Flyin' the coop in Clementine 1992 BB 8.3 Cummins Conversion

[pictureLOVE]

Hello all. Happy to find a forum where I can geek out about our pending bus conversion. We're up in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. We have a 43ft 1992 Bluebird prisoner transport bus we're transitioning off-grid with in 2016. Right now her name is "Clementine" (you know... Clementine is an orange, and orange is the new black...) but that's not etched in stone yet. We are still in the process of modifying our yard (levelling off the raised garden, removing a mostly-dead tree, replacing the back fence with a gate, getting the cable and telephone lines moved) so we can park her before the work begins. My husband and I have done a tonne of research and we have a fairly concise vision for where we are headed with the conversion but I think we are going to have a tough time finding all the info we need outside a schoolbus-conversion specific forum. So, here we are, and here she is:



Clementine's at the shop this week getting a "surprise" pre-homecoming electrical make-over but we are just stoked to finally be able to start measuring her up and laying out floor plans. Unfortunately she was a bit forgotten before we acquired her, so first priority will be cleaning her up - there's still wheat and chaff in the air vent from being stored in a barn, a bird's nest in one of the front flashers (the blue police lights were smashed out when she went to auction), and all kinds of random cabinetry and pieces parts the previous owner decided to bestow upon us. Thankfully, Clementine came to us already stripped of most of her guts - the prisoner seats and shackle holds, the armoury, the interior dividers, etc. - but there is still bullet-proof glass on several of the windows and a few odds and ends (mostly odds) to be removed like the closed-circuit TV and phone system and the biggest, scariest (non-functioning) AC units you can imagine. We have, however, decided to keep the internal/external PA system (which I assure you puts any stereo system you can imagine to shame) so that we can continue having Prison Bus Karaoke (or just freaking people out when Sheriff Clementine pulls into town...)



We are hoping to renovate her in stages so that we can use her (if nothing else) as a giant metal tent while working on her. Once she doesn't smell like a stable we'll install some bench seats, build a rustic kitchen and a couple of beds, frame in an enclosure for the (temporary) chemical toilet while we work on the insulation, wiring, and body. I'm hoping we are far enough along by the fall to get the woodstove and chimney installed before the snow flies. That way we can use her as a heated workshop (and hangout) during the winter months while we design and build the permanent furniture for next spring/summer.

Anyhow.

Glad to be here, looking forward to getting to know a few fellow bus dorks, hoping to give and receive lots of advice and support. I'm a writer and professional photographer so there is a blog over at http://www.flythecoop.ca if anyone is bored. I love reading skoolie blogs and I imagine I'll eventually recognize some of you from my months of surfing, dreaming, and drooling at others' completed projects and ongoing travels. Please feel free to share with me your own blog or website!

Cheers!

~H.

[Sara]

Welcome to the board! I lived in St. Albert for a year and it was amazing!

Looks like you have plenty of excitement and a great handful of ideas. I think Prison Karaoke is a wonderful idea; jealous of your PA system! Haha. Best of luck and welcome to the craziness!

[gbstewart]

welcome, glad see another Canadian onboard
gbstewart

[jmar896]

Nice bus. You got a great engine in it. Good luck
Jake

[wmkbailey]

Welcome to the mad house. Nice bus, jealous of the engine, jealous of the BlueBird. I guess we are just plan jealous.

[pictureLOVE]

Originally Posted by wmkbailey

jealous of the engine, jealous of the BlueBird

I didn't realize how lucky we were to score this bus until I started digging. We waited months for this bus to show up and the wishlist was beyond fulfilled - I think the only thing about this bus I don't love a million percent is that it's not a manual transmission. I'll suck it up ;) lol

[pictureLOVE]

My husband suggested re-naming Clementine to "Milkshake" since she's going to bring all the boys to the yard LOL

[Sara]

Best post ever.

