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Old 05-29-2012, 02:22 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2012
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Year: 1988
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1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

For years now, ,my RV needs have been growing. I currently have an 1979 C-Class with a 400SBC/TH400 combo. I have two kids, two dogs, and I also sometimes need to tow a car trailer with a 4500 lb buggy on it behind. Needless to say, the C-Class is inadequate for the job.

The C-Class with the buggy on the back - Crappy picture but you get the idea:



The Buggy in all it's 4500 lb glory:



I have been thinking of a bus for a while now and the last time I towed with the c-class, I got a nice ticking sound in the motor for my troubles. Sitting around the campfire, I mentioned I wanted a bus and a friend of mine said "I'll sell you mine" - Now, I know how he got the bus, his brother was a mechanic for the local school bus company and hand picked/safetied and delivered it to him.

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Old 06-04-2012, 07:38 AM   #2
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

The Bus: 1998 - 78 Passenger, 5.9 Cummins, Allison Trans, Flat nosed BlueBird bus:








I keep changing the floor plan, this is where I am at now:



Some info on registering it as a RV: (In Ontario)

You need to do FOUR of the following seven things:

Cooking facilities
a refrigerator or an ice box
a self-contained toilet
a heating or air conditioning system
an independent electrical power supply
an independent gas supply
a potable water supply system with faucet and sink.

The reasoning for the garage in the back:

- It eliminates any need for doing any sheet metal work in the back
- Garage has a separate door for access - no need to disturb the kids when accessing it
- Water tank, propane can go back there eliminating the need for hiding this stuff under furniture, etc and everything can just be run forward making the water/elec/propane run easy.
- Welding can be done out the back door
-Kids bikes, toys, BBQ, etc and be shoved in the back without disturbing the finished parts of the bus.
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Old 06-06-2012, 10:05 PM   #3
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Post when you get your bus and let us know about your build progress. Lots of photos!


Ed
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Old 06-06-2012, 11:29 PM   #4
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Ah! fresh SKOOLIES! HA! What kind of bus, how big, what motor/trans and what are your plans for it?

Welcome to the NUT HOUSE and have fun!
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Old 06-07-2012, 04:22 AM   #5
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Welcome to the madness,a few action pics of the buggy would be cool
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Old 06-07-2012, 07:14 AM   #6
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
Welcome to the madness,a few action pics of the buggy would be cool
Here you go:



And thanks for the welcome guys!

I posted pics of the bus, just waiting on a mod to "approve" the post
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Old 06-10-2012, 02:50 AM   #7
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

i placed a storage room behind my bedroom in my 40' bus. i think the length is around 6' from the back of the bedroom wall to the rear window, but since it is an re, there is a seat panel above the engine. I did so for a couple of reasons. (1) storage; and (2) if i get a washer/dryer, i can put it back there out of the way...
it has been very handy to put supplies back there, and it actually large enough that if necessary a small bed could be put in there.
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Old 06-10-2012, 03:12 PM   #8
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Excellent Unit with a great motor that can be dialed in for hp, torque or mpg! Not sure which Allison you might have, but the new gen trannies can pay for themselves in added mpg. Keep the pix coming!
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Old 06-10-2012, 03:50 PM   #9
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Not sure why it cropped the floor plan. Let's try this again:

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Old 06-10-2012, 03:51 PM   #10
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by chev49
i placed a storage room behind my bedroom in my 40' bus. i think the length is around 6' from the back of the bedroom wall to the rear window, but since it is an re, there is a seat panel above the engine. I did so for a couple of reasons. (1) storage; and (2) if i get a washer/dryer, i can put it back there out of the way...
it has been very handy to put supplies back there, and it actually large enough that if necessary a small bed could be put in there.
Had the C-Class out this weekend and dragging the kid's bikes through the living area confirmed my decision for a garage, so tired of it
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Old 06-10-2012, 04:11 PM   #11
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Welcome!!! Have a great time building
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Old 06-10-2012, 04:12 PM   #12
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

keeping mine.. also dog sleeping room...
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Old 06-10-2012, 05:45 PM   #13
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by aweber
Not sure why it cropped the floor plan...
If you right click on the image and then left click on "View Image" you will be able to see the entire image. Just click the "back" button next to the URL address bar when you are done looking at the image. Doing that will allow you to see BOTH images when you click on them, there's nothing wrong. Most of the images on this forum are cropped like that unless they are posted as Thumbnails (little images)
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Old 06-10-2012, 09:00 PM   #14
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

I was wondering how long it would take for you to jump over here from pirate...

Welcome aboard...
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Old 06-11-2012, 11:52 AM   #15
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtygoat
I was wondering how long it would take for you to jump over here from pirate...

Welcome aboard...
Thanks :beer:
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Old 06-11-2012, 06:13 PM   #16
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by NoBusYet
your bathroom might feel more like a room rather then a closet.
I have owned two different c-classes and one thing I always hated was small/cramped bathrooms so that is exactly what I was trying to go for. Plus with the toilet on the one side and the shower on the other side, I can mount the grey/black water tanks on either side of the bus, evening weight and hopefully making it easier to mount them.
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Old 06-12-2012, 03:56 PM   #17
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

The first step in any skoolie conversion should be stripping the inner walls, skin the windows, insulate and recover the inner walls... Then you're ready to start building...

IMHO the bathroom is where you should start any skoolie build... Placement of the holding tanks will determine how a lot of the bus will/can be built...

Gather as many grey and black tanks that you can get your hands on... They are all different sizes and it's a lot easier to mock up different tanks than change the bus to fit the tank...

Tape out your floor plan on the floor and use cardboard or construction paper to build a basic layout of the structure... I have lots of things in the yard/scrap pile that was built and I changed my mind because it didn't flow when I got it in the bus...

Good luck with the build and keep us updated...
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Old 06-12-2012, 05:47 PM   #18
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Quote:
Originally Posted by dirtygoat
The first step in any skoolie conversion should be stripping the inner walls, skin the windows, insulate and recover the inner walls... Then you're ready to start building...

IMHO the bathroom is where you should start any skoolie build... Placement of the holding tanks will determine how a lot of the bus will/can be built...

Gather as many grey and black tanks that you can get your hands on... They are all different sizes and it's a lot easier to mock up different tanks than change the bus to fit the tank...

Tape out your floor plan on the floor and use cardboard or construction paper to build a basic layout of the structure... I have lots of things in the yard/scrap pile that was built and I changed my mind because it didn't flow when I got it in the bus...

Good luck with the build and keep us updated...
That's basically the way I was planning to attack this.

For the holding tanks, I might pony up and buy new, found this place in Canada (works for me as I am in Canada)

http://dmplastics.ca/products/rv_tanks.asp

Lots of different sizes to pick from.
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Old 06-18-2012, 10:45 AM   #19
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

Been following on pirate and here also. you have the exact bus I,ve been looking for to haul my drag car. please keep posting and good luck
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Old 07-05-2012, 07:49 PM   #20
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Re: 1998 5.9 BlueBird Flat Nosed Conversion

It's home now. Ran and drove fine! More pics:






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