A Bus Named Eternity

[cadillackid]

arent most of the half mil and above RV's built on Busses? the 2 friends of mine that had the 3/4 mill rig was built on a Prevost Coach... and oh was she a delight to drive.. 450 HP never even broke a sweat in the mountains.. and it felt solid as could be.. I think its the 150K and under rigs that are nothing but match sticks, candle wax and plastic Publix bags glued together with elmers school glue
-Christopher

[boojiewoojie]

Tbolt, I also have 8 children so I know how expensive it is to travel. And how fun it is to have a big family! I've also been a school bus driver for many years so for me it's a no brainer that a skoolie's the only way to go.

Beyond safety there's also a certain feeling about traveling cross country in a skoolie. That "kick your feet up and enjoy life" kind of feeling. Knowing that you can go fast enough to make decent time but not so fast that you miss out on all the beautiful scenery. My older kids often speak fondly of the memories traveling cross country in our former conversion.

When I get to convert the bus I have now I think I want to do an open floor plan with the only enclosed space the bathroom but with well planned nooks and crannies. I saw a skoolie like that once and it just really appealed to me in that "kicked back family time" kind of way.

[boojiewoojie]

Oh, and you're going to love your RE300. Next to a Crown it's a heavy duty chassis and feels solid as a rock. Much more solid feeling than the FE's and conventionals.

[boojiewoojie]

Oh again. I also bought mine from Midwest Transit. On the way home it developed the dreaded white smoke and I had to get a top end rebuild. Don't know if the DT530 had the same issues as the early 2000's DT466 with the O-rings going bad but it might be worth checking into. Mine had about the same mileage as yours. The rebuild kits are only $1100 if you have the time to do it yourself. If you see coolant in your oil get ready!

[cadillackid]

ive been a marathon road tripper for years.. I wont say I log more miles per year than a professional driver or a travelling salesman, but on average im pushing 35-40k miles per year in the saddle.. many times I would just "run it in" on a trip in the car.. drive +5 for the speed limit as long as i could till I was quite sleepy then stop, sleep, resume till i arrived at my destination..

then I got a school bus.. it was kind o dropped on me in 2009 or so..and it was a novelty at first.. but roadtripping in it was never a thought really.. (why drive a cumbersome bus on a 1100 mile ride).. it spent 99% of its time in a garage till it was destroyed in a fire..

the fire got me back interested in school busses.. after all i always had loved them.. and I thought "i want another bus.. and I vow not to leave it in the garage all the time... but road trips? nah likely just fun run arounds..".

well it so happened I purchased that bus 1000 miles from home.. by mile 200 i wasnt so sure really. but I was getting there.. then i broke down for 3 days at mile 450.. and ended up turning that 3 day breakdown not only into a learning experience but into a lot of fun in and of itself.. Now i was hooked...

driving the busses requires many more frequent stops to leg stretch and / or explore.. taking the "I must get to my destination yesterday!" out of the road trip.. opened up a whole new world to me.. "oh my gosh.. look.. espresso 41! a coffee shop in the middle of nowhere georgia. I Just stopped when I saw the saign instead of wondering what it was".. oh and I had a great time... stopping to overnight on long trips.. the people I meet in the hotels.. and in the cities where I stop.. now I wonder if there is really any other way to road trip?? Now the fancy new Car spends 99% of its time in the garage.. and my old skoolies and I travel the country!
-Christopher

[T-Bolt]

Here is the Line Setting Ticket (LST) that I just had printed for FREE at the local International dealer. Thank you cowlitzcoach for the great advice. Maybe someone that knows a lot can tell me what is interesting here.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

Here is the Line Setting Ticket (LST)

FYI: Old eyes can't see that tiny print.

[T-Bolt]

Ran into my first major problem today. Removed the plywood floor and found this. What a mess. Not sure how I am going to repair this yet. Thoughts?

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[oricha1984]

The general rule here is Rust never sleeps.
clean up real good. so that it can show how bad the rust. there is a lot of debris still on the floor.
anything that is soft and rust went through, you are better of replacing it.

if is real bad.
1.remove the floor sheet that have rust.
2.any support beans that have rust probably better to cut them and weld new support
3.then slap a new sheet of metal on top ( so you have floors again.
4.treat with rust remover,
5.final is to coat it .

but maybe you just have to cut the bad and replace it with a new flap of metal.
Noob here, never done it, just from what I have seen done. Others will tell you better

[boojiewoojie]

I'm not looking forward to pulling the floor out on mine. The good thing is above the luggage bays everything should be in great shape!

[T-Bolt]

Most of this area is above the cargo area. The underside in the bay looked good. I hope that when I get the wire grinder on it it will be better then it looks.

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[Tango]

THIS...is precisely why anyone doing a conversion should begin by pulling up the old puke mat & floor. Pretty typical actually. Around the wheel wells and door are usually the most suspect.

Not that complicated to repair really. Helps if you have (or know) a welder.

[T-Bolt]

I just purchased 3 dent and scratch sheets of Duraplate (google it). This is what I am using to replace the windows that I do not need. It is AMAZING stuff designed by Wabash National Trailer. They use it for the structural sides on semi trailers. It concist of a sheet of HDPE sandwiched between 2 sheets of treated and painted steel.

Years ago I used sheets of this to extend the sides of a dump trailer I used for construction. After a decade of hard abuse there was no rust or any signs of it wearing out. It is so strong at only 1/4 inch that if laid flat and supported only on the ends you can stand on it with almost do deflection.



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[T-Bolt]

Worked on some color samples this week. I used Rust-Oleum Professional in Light Machine Gray. I experimented a little. The top half was sanded, primed then painted. The bottom half was cleaned with high quality automotive grade thinner, primed and painted. The bottom half actually had a better finish with much less work. For the test areas I used spray cans but when I do the final paint I will tent the bus and use a good spray gun.

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[Tango]

That gray reminds me of the "cattle cars" used to carry folks around on Navy bases. Just need to stencil (poorly) some big white numbers down the side.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by T-Bolt

I just purchased 3 dent and scratch sheets of Duraplate (google it).

looks to be the perfect solution.

[66lexbigdog]

Curt here headed to az soon international. Lucky to get full sise bus that was handicap no need to take seats out had 2015 wrecked travel trailer. Put all good stuff in. Hope to hear from you.

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[CaptSquid]

Originally Posted by Tango

That gray reminds me of the "cattle cars" used to carry folks around on Navy bases. Just need to stencil (poorly) some big white numbers down the side.

I remember Cattle Cars! What an experience. Based on that and a lot of sea time, it'll be a cold day in July before I paint ANYTHING haze grey!

[Tango]

Roger that and affirmative. Having chipped my way around an aircraft carrier and slogged haze on by the ton...I'm not much of a fan of that color either.

Gimme a HAPPY color.

[T-Bolt]

There seems to be some strong opinions on our color choice. *grin* This was more of a method test. When finished there will be some sort of a design (decided by my better half) with a combination of the gray and royal blue.

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