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Old 04-15-2014, 11:49 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Indiana
Posts: 24
Year: 2001
Coachwork: International
Chassis: AmTran
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 78
Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

After many months of planning, dreaming, screen shopping and perusing all the awesome information on the internet & especially this fabulous forum...

WE BOUGHT A BUS!!!!



The Family
My husband, Royce, is in Afghanistan, so I, Sarah, will be doing this project mostly by myself, with help from our 5 kids, (Lily, Nora, Thayne, Stella & Zephyr) and hopefully more of our family and friends. It should be an interesting adventure!



The Bus
She is a 2001 International AmTran RE with a T444E engine. Her Allison transmission is either an AT542 or an AT545, not quite clear on that. She is a bit shorter than 40 ft by 8 ft wide. And she only has 99K miles on her.
We shopped for buses all over the place. Apparently none of the school districts around us auction off their buses, or not at this time when we were in need. They mostly trade in to new school bus distributors when buying their new replacements and the distributors re-sell their old ones. Unfortunately that knocked our year and style of choice up to about $12K. So, we happened to find THE one, through eBay. And only an hour and a half away. We did pay more than we were hoping. I think, in our area and for our timing, we definitely beat the $12K! Our bus was $5300 with $371 Tax. I hope this is as good a deal as I think it is.

The Outside
We have a mechanic who will check out the engine. So far, to my layman's eyes, all looks and sounds good.
She has surface rust on the undercarriage, where it has gotten under the spray coating on the chassis, which is now flaking off. I will be scraping off as much as I can, then hopefully pressure washing her, applying Ospho, or similar and painting/sealing the underside.
I'll be repainting the roof with BusKote, eventually installing some decking as needed to support PV arrays.
Her NSBY paint will hopefully be covered in the next few weeks with silver paint, with green and blue stripes.

The Inside
I am pleased to find that her walls and ceilings are screwed on and not riveted...unless rivets have Philips heads! The floors have quite a few (read: million) screws in them also!
I had my first attempt at removing the bolts for the seats today. My 8 year old was not in the mood in the sudden 35 degrees of today. I'll try again tomorrow with my 11 year old and 55 degrees! Used a ratchet for stabilizing one side & air powered ratchet on the other, but couldn't get the coordination figured out. Weather and impatient little ones didn't mix well with that trial! The flooring came today, so I am eager to get up the old, insulate, cover & lay down the new!

Hoping to continue forward a little every day.

This is my latest CAD iteration!

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Old 04-16-2014, 12:34 AM   #2
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Welcome Gang! --- Now the madness begins. Sounds like you have a good plan & a good team. Don't hesitate to ask questions. There are folks here who have done this many times over. And if they don't know the answers..they can certainly come up with some entertaining stories!

And thanks to Royce for his service from an old Vet. Sounds like he has great back up stateside.
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Old 04-16-2014, 05:07 AM   #3
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

INDEED!!!!

Welcome to the insanity! It's a GREAT way to create new family bonds, or stresses, depending upon how things go. My son is learning loads with our build.

Best wishes!

M1031
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Old 04-16-2014, 05:58 AM   #4
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Rated Cap: Only 1 seat
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

SUWEEEET!!!!!

Welcome to the neighborhood! At $5500 and judging by the pics and info you gave, I'd say it was a great deal!

32 yesterday and 55 today? you have to be somewhere between Chicago and Boston........we got snow this morning bleh!

Former Navy Corpsman here and Gulf War Vet. Thanks to your hubby for his service and Bravo Zulu to you for holding down the fort while he is away!

-Doc
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Old 04-16-2014, 08:44 AM   #5
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Sarah, I am very impressed with what you are doing. You rock! I'm sure you will find people on this forum very much willing to offer good advice. One thing you didn't mention in your description is the purpose/function of the bus for your family. Will you be living in it full time, or just using it for trips, or...? From my experience of cramming my family of 5 into my bus, I think you will find one of your challenges will be to create enough accessible storage for everyone's stuff. When my family goes on trips, the biggest problem I have is managing all the "stuff" that is floating all over the place. Mainly food, clothes, personal items, etc. I suggest you give serious thought to the issue of storage. It doesn't necessarily come up in one's mind as a "key" system in the bus, like electricity and plumbing, etc., but it becomes apparent how important it is once you start spending time living in the bus.

