May 2019 ConversionsBCM My Beach House on Wheels DIY Solar InstalL By Debbie Breaux By Karen Riffel Dirty Truth About Compost Toilet’s Traveling in Mexico By Morgan Crabtree By Gary Hatt 2 BCM BUS CONVERSION May 2019 PUBLISHER’S NOTE BCM - Print Editions that. Many companies, including the one I was at, had transitioned over to It was very unfortunate to have to stop online training so you have to be at a sending out print copies of BCM to our computer to track your time, complete customers. It took me over a year to employee training, and just about GARY HATT make that decision. We lost a few customers who were everything else required to complete not able to access the digital edition, either because they your job. So now, most people are have no computer, no email, or have no access to the familiar with online content. internet. We hate to lose even one customer but some- times you have to make sacrifices to sustain a business. When we went all-digital at BCM we also closed our brick- I love to read a print magazine as well as everyone else, n-mortar office and put all of our old print magazines in but we had a choice of either shutting down the magazine storage. We send a box out to many rallies now, along with completely or going to an all-digital format and keep the a note saying we are now all-digital, along with a subscrip- magazine going financially. tion form and many people sign up as a result of seeing our magazine. We were offering both a print magazine and the digital edi- tion for a few years but we found that as people renewed, We still have about 2000 magazines in storage that we more and more chose the digital version over the print ver- need to liquidate. We have a full set of magazines which sion because they could read it from anywhere they were include every issue since BCM started in 2012 that are traveling and it also contained bonus content. worth a lot of money to anyone starting a bus conversion. They are now listed for sale. The sets consist of about 300 The digital edition also allows the ability to search through magazines which are ready to ship out to the first person all issues for a word or phrase and any article that uses who is interested in them. those characters and the result will be right at your finger- tips in seconds. We also can include two to three times To see more about this offer, click on the following link: the content in the digital edition. Because more and more https://www.busconversionmagazine.com/forum/index. people were choosing the digital version over the print, the php?topic=33955.0 cost per copy was increasing at the same time postal rates were increasing. This made it even harder to support the I am sure someone will find a use for these magazines and print version. they would make a great gift to anyone considering a bus conversion. For more information about these magazines Many of the younger generation enjoy the digital version please call as that is what they are used to. When I quit teaching the office. Opinions and techniques expressed Computer Aided Design classes six years ago to start herein are those of the authors and do not BCM, we only offered learning media in digital format. SYOTR necessarily represent those endorsed by We stopped using paper copies about five years before the Publisher. Bus Conversion Magazine and the authors respectively accept no re- sponsibility or liability for any errors, omis- sions, alterations, or for any consequenc- MAGAZINE es ensuing upon the use of, or reliance CONTACTS upon any information contained herein. Tasks performed in maintaining, altering Published By Contributing Authors and using vehicles may require special- Bus Conversion Magazine Debbie Breaux ized skills and involve inherent risks to 9852 Katella Ave., Suite 361 Morgan Crabtree the person doing the work or to the safe Anaheim, CA 92804 operation of the vehicle. It is the reader’s Karen Riffel responsibility to assess their own skills to (657) 221-0432 Gary Hatt determine if they can perform any such task and to seek professionally trained as- Publisher sistance if needed. Gary Hatt Online Discussion Forum [email protected] www.BusConversions.com/bbs/ Phil Lyons Website Editorial [email protected] www.busconversionmagazine.com Jorge Escobar Senior Editor and Art Director Moderators Follow us on Instagram [email protected] Phil Lyons