Hey all! I've been lurking for a few months now. I finally found a bus, and am currently on my way back to Colorado from Kentucky with it. As there is a giant snowstorm in the way, I have some extra time on my hands while I wait for the ice to come off the roads. So I figured I'd get started on my conversion thread. My good friend who lives outside of Cincinnati drove me down to pick up the bus, a 2000 International CE w/at DT466E, MT643, air brakes and rear suspension, and cargo bays. It was a wee bit chilly at 9 degrees, but the bus started right up, no problem.
Here's my first peek at her IRL:
Me and the awesome farmer, Ed:
My good friend Johanna and I (I'm on the right):
Once I got things figured out (I've never driven a bus before....*gulp*), I got headed out towards St. Louis. I stopped at a truck stop for gas--yet another learning experience.
Once I made it into St. Louis, I learned about the crappy weather coming. My one front tire was almost entirely bald, and the other front had maybe 30% tread remaining. I found an awesome tire place that put on two new front tires for me, and let me keep the better of the old ones as a spare.
I got back on the road just in time to be stuck in the ice storm and sit on I-70 at a dead stop for 2+ hrs. I finally got off the highway and got parked, and my cousin came and rescued me. I'm waiting at their house now--hopefully tomorrow things are better and I can get headed home.
When I get home, I'll get more pics of the bus up. Everything looks really good as far as I can tell, with only a small amount of surface rust on some of the hinges, etc. We'll see what it looks like after I start tearing down.
My intent is to build towards eventual full-time living. I'm single, and have a small dog and two cats, which I will have to try to figure out how to incorporate into living in the bus (litterbox, etc). My plans in general include a roof raise, 4+" of spray foam insulation, walling off the driving area completely (or possibly using a pocket pass-through door) and using the side emergency exit as the "main" door, an Incinolet, double bed (maybe murphy-style), and solar/generator/shore power.
My skills are not great, but I have some awesome friends I will be recruiting to the task. I am plundering shamelessly from ideas on the forum, and am excited to see how things come out in the future.
Any feedback and suggestions are always welcome, and thanks to all who share their knowledge freely!
Edit: Not sure why the pics aren't linking. Here's the link to the album until I get it figured out:
Bus Photos
Linear Mode
