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Old 04-27-2012, 01:35 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 27
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner Type D Series 130
Engine: CAT 3126E
Rated Cap: 73
New bus+salvaged materials+9 months = Our Home

We've thought, dreamed, wondered about building out a school bus since we've been married. I've never been one for conventional, so, recently we decided we'd had enough city living, living to work etc... The answer we came to was living in a school bus even for a short time might deliver us to our greater priorities of fresh air, country living, time and more freedom. So here we are in front of our new acquisition. It is a 2001 Thomas Saf-T-Liner. Cat 3216, Allison 3060 Auto, 37'. Picked it up for a crazy good deal. Seats were already stripped out! The PO had already acquired black water tank, grey water tank, two swivel bases for captains chairs, installed curtain rods and completely serviced it at TransWest. It almost sounds too good to be true. We have a little family business salvaging building materials; new, used, old, damaged etc... So, this should be fun. We've got a 2 year old and one on the way due a few months before we plan on moving into our bus. We'll be moving in next spring and listing the house for sale. We've got a nice spot to park out in the country on my parents 7 acres and then we'll see how it goes.
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2001 Thomas 37' pusher
1971 VW Homemade double cab
1985 Vanagon (wife's/family bus)

Our build: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12438
Our blog: https://bennyandmarissa.blogspot.com/
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Old 04-27-2012, 08:46 AM   #2
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Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Wood Dale
Posts: 189
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Ford
Chassis: Carpenter
Engine: 7.8 New Holland
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Re: New bus+salvaged materials+9 months = Our Home

Haha nice! i love the idea!! i love people with your kinda of thinking, Have fun and keep us posted!
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Old 04-27-2012, 09:47 AM   #3
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Re: New bus+salvaged materials+9 months = Our Home

a 2001 is gonna be a great bus. it should give you no problems whatsoever, esp with that motor. way nicer than mine...
If you salvage building materials, you can also sell scrap .. ferrous is 10 cents a pound... Just from what you salvage, and with table saw, etc, you can easily do all your wood work. Be sure to insulate the whole thing first, including the roof. Your bus will have insulation, but you will at least need to add that strofoam/foil stuff. I used 1/2 thickness of that and screwed it inside the roof on the ceiling. It only takes one of my air conditioners to keep the thomas cool in 90 degree heat.
The other thing i would consider with small children is to make sure things are nice enough for the children and your wife before they move in to the bus.. mostly what i am talking about here is stuff like sawdust, small screws, things they can bump in to and get hurt, etc.
If you were close to me, i would give you lots of stuff, as i have scrapped 5 rv's the last 6 months...

The next bus my wife and i do is going to be a trolly...after we save up 15,000 or so for a shell...

be sure to keep us posted as mentioned before.
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Old 04-27-2012, 10:18 AM   #4
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Re: New bus+salvaged materials+9 months = Our Home

Nice bus, funny you should mention, time...
Tracy
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Old 04-27-2012, 10:45 AM   #5
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Re: New bus+salvaged materials+9 months = Our Home

Hey Guys...Great Find, and Welcome! Your background in salvage is perfect for building out a bus on a budget and doing it cool. Can't wait to see what you come up with. Keep us posted and best of luck.
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Old 05-01-2012, 10:38 PM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 27
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner Type D Series 130
Engine: CAT 3126E
Rated Cap: 73
Re: New bus+salvaged materials+9 months = Our Home

Chev49, we think it is a good bus. It is just broken in with 195,000. apparently it is a Cat 3126E. The only thin I am fretting is electronics, all the relay, breakers, wiring and fuses. We are excited to start laying out our floorplan and get her insulated and paneled. We've been going over basic layout and it I once read on here it all comes down to the duker. Our toilet location has been one of the key design factors that we have been working around. We already scored some 1/2" and 1" foil backed Rmax insulation along with several rolls of "low-E" foil+bubble wrap insulation rated at the equivalent r-value of R7-R9. The Rmax insulation is rated at R5.9/ inch.
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__________________
2001 Thomas 37' pusher
1971 VW Homemade double cab
1985 Vanagon (wife's/family bus)

Our build: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12438
Our blog: https://bennyandmarissa.blogspot.com/
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Old 05-03-2012, 09:23 AM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 27
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freightliner Type D Series 130
Engine: CAT 3126E
Rated Cap: 73
Re: New bus+salvaged materials+9 months = Our Home

Hi, thanks for all the encouragement and positive comments! My wife and I both posted a thread accidentally, so we're moving this build thread over to combine them viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12458&p=86905#p86905 We don't want to loose anyone on the way, please follow along there. Sorry, thanks for the understanding! See you over at Benny & Marissa's bus.
Benny
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2001 Thomas 37' pusher
1971 VW Homemade double cab
1985 Vanagon (wife's/family bus)

Our build: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=12438
Our blog: https://bennyandmarissa.blogspot.com/
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