Our Farold's Conversion

[travelinwithus]

After a month and 14 concentrated days of work our “Powerful Traveler” Farold is nearly finished. We are currently in Nashville, TN wrapping up our first trip. We finished the conversion (well, finished enough to use it) At the end of Sept and started our journey on Novemeber 1st. We have logged about 3000 miles so far and have about another 1000 miles to go until we return home.

Here are some pics of our conversion and you can view more of our travelin' pictures at http://travelinwithus.com

We removed the stickers and did a little touch up painting but still have some work to do on the outside. We figure we will tackle that project next spring when the weather is a little nicer.

Here is a pic of the the couch and cabinet at the front of the bus. Under the couch is the electrical components that are shown in pics later.

pic of the kitchen area

Here is a pic of the right side bunk. The bunks fold down to make a seat while traveling on the road. Pic of the bunk folded down is below.

Another pic of the right side bunk.

Here is a pic of the left side bunk.

Here is a pic with the left side bunk folded down and the seat belts out.

Another pic of the bunk down.

Here is a pic of the bus looking forward from between the bunks.

Pic of the toilet. There is a little dust on the lid. I suppose I should have cleaned it before I snapped this pic but I was anxious to share the work with you all.

[travelinwithus]

Continued:

Here is a poor pic of the shower but you get the idea.

Gotta have a TV in the bedroom

This is a pic of the breaker box and battery charger under the couch. I have the battery charger wired into the breaker box so when we are not plugged in I can trip a breaker to shut it off.

The holding tanks are my favorite creations. I took two 55gal barrels and cut them in half vertically, butted the two pieces together top to top and welded 16 gauge sheet metal to the top. I have one for black water, which this one is and one for grey water which is pictured below.

Here is a pic of the grey water tank. I priced 35 gal plastic holding tanks online and found they were around $200 – $250 each plus shipping. I have about $75 invested in both tanks between the two 16 gauge steel sheets I had to buy and the welding wire.

I hope you enjoy the pics of our project.

Thanks for looking and I am looking forward to your feedback.

[travelinwithus]

Oh, I forgot to mention, We are a family of 7. My wife and I along with 4 children and one dog.

I also forgot to mention that my 13 year old son and I did all the work on this conversion together. It was a great experience.

[desertdeals69]

Looks great. I enjoy projects like this.

[rossboyer]

I see that you installed a residential refrigerator. What model and manufacturer? Did you also install an inverter and was it pure sine wave? Make and model? What is your battery bank?

[aztec7fan]

Very nice!! The conversion looks great, and it's really nice to see you were willing to go through the effort to do the conversion yourself. Back in the day, Flx, GMC, and Marmon Harrington conversions were the best way to go, but with the number and variety of production coaches availble, you don't see too many conversions being done.

I like the convertable bunks you built. They remind me of the bunks in my parents Fitzjohn that also folded down to make bench seats when not in use:

[dwightginnyputzke]

OH YA, I remember those days and years when I stood there with my parents. Does the F1099 on the license plate have any special meaning? I have my F membership number on my motorhome plates.

Memories for your kids will last forever.

[travelinwithus]

Sorry for the lack of response to the posts, we have been out enjoying Nashville, TN for the last couple days.

I see that you installed a residential refrigerator. What model and manufacturer? Did you also install an inverter and was it pure sine wave? Make and model? What is your battery bank?

It is a Whirlpool refrigerator but I am not sure of the model off the top of my head. I have a 3000/6000 watt peak modified sine wave power inverter. The make is Durified and again not sure about the model off the top of my head. I have 3 12 volt deep cell batteries and a connector to the bus batteries to help recharge as well as a Sportsman Edition battery charger and a 45 watt solar panel array on top of the bus. I haven't had any issues running the fridge, laptops and tvs off the modified sine wave power inverter. I was un-educated about modified vs. sine until we began the trip and after we purchased the one we have. No complaints for the $189 dollars we spent on it.

OH YA, I remember those days and years when I stood there with my parents. Does the F1099 on the license plate have any special meaning? I have my F membership number on my motorhome plates.

Memories for your kids will last forever.

Funny you should mention the license plate. This was the plate I received from the DMV. It isn't personalized intentionally but we found it funny because my wife and I own two businesses, one a computer store and website design company and the other is an accounting firm and tax practice and a 1099 is a form for businesses and retirement as well as other types of income reporting that has to do with preparing taxes so it was ironic that we received that plate.

[travelinwithus]

Well after 43 days, 4248.1 miles and 16 states we have completed our first trip with Farold. What a great ride it was! This is the first time in my life I am not happy to be home, lol. I see fulltiming in our future!

Here is a pic of a Google Map that I created showing about where we went:

[turtlemechanic]

That was a great trip you did (even tho' you missed me by half a state :wink: )

A.K.A. Bansil