Instagram.com/BCMagUSA Nick Badame Accounting/Subscriptions Jack Conrad Like us on I Noemi Johnston K.J. “Frank“ Franklin Facebook.com/BCMagUSA [email protected] Paul Lawry Please send us your stories of your bus conversions (long or short) and please document them with digital photos. We would love to consider your articles for the magazine. Please send them to [email protected]. www.BusConversionMagazine.com May 2019 BUS CONVERSION BCM 3 Note: You may click or tap on any of the article titles or advertisers on this page to go directly to that article or ad. Index of Advertisers Ardemco 41 My Beach House on Wheels Dirty Truth About Compost Toilet’s By Debbie Breaux By Morgan Crabtree Autex 37 Balance Masters 27 B&B Coachworks 11 Byler Rivet 31 Clearsource 11 Custom Instrument Panels 18 Custom Instrument Panels Lights 28 DIY Solar Install Traveling in Mexico Engine Heat Protection 17 By Karen Riffel By Gary Hatt Engine Power Source 22 In This Issue Hose and Cable Grip 12 Leisure Coachworks 35 Publisher´s Note 2 Lloyd DeGerald Services 39 My Beach House on Wheels Midwest Transit Equipment 33 By Debbie Breaux 4 Mobile RV Glass 10 Dirty Truth About Compost Toilet´s 15 By Morgan Crabtree Nature’s Head 21 DIY Solar Install O-SO-Pure 5 By Karen Riffel 20 Traveling in Mexico Pacific RV Parts 29 By Gary Hatt 32 Passport America 25 Cartoon 36 Pro Auto Works 40 Service Directory 45 Recovery Room 7 Gary’s Tip 45 Roadmaster 14 Classifieds 46 RV Part Center 62 Sewer Sock 26 Subscription Form 51 SmartPlug 20 The Adventure of My Life By Dave Galey 52 Straight Line Steering, Inc. 24 Events 55 Superior Driveline 34 Sure Marine Service 32 Press Release - Boosting RV Safety, One 63 Shore Power Plug at a Time Tailgater Tire Table 4 Want to Be Famous? 64 Unforgettable Fire 15 Bus Chat - What Spare Parts Do You Carry? 65 Wrico International 23 Thanks to our advertisers for supporting Bus Conversion Magazine When you contact them, tell them you saw their ad in Bus Conversion Magazine. www.BusConversionMagazine.com 4 BCM BUS CONVERSION May 2019 My Beach House on Wheels BY DEBBIE BREAUX The marriage ended after 18 years of being together and it was time for me to make some decisions of my own. I decided to purchase five acres of property in the hopes of making a big move two miles away, I wanted to build my dream home with a pool to have it feel like resort living. No, it wasn’t the beach but it was a beautiful location, and having many gorgeous oak I love to relax in my quaint little Living Room his is a story about a small town girl that had a big dream for as long as I can remember. I Twas raised in a very small town on the bayou of Louisiana, one way in and one way out! It is a very small Cajun French town, with the majority of the peo- ple there being Cajun French speaking people, back when I was growing up anyway. And yes, somehow I still remain in this small town today. It’s a great place to have lived throughout my life but I always had a desire to live on or near the beach. My favorite movies were Bikini Beach Party with Annette Funicello, Frankie Avalon, and the Eric Von Zipper, I am sure you’re wondering what in the world does this have to do with anything. It has everything to do with how I got to the point of now having my beach house on wheels. I had this dream to live by the beach/ocean and thought one day that it would become my reality! I married very young and my life kind of stood still for a time. www.BusConversionMagazine.com May 2019 BUS CONVERSION BCM 5 trees throughout the property was a feeling of seren- would need to be overhauled starting from the ground ity, being right on the bayou it would be the next best up. This may have been the better way to go for me thing. because I could do the build a little at a time and didn’t have to spend all my money at once. Yeah right, I was a flight attendant for the New Orleans Hornets the more I thought about having to build a bus into a on their private jet at the time, unfortunately the own- motorhome the less enthused I became. ers decided to sell the plane and provide transporta- tion in a way that it wasn’t so costly for them. I had I did speak to several builders that would build a bus always thought at some point in my life I would buy a for you and all you had to do once it was completed camper, RV, or something in that line and travel the was drive it home and move in.