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Old 08-16-2014, 09:23 PM   #1
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New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Hey everyone, we just wanted to share our bus project! We bought this in April and built a quick conversion to take on a summer long road trip from Florida to the PNW. Once we find a place to land in Oregon we have big plans to do some remodeling to make it a more permanent living space. We are excited to be a part of this forum, I am sure we will have a million questions once we start doing a more complete conversion.
For a ton of pictures and stories from our summer travels check out our blog here: http://www.theneworegontrail.com



Our bus is a 1984 Blue Bird All American, with the dreaded Cummins VT555 9.1L V8 diesel. Even though it is turbocharged it is loud and slow, but it has hauled us and all our stuff all over the US so I can't complain too much! It has some great storage compartments in the back, and came equipped with a factory ScottAir AC setup, powered by a Yanmar 3 cyl 17HP diesel and an interesting compressor setup. We love the large sliding windows and all the space the 40 footer gives us, and we can't wait to live in it full time. Purchase price was $2000









What we started with. Bought it in rural Georgia and drove it home 6+ hours to Central Florida where we were living at the time











Started tearing out the seats and interior right away





















Covered the seat holes and painted the floor. Then added insulation and flooring







Started building up the simple interior. Boxing in the wheel wells, building a kitchen and bedroom area























Cut up an old table and built some benches to create a nice seating area, which is very comfy with a great view









Painted the stripe copper/brown





And a few photos of the completed project and our trip around the country


























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Old 08-17-2014, 10:35 AM   #2
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Welcome to the Asylum --- You guys are way ahead of the pack and already enjoying the good life. Keep us up to date with as many pix as you can load. Best of luck in the Great Northwest.
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Old 08-17-2014, 12:12 PM   #3
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Great work!!! Were in Tacoma, welcome to the PNW!!!
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Old 08-17-2014, 01:54 PM   #4
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Welcome to the West Coast!! Your conversion is wonderful. I love the "industrial" look of the walls for the toilet area. The floor looks great. Keep us all up-to-date as you work on your baby!!
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Old 08-17-2014, 02:05 PM   #5
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

welcome, I love all the textures, industrial and natures wood!!! what are you using for "mixing" valves on the sink faucet?
or is it just cold water?

Again...welcome!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Old 08-17-2014, 06:30 PM   #6
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

That's a really interesting bus, especially with the pre-existing a/c run by a pony engine. Tell me your thoughts about the dry flush toilet. I don't know if there is more than one manufacturer or not. I read up on one of them this past week. Very interesting concept, but I had some concern about the cost of the refills. Quick math in my head seemed like about $1.00 per flush. I hope you keep us updated as you re-invent the interior. Welcome!
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Old 08-17-2014, 07:12 PM   #7
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Nice work. Love the tin walls around the john!
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Old 08-18-2014, 12:35 AM   #8
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Thanks everyone! We are actually from Oregon, we just spent the last year living in Florida. We miss our mountains so we are moving back home! I will try I get more photos uploaded soon
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Old 08-18-2014, 06:19 AM   #9
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

love the tin and old wood also! yall kepp on keepin on!
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Old 08-18-2014, 11:01 PM   #10
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Dug up some more photos from the project
























































Most of the lumber used for this project was stuff we got for free from my work, I disassembled an old horse corral and scavenged quite a bit of wood from there. When we do round 2 of the bus build I would like to use some different sized boards, since we don't need such heavy duty lumber for an interior. Fortunately the company I was working for in Florida let me park on one of their properties, so we had a great place to do the conversion. We could make as much noise and as much mess as we want, plus use some of the equipment for heavy lifting and I could raid the service truck if I needed. This is the first time either Lindsey or myself have built anything even remotely similar to a home, so it was a big learning experience for both of us. We had a great time, and can't wait to redo some of the interior now that we have a little more knowledge. We will also have a longer timeline, as we were scrambling to get it done before the lease on our rental house was up.
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Old 08-19-2014, 06:46 AM   #11
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

love it
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Old 08-20-2014, 11:16 AM   #12
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

To help answer some questions we have been getting we decided it was time to take you on a little tour of our bus interior. I hope the photos show enough detail, feel free to post a comment if you have more questions.

