Cabin Heat, flexible lines

Tonight, I'll cover some thoughts about how to heat the inside of the bus and the coolant line routing I did this afternoon. My wife took a quick week in Las Vegas, so I have an update on Marianne and Tom.

Cabin Fever
First, I thought about putting the heating unit under the main belly of the bus. I went through the trouble of reversing the heater core, and re-mounting it. But, once I got under the bus, I discovered that I couldn't put it where I wanted to as it would block 1/2 the entrance to the radiator. Oi. One more example of avoiding sliding under the bus and it costing me in wasted time.

Then, my thinking switched to putting the heater unit (rear heater unit from a vanagon) under the front belly pan. The front pan hangs over 8" below the floor of the bus, and there is sufficient space width-wise to fit the heating unit (needs 13"). Reference the picture to the right...The heater unit could sit with the square foam side pressed up against the floor. The original heater tube in this location will be removed so the air that is forced by the fan will go up through the tube into the bus cab. I had intended to connect the entry side of the fan to the original ducting. I realized that once the belly pan was re-attached with a sealing foam, I won't have to fit the ducting together. The vacuum created by the fan will be filled by the open ducting anyway. In the picture to the left, you can see a HVAC collar has been attached to the fan inlet. If necessary, I can hard-route the old ducting into the fan.

One bit to note in this picture would be the black section along the bottom of the pictures. That is from the original cowl and it forces all of the fan air through the core. If it is left off, air can easily flow around the core, and the heat would be incomplete. The opening is 4" by 9". That's almost the size of a standard floor vent (4x10), which has me questioning whether I should go with the housing-against-the-floor plan. I could get a floor register and connect a bend up to the floor. I think that would allow better flow into the cabin, and would allow me to hang the unit from the floor instead of from the front.

Regardless, I am going to suspend the work on cabin heat for now. The wish is Operable This Summer. I won't need cabin heat in July and August. I can deal with the heat after that.

Coolant Lines
I got the rubber hoses earlier this week. With the copper pipe stringing the rubber sections together, I was able to create 2 long lines. I threaded the lines, one at a time, from the engine bay, over the right-rear axle, under the rear beam to the radiator. I connected the ends to the radiator and the engine flanges, but I'm not sure it's "done". The hoses do bend and flex, but they don't seem to want to hold much of a bend. I think they are designed for a single bend that's not terribly complicated. The bend at the radiator isn't holding tight, making the hose the low-point. I'm going to add a 90* bend of copper pipe at the radiator. That will raise the hose so it is no longer the lowest point on the bus.

I am still concerned about the lack of a bleeder at the radiator high-point, but I'll worry about that later. Also, I'll abandon the cabin heat for now and button up the coolant system. For the lines that should route to/from the heater core, I'll just tie them together in the engine compartment for now.

Marianne and Tom
My wife got back from Las Vegas on Tuesday after spending the prior week helping her brother Tom and mom (Marianne) again. We learned that Tom had lost consciousness a week ago, and was going back into the hospital. My wife flew down the next day. While she was down there, she helped Tom get hospice care started, move into a new apartment, and get somewhat settled. Her mom had another CAT scan to gauge the growth of her tumors and got the results back from her biopsy - she has a multi-cell cancer that is somewhat aggressive. My wife was the emotional anchor while she was there, and really seemed to help life their spirits. It seemed very exhausting for her, though, so we're glad she's home.

I won't have time tomorrow, nor do I expect to have much time during the week next week. I had hoped to have more on the weekends in January, but that's how it goes. Anyway, the coolant system will be done soon enough. After that, I'll either be moving back to the electrical or the air induction system.