So anyways, welcome to the forum, and best of luck to you!
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Old 04-16-2014, 10:27 AM   #6
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Storage? --- Just raise the roof a coupla' feet! From the looks of that crew and the sound of their determination, they could probably knock it out in a weekend!
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Old 04-16-2014, 10:55 AM   #7
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Thank you, all!

Tango ~ Yes, madness! I am sure you can imagine all the comments and conversation this whole idea has brought up. People think we (maybe mostly me, since I am the one physically doing it) are completely insane! My questions are definitely going to be put to all these seasoned and new converters on here! Such an amazing wealth of knowledge and experience! Thank you for YOUR service! He was active duty Army for the last 10 years, is still in, as National Guard right now, but is currently serving as a civilian security contractor, working with Marines...which kind of sucks as a civilian, as it is a year long deployment this time around!

M1031 ~ That is awesome that your son is helping out. I am hoping to them how to use each tool along the way. My older son is most excited about learning how to use the angle grinder. We have safety goggles for everyone! We homeschool, so we have plenty of time to figure things out!

Doc ~ I guess we will find out just how good a deal it was when we have the engine checked out! Yes, we are in Central Indiana. Crazy weather! Sunday, when we brought the bus home, it was 75, Tuesday we got snow, also! Today, the high should be 55! Thank you for YOUR service! At least this time around, he is providing security on a base. Last deployment he was out in Baghdad 12+ hours every day teaching Iraqis how to be police officers (he is an MP). Talk to me further into the bus build and we will see how adept I am at holding down the fort, then!!! It is making my poor husband CRAZY not being here for this. But circumstances make it so that we have to start now!

Dan ~ Thank you. Originally, the plan was to travel for about 6 months across the country. Money, job possibilities, etc., have changed, so now, the new plan is to build as quickly as possible, get out of our house, & live in the bus full time, because Royce could come home at any time. If/when he does, the job or schooling choice we make will for sure not be where we currently live. So we really need the flexibility of taking our home with us...and not having a stick house to get rid of. Storage! I totally forgot to mention that in the previous post. Every bed will have built in storage under it, as will the dinette booth and the sofabed in the front of the bus. We are planning on having upper cabinets lining the upper walls/ceilings throughout. I am hoping not to need a roof raise. The interior center height is 72 inches before we rip anything out. I am 68 inches and hubby is 70 inches, so it'll be tight. I really won't know till I get the inside gutted and get a real "feel" for the interior. The bus does currently have 2 luggage compartments below. I was pleased to find that her fuel tank is in the very center of her undercarriage. That leaves up and down both sides to fabricate more compartments. I cannot believe how much space is under there! And it is all up under the sides, so we wouldn't be sacrificing any ground clearance to add storage.
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Old 04-16-2014, 11:57 AM   #8
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Engine: Cat 3126b 250 HP
Rated Cap: Only 1 seat
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Quote:
Yes, we are in Central Indiana.
HA! I am planning on bringing my rig up to my grandparents place to work on it for the summer. They are in Starke county. I was born in Valpo!

Quote:
It is making my poor husband CRAZY not being here for this.
True Red Blooded American! Maybe you can surprise him and have it done for his homecoming for a nice little road trip!
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Old 04-16-2014, 12:05 PM   #9
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Indiana
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Chassis: AmTran
Engine: T444E
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Damned bolts. We got 2 off...from one seat...ALL the rest are too rusted to their nuts...locked up my pneumatic ratchet. Gonna have to bust out the angle grinder. Man, I was really hoping that we could do more with just the ratchets!

