have an emergency exit. Well, Turner, that is true for a commercial vehicle.

[00:19:04]And whether it's legal or not for personal use, I'm still considering keeping some kind of a hatch right there because god forbid if a fire started or something in the front of the bus, I'd want an exit.

[00:19:21]So, you make a good point there, bro.

[00:19:26]But the uh the build's going. It's just going a little bit slow and uh that's just, you know, mostly because I only get about a day a week and then, you know, not made of money anyway. But yeah, so, uh, Turner, um, my thoughts here are because the bed's going to be up at about this level. So, my thoughts are just to put a little like hatch there, but I want it to be secure so you know, some some crazy person doesn't come in in the middle of the night and that'll all be figured out as I go. But, yep. Definitely. Uh, just wanted to share with you guys what I'm doing.

[00:20:07]And, uh, are you going to create storage? Yeah, I'm going to create a Damn, I hit my head again on that.

[00:20:14]Anyway, so I'm going to create a storage space here back here. And then the bed will be like on a hinge type deal where I can fold it up and keep all my clothes or what have you underneath of it. Just kind of being smart about it. A lot of people make under their bed the station to keep all their battery bank stuff. I just don't like that idea. What kind of engine does this have? Oh man, it's got a 73 power strip.

[00:20:39]Am I going to create storage under the bus? Yes. Just don't know when or what yet. But like all the uh it's gonna have like gray tank, water tank, uh propane water heater, like on demand.

[00:20:56]And I talked to a friend of mine, he makes food trucks for a living. And he said just get a ondemand like a tankless water heater even though I've heard some funny stuff about them. He said it's your best bet. They make like 150 food trucks a year. And he said he doesn't really have any problems with it. So underneath of here is going to be where the propane storage goes.

[00:21:19]And uh yeah, it's a 73 and she runs like a top.

[00:21:24]So it's not technically a power stroke, but a power stroke's technically an international T44E.

[00:21:30]And uh let's see. I get this key to turn.

[00:21:36]Come on. Damn it.

[00:21:42]Oh yeah. Got to build some wind. She got air brakes.

[00:21:48]It runs good. Let's get some wind in here real quick.

[00:21:58]That's the pressure gauge. I'm trying to get it. Once it gets out of the red, it stops beeping for the air brakes to work.

[00:22:11]You're revving a cold diesel. Oh no.

[00:22:16]Oh man, that's got this whole thing to do that whole chassis twist thing. There we go. There's the air brakes.

[00:22:24]Oh yeah. Still doesn't have a lot of pressure, but it's enough to do what it needs to do apparently. So Oh yeah. Runs good. Smells good. I think it's about out of fuel though. Yeah, I got to go put some diesel in her. Don't want this thing running out. But um but yeah, everything works. I think I'm going to keep this right here. So, it says refrain from damaging seats, walls, and windows. And I mean, I didn't damage all the windows.

[00:22:54]Yeah, it's got a seven tree turner. It definitely does.

[00:23:00]Definitely does. Um it's an International T444E, but it's not as powerful as a 73. one is it's not as powerful as a power stroke.

[00:23:11]Power strokes are different turbo, different injectors, and a different ECM, but it definitely is international.

[00:23:29]Oh, yeah.

[00:23:34]Hasn't rained since I bought this bus.

[00:23:36]So, that's an interesting squeak on the fan belts.

[00:23:41]Yeah. And my other truck has the same engine in it. So, you know, they put that hood latch in a really sketchy spot. So, I'm just going to turn it off before I put the hood up. Doing this onehanded is a little different, but yeah, she runs good. Runs really good.

[00:24:05]Oh, 190 horsepower. Oh, yeah. I don't know. It's It's got uh 210 horsepower.

[00:24:15]There it is.

[00:24:18]Yep. She runs good. I'm going do some maintenance on her, though. I'm going to blow it.

[00:24:26]Nah.

[00:24:29]Now, she sounds good though. Minus that chirp. And never had that chirp before.

[00:24:35]Oh yeah, I gotta get that sheet metal tightened up. It's rattling a bit. It does not use deaf fluid.

[00:24:41]Yeah, she sounds good.

[00:24:46]Yeah, none of my trucks have deaf or emissions on them. Not even my newer ones.

[00:24:53]But yeah, Turner. Oh, yeah. That 60 that I got, Turner. Uh, I gained like 50 horsepower by changing the freaking fuel filter. So, it's like way faster than I remember it being. But yeah, she runs good.

[00:25:14]But I think I'm going to go for a walk here, guys.

[00:25:18]I've been at this for a little while today and just feels like a good day to go for a walk. It's kind of cool out. It's been like 100 degrees for the last few days and uh it's been like 100 degrees the last few days and it dropped down to like 60. It rained.

[00:25:39]All the pollen's gone.

[00:25:41]The air is super crisp. So, I think I'm going to go for a walk. Yeah. Look how quick that rust. That had no rust on it three days ago.

[00:25:50]And this thing one day it'll be on the road or get sold. I don't even want this anymore. Don't like I don't like these old Broncos. Everything about this truck has tried to kill me in some way or another. So yeah. Oh, and I got this sweet ass old minibike.

[00:26:11]So, it's the Dumb and Dumber 1971 Sears and Robuck Rup.

[00:26:22]These bikes are worth a fortune. This one is in pretty damn good shape.

[00:26:28]And I got it. Oh, and it matches the bus. Look at that. And I got this for like 75 bucks.

[00:26:34]So, they're actually worth a couple grand, but I just picked it up at a yard sale the other day. Could not pass it up.

[00:26:42]Didn't even know it was worth anything.

[00:26:43]I saw it and reminded me of the one I had when I was a kid. Yeah, that 6.

[00:26:47]She's running real good. Thinking about selling that, too. So, I got that 97 F250 4x4. So, thinking about selling this and putting the money back into the 97 cuz I like the OG 73s.

[00:27:05]This one has a brand new 6 liter and it's studded from Ford. It's got 30,000 miles on it. I've done a lot of work to it and I just I got too many vehicles. I got one, two, three, four, five, including the bus. So, don't need all that.

[00:27:27]Need to strap it to the roof of the bus.

[00:27:28]Oh, the mini bike. Yeah. No, I thought it would be cool to like put a rack on the front, but that mini bike I just It's It's worth more than I paid for the bus. So crazy to think that.

[00:27:43]But then I got a kayak that I haven't used yet.

[00:27:48]And just getting ready to get this thing on the road.

[00:27:54]be able to travel and I'm going to get some land. Still looking for the perfect place, but I'm going to my main goal with this bus is to be able to live out of it while I build my own house. And that is the dream. So, I'm just trying to make this for me. I'm not trying to make it for anybody else.

[00:28:15]And uh just going to share it with you guys along the way.

[00:28:19]I'm probably going to jump off here real quick, but if y'all like what I'm doing, like and subscribe, and I'll be posting more videos on the bus build probably for months to come. Anyway, thanks for watching. Y'all have a good Saturday.