We start up front with the captains chair and giant steering wheel. The air ride seat is fairly comfortable, and having the little fan actually helps quite a bit. The little handmade Bluebird is a gift from our friends in Michigan. All the gauges work except the speedometer, but I have gotten pretty good at judging our speed from the sound of the engine. Sitting right next to the engine is hot and loud, having a rear engine bus would sure be more comfortable! There is also a control panel for the old Scott Air AC setup, which is powered by a 17HP Yanmar 3 cylinder diesel. I still haven’t figured out what to do with that yet.











Next up is the box next to the front door. This was built over the wheel well as a storage area for shoes and spare parts and tools. It also allows quick access to two fire extinguishers. Across the isle there is a small bench built over the other wheel well, this is the only passenger seat available (besides the dinette).







Moving back we have the dinette, each bench has a small storage area underneath. The table was an old kitchen table we got for free. It was pretty beat up and didn’t look very nice, but after removing the side wings and some strategic sanding and staining it works out well and is very comfy to sit at. On the other side is a little bookshelf we installed to hold various supplies, and our secure bike storage area. Ratchet straps sure are useful!















We built a very simple but effective kitchen area, using a small Camp Chef propane camping stove/oven, a portable Edge Star fridge/freezer, and a foot pump sink. The stove is nice to use, and the oven works surprisingly well. Lindsey has successfully made many delicious biscuits and even a berry cobbler. We also made some amazing bus pizza while we were camping in Michigan. The little fridge works great, we are very happy with it. We have plans to add a small chest freezer converted into a fridge so we have some more food storage space. Our sink is run by a foot pump and two jerry cans, one for the drain and one for fresh water. The setup is very easy to use, and really teaches us about water conservation! When we are cooking and eating in the bus regularly we have to empty the grey water and refill the fresh at least once a day. We have separate containers for drinking water. The “faucet” is some copper pipe stuck together. It looks neat but I think we will need to come up with a more permanent solution. We also store two propane tanks under the sink, with a 10 foot hose running to the stove. Under the counter there are a couple shelves for food and cookware storage. It all works well while traveling, but I am excited to redo this area to be a little more user friendly.We want to be able to open up a more traditional cabinet and have a little more organization for the utensils. Across the aisle is another counter top and a storage shelf underneath. It is really nice to have all the counter space, especially when we start cooking up some bigger meals.





















Behind the kitchen is the tiny bathroom with our dry-flush toilet. We are still coming up with some different ideas on how to build a bigger bathroom with a shower, there is a lot to learn about tiny home/RV plumbing! Across from the bathroom is my tool box. There wasn’t room for it anywhere else so we built it into the interior. Once we find a place to call home I will move the tool box outside the bus and free up that space for more storage.





In the back is the bedroom and closet area. We each have out own clothes storage, built over the rear wheel wells. The tops are built out of old pallet boards sanded down and pieced together. The plastic totes hold smaller clothing items, we put down rubber grip mats underneath so they don’t move around while driving. We attached a couple of antique cigar boxes to the tops to hold small personal things. You can also see our New Oregon Trail sign, a handmade gift from our friends in New Hampshire. The bed is built up on a tall platform to allow for lots of storage underneath. We also have our small inverter/charger under the bed, with heavy cables running through the back wall into the storage compartment where the battery bank is.









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Old 08-21-2014, 09:57 PM   #13
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

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Old 08-22-2014, 04:50 PM   #14
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal
Did Arnold turn the pictures off for you ..............
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Old 08-22-2014, 06:48 PM   #15
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Just being cheeky. The bus is awesome. In all the years on skoolie, I can't remember another thread PACKED with so many on the first page. I couldn't help but be a smartass.
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Old 08-22-2014, 10:48 PM   #16
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal
Just being cheeky. The bus is awesome. In all the years on skoolie, I can't remember another thread PACKED with so many on the first page. I couldn't help but be a smartass.
I know....awesome 1st page...and I am cheekiest of all........I think

nailed page 2 on the edit
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Old 08-26-2014, 03:33 AM   #17
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal
Just being cheeky. The bus is awesome. In all the years on skoolie, I can't remember another thread PACKED with so many on the first page. I couldn't help but be a smartass.
Who wants to look at a post without pics ;)
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Old 08-26-2014, 05:46 PM   #18
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Re: New Oregon Trail Bus - 1984 Bluebird

Quote:
Originally Posted by LuckyHenriksen
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal
Just being cheeky. The bus is awesome. In all the years on skoolie, I can't remember another thread PACKED with so many on the first page. I couldn't help but be a smartass.
Who wants to look at a post without pics ;)

Not me.
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