Ha! Go Hoosiers! We are just south of Indianapolis! Yes! I am hoping to get it done or mostly done before he gets home!
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Old 04-16-2014, 02:27 PM   #10
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Indiana
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Chassis: AmTran
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 78
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

All right. After only being able to remove 2 bolts via socket and ratchets, I had to bust out the angle grinder. Covered myself from head to toe, man those sparks do go everywhere!


Ratchets at work.



Stubborn rusted bolts!
Topside


Bottom side



Ready to get down to business



In the middle of one leg


DECAPITATED!!



Not bad for $9.99 on clearance at Tractor Supply Company! JobSmart brand. DeWalt Cutoff Wheel...only lasted through 13 bolt heads. Time to go shopping for non name brand cut off wheels!!



BAM!! First seat out! Woohoo!!! Feels soooooo good!!!! (And I found an old mouse nest in the first seat I took out. Will be keeping my eyes open for any other freeloaders!)




Then I got a second seat out & 1 is halfway & 1 is 1/4 way! Time for celebratory Ice Cream!!!
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Old 04-16-2014, 02:45 PM   #11
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

I am by no means an expert and I am generally the most unsafe person I know. That being said... I would advise some extra safety gear when using cut-off grinders... We have had quite a few stories shared here about the discs blowing out. A face shield would go a long way to protect you. Other have also reported damage to glass from the sparks, so something to limit that would be a good idea too.
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Old 04-17-2014, 12:03 AM   #12
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Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: Red Deer, Alberta Canada
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Year: 1979
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Chassis: IHC
Engine: 366
Rated Cap: 48
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

A way to remove rivet heads that should work with bolts, especially once the grinder wheel gets smaller; Cut a cross into them with the grinder and knock the remains of the head off with a chisel and hammer. Then use a hammer and punch the shank out the hole.
I also use a full face mask with zip [.045] discs.

Richard
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Old 04-17-2014, 08:28 PM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Nice looking bus! I'm in Columbus, IN. Where and how did you find that bus. I have been looking for quite sometime and still have not found one I like that is reasonably priced.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:43 PM   #14
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: Indiana
Posts: 24
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Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 78
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

We have now had the bus home for 1 week (as of yesterday) and all but 2 seats are OUT!!!! I am thrilled with this, my goal was 1 week for seat demo & I nearly made it! The only ones remaining are the driver's seat & the fold up bench seat by the side emergency exit door. Ran out of time and energy to get those out today.

Also weighed one of the seats that are the most common in our bus.
(We have 1 four legged, 1 four legged folding, 2 that were just cushions attached to the rear engine housing and then 22 - 2 legged, floor bolted and side rail bolted.)

The 22 - 2 legged variety each weigh 44 pounds. That is 968 pounds of bus seats that I muscled out by myself! Which means that the other style of seats & the 2 front partitions put my bus seat weight well over 1000 pounds. I don't know if we will reuse any seats, or just frames, or cushion, so some of that particular weight may come back on the bus.

I am happy to report that the Performax brand cut off wheels from Menards worked splendidly and never fell apart or behaved at all unsatisfactorily.
http://www.menards.com/main/tools-ha...60-c-10154.htm
The one DeWalt cut off wheel fell apart from its inner ring after 13 bolt heads. I have no idea if that is normal, good or bad, but I prefer NOT to have crap flung around from power tools.



We peeled back some of the flooring up front to see if we could get a little idea of how the subfloor is up there. It seemed in okay shape, but we couldn't see under the plywood, and it was really only a 12 inch section.
Nora bustin' out the big guns with the pry bar.


Found some rust nasties when we popped off the front edge covering.


We also started getting all those letters and reflective tape off, for eventual painting.
Lily & Nora using the razor blade scrapers.


