A Formal Introduction... "Wolf's Den"

[Nachtwulf]

Good Evening Everyone, and first let me Thank all of you for some GREAT ideas over the last many months. My name is Lee, and my bus is a 1995 Carpenter Model D FE with the 5.9 Cummins Turbo. I am honestly not sure about the chassis because I thought it was a Spartan, but all of those I have heard of have air brakes. Mine has hydraulic with a funky electric booster pump and valve arrangement that uses pressure from the electric pump and from the power steering unit to boost the brake pressure. Oh well, if anyone is familiar with that one, I am always open to more info. I and my wife are both old Hippies, sing and play folk music, classic rock, and other acoustic type eclectic mixes, and that was the original reason for the bus purchase, to travel to playing (and sometimes paying) gigs. However, with the "change" in the political climate (I am a Conservative old Hippie, and not a pacifist), and the continual erosion of our freedoms of speech, choice, right to carry, and pretty much all of the others I fought in Nam and other places to preserve, we both thought a mobile refuge (command post, survival camp, movable bunker, or whatever other name you want to call it) might not be a bad idea for us and our furry children. So "Wolf's Den" is now evolving from a simple mode of transporting us and musical equipment in comfort to a much more noteworthy endeavor. I am going to try to keep things as simple as possible while including all the necessities (and a few of the niceties) of modern life.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nachtwulf/3805546497/
This is after we brought it home (350 mile trip, no problems) and got to work removing seats and cleaning 12 years of accumulated grime.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nachtwulf/3806367700/
I love the front end on this sucker, and the PA system works well for telling other drivers to "hang up the cell phone and drive".
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nachtwulf/3805553663/
Looks like we might have enough room for us, the dogs, and some musical equipment.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nachtwulf/3806377896/
The Hippie bus at the top of this photo is our pull behind vehicle to have mobility at campgrounds or other extended stops.
Enough unadulterated blather for one evening, I'll continue this week to bring everybody up to speed on where we are now. Thank all of you Skoolies again for unwittingly contributing to the spirit of this endeavor. Have a great week.
Lee

[Nachtwulf]

Originally Posted by Smitty

From the angle of the pic taken through the rear door that thing looks to be a mile long! How much useable length do you have behind the drivers seat?

Smitty

I actually have forgotten since the last time I measured it, but I'll remeasure as soon as I get home after work this evening. Also, if anyone has any manuals for sale, rent, or to copy on anything having to do with this type bus (electrical, shop, operator's manual, etc.) I will gladly pay just for a long look at them if nothing else. If I have to, I can trace wiring and such, but a manual makes it much easier and faster. More to come, but for now... back to the old grind. (I say that with a smile I am one of those lucky enough to have a job I Love)
Lee

OK, just got home and remeasured, and the usable length behind the driver's seat is 31 feet and 6 inches. I guess the angle just makes it look a lot longer than it really is. That's still plenty of room, but I also know that space seems to fill rapidly when you plan for two people and five dogs, musical instruments, and various memorabilia of adventures and misadventures over the past years. Thanks in part to all of you guys on here, I already have some good ideas and have put together some of the necessary parts (generators, lighting, tanks, other essentials) to reconstruct our bugout biomobile. (Yeah, I run this one on a WVO mix just like I do my 1982 Mercedes 300 D turbo... 253,000 miles and purrs like a kitten.)
Enough boring detail for one night, thanks for your interest and hope you have a great week.

[RazorCityDen]

Sounds like a worthy endeavor to me

Good looking bus, looking forward to seeing how your project develops!

Take Care,
Den

[Nachtwulf]

I am HYPED today!!! I just scored some major bus goodies off Craigslist only a few miles away from me. I managed to get a toilet, tub and shower with surround, lavatory and vanity, kitchen sink, black and gray holding tanks with sensors, water filtration system, all piping including dump valves, etc. from a wrecked travel trailer only a few years old. This puts me way ahead of where I expected to hunt this stuff down over months instead of finding it all together. So now, I don't have any excuse not to get started. Wish me luck guys, I am hoping to put together some of my ideas, some of your's, and maybe some totally "off the wall" s**t! I'll try to keep everyone up to date.
Thanks, and have a great weekend!
Lee

[TygerCub]

WOW! Great find!

Don't forget to take lotsa pictures for the rest of us to marvel and envy !

[swhite832]

Why don't deals like that fall in my lap?

[Nachtwulf]

Originally Posted by swhite832

Why don't deals like that fall in my lap?

Do you want to get REALLY jealous?
I picked up (several months ago) two military surplus diesel generators, air-cooled, electric or pull start, Gov rated at 3,000 watts (which means they should pull 4k without much fuss), 126 hrs on one and 93 hrs on the other for... $378.00 for the pair. Was watching some other items on Govliquidation.com when these two popped up and apparently nobody else wanted them that week. Whatever the reason, I got them, several quartz floodlights, and a bunch of miscellaneous electrical parts for an incredibly small amount of money and the trip down to Warner-Robins Airbase in Georgia to pick up all the stash.
I've been debating with myself and measuring diligently, and I think I am going to mount both of them under the right and left rear of the bus for versatility and redundancy. If I only need one, that's all I crank up, but if I need both, I've got them. I'll have to get a little creative with the electrical system and dividing circuitry, and I know I can't sync the two for combined power, but I should be able to balance the loads in the bus and still not look like an octopus with epilepsy when I'm changing from genny to shore power, or vice versa.
Everybody have a great week!
Lee

[swhite832]

Two of those rigs sold on that sight out of San Antonio a few months ago. I wanna say in the eight hundred dollar range. They were trailer mounted.

I have put feelers out for wrecked fifth wheels and motorhomes with no luck thus far. Something will pop up....when coffers are low most likely.

Good purchase anyways...