The next goal is to demo the floor by April 27th.
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Old 04-21-2014, 07:58 PM   #15
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Location: The Valley - Arizona
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Excellent job! Looks like you guys are handling yourselves well! Keep the updates coming!
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Old 04-21-2014, 08:29 PM   #16
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Posts: 24
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Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 78
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Nat & Malkieri ~ Thank you for the suggestions! Those angle grinders sure do mean business! I used ballistic eye pro from my husband, as well as thick leather gloves, and every inch of skin covered. A full face mask would be a great addition!

alwaysFlOoReD ~ I think I read that on another thread (from you!), and have that added to my demo arsenal in my brain! Luckily, all my wall and ceiling panels are screwed, rather than riveted, but I don't think I will get away without finding some rivets, somewhere that need decapitation!

Yolo ~ I tell you what, this bus took about 6 months to find. In our area, all the school corporations trade in their buses usually, rather than sell them to the public, although they do sometimes. I was looking all over the US, through Craigslist, eBay and classifieds, as well as other auction sites. Kerlin Bus, in Silver Lake, IN, was the top contender, but they wanted 12K for one similar to the one we finally found. Kerlin did have one we liked and was $5K, but it didn't have luggage compartments. I would just start watching Craigslist and eBay. Also, call all the school corporations in your area and just ask. They might be getting rid of buses or perhaps auctioning them in May/June.

Doc ~ Thanks! I am super excited to see the floor. I am hoping for 1 week to demo the floor, then 1 week to demo the walls and ceiling. At some point I need to finish "demo-ing' the "schoolbus-iness" of the outside so I can paint it!
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Old 04-21-2014, 10:28 PM   #17
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Quote:
The Bus
She is a 2001 International AmTran RE with a T444E engine. Her Allison transmission is either an AT542 or an AT545, not quite clear on that. She is a bit shorter than 40 ft by 8 ft wide. And she only has 99K miles on her.
We shopped for buses all over the place. Apparently none of the school districts around us auction off their buses, or not at this time when we were in need. They mostly trade in to new school bus distributors when buying their new replacements and the distributors re-sell their old ones. Unfortunately that knocked our year and style of choice up to about $12K. So, we happened to find THE one, through eBay. And only an hour and a half away. We did pay more than we were hoping. I think, in our area and for our timing, we definitely beat the $12K! Our bus was $5300 with $371 Tax. I hope this is as good a deal as I think it is.
Nice bus, I hope to get one similar. Your making great progress. I have a few questions about your engine. How is the power your getting from it? Can you get good speeds on the highway? How is your MPG (Since you only drove it an hour and a half im not sure if you will have numbers on this yet)? I will be following this thread to see how you do things, Im hoping to get a 99-02 Amtran RE and may "borrow" some of your ideas.
Thanks
Jake
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Old 04-22-2014, 07:12 AM   #18
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Rated Cap: 78
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Jake~You borrow as many ideas as you want!!
Mpg - you are right, I have zero idea what she might get, since we haven't driven her long distance. I hate that, but I guess that will just have to wait.
Speeds - she does have a governor, so, until we change it, her top speed is 55 mph.
Engine performance/power - on flat roads and slight inclines she seemed to perform fabulously. On steeper uphills, her speed dropped from a good 55mph clip to 35, I think was the lowest it got. So she seems to bog down with the greater climb. I don't know anything about diesel or bus heavy vehicles, so that may be normal, or maybe not. We have a mechanic who will be giving her a thorough check up soon, so, hopefully he can tell me more. I was hoping a RE bus would have greater push, as we would like to do some mountain driving, so I hope to figure this out.
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Old 04-22-2014, 11:42 AM   #19
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Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Speaking of safety, I know I've had trouble finding heavy duty work gloves for my kids at places like Home Depot, etc. Usually all I find is those cotton gardening gloves (useless). A quick search turned this up though: https://www.deerso.com/product/d70730/k ... 7Aodm1cAbQ.
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Old 04-22-2014, 01:44 PM   #20
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Join Date: Feb 2014
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Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 78
Re: Skoolie Adventure* (*as yet un-named!)

Thanks for the link, Dan! Those look like they might work well for us!
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