[pictureLOVE]

So we made the sad decision last night that Clementine/Milkshake is going to be a yardbird for our entire first season. Much as I wanted to take her out for a maiden voyage later this summer, our bus reno savings were swiftly and unforgivingly eaten up by a sudden need to replace our now very dead car. ~sniff sniff~ We're grabbing her from the shop tomorrow night so sometime over the weekend I'll be able to to do an intimate and thorough photo session with her before she gets naked and stripped, dirty bird that she is. I figure since we won't need to leave anything intact for travel, we'll go hard with muscle over maintenance and spend what I predict will be a lot of quality time bonding with her via rust removal. Any hints and tips you know of for dealing with under body rust, feel free to toss over my way.

~hangs head and cries~

[pictureLOVE]

ERMAGERD!!! CLEMMY COMES HOME TONIGHT!!!! BACKYARD SLEEPOVER PARTY!!!!

~regains composure~

(can y'all tell I'm a wee bit excited?!?!)

[pictureLOVE]

This is a rough guesstimate of the layout only and is not final nor is it to scale. This floor plan uses the assumption that only 1 or 2 of the kids is coming with us when we move onto the bus - if one or both of the boys decide to join us we will have to seriously rethink the layout to accommodate 6 people instead of 4. I prefer a symmetrical layout over one with an L-shaped kitchen and side hallways - I want the bus to be as airy and open as possible( for a bus) so a clear view from front to back is what I'm aiming for. This is a verbal tour from front to back with an end note about things like flooring and paint. I welcome your thoughts, input, and expertise if you see something monumentally stupid/newb in this plan.

COCKPIT: We will remove passenger side door, fill in floor, install passenger seat. We are going to remove the door, flatten her to a board, and slap her back on with hinges so that we a) have an emergency exit and b) she looks intact (and pretty) from the outside. Where the stairs were will serve as additional storage. Storage cabinet/benches will be right behind both the driver and passenger seat - hopefully we can install some boat-style jump seats with proper seatbelts for the kids, but if not these will just be top-loading trunks (the dimensions are wonky in the picture because the lettering wouldn’t fit on my Google drawing lol)

MASTER BEDROOM: I refuse to give up my very expensive, very wonderful back-saving mattress. Our version of a “Murphy” bed will be our mattress built into a queen mattress-sized cabinet with a queen mattress-sized door. A pocket door on either side of the "master bedroom" area will allow us to have the widest doorway possible and leave the area open to the front for extra floor space and daylight from the windshield when we aren't in transit, while also permitting us privacy when needed. There will be curtains between the bench seats and the passenger/driver seat. I have a $300 crystal sconce I grabbed for $30 at a liquidation sale that will be going over the desk/dresser.

LIVING/DINING AREA: We are bringing a loveseat and barber chair with us, which will sit across from the built-in 4-person dinette that will convert to a double bed. I want to put the dinette table on a salon chair style hydraulic base so that it swivels, locks, raises and lowers. The tabletop will have a hinged extension so that we can seat more than 4 people from time to time. We are going to use the bases from original schoolbus seats with the belts attached so that we can use them as extra seating when in transit (and because they will look cool). We might build boxes around them to make them useful for storage but I'm kind of hoping to have the bus seats in the dinette can still look like bus seats. Since we have belly storage along the entire length of the bus on both sides (minus the diesel tanks) I'm hoping we can allow ourselves a few luxuries like this. I'm torn about putting in some windows in this area - a small slider window on either side, one above the dinette and one above the loveseat - would be lovely, though if we decide to leave it closed off we do have beautiful artwork we can hang instead. I have a $500 crystal chandelier I picked up at the same liquidation sale for $90 that I plan to hang over the dinette - toughest part will be modifying it from having a chain base to having a post so it isn't swinging around while we're in transit.

KITCHEN: I found a sweet-ass fridge and stove from a vintage 1949 trailer that I’d love to use if they can be refurbished. I think the stove can be done fairly easily but the fridge, even if we can get it recharged and running again, will likely not be very energy efficient and if we're off-gridding it, that simply won't do. I am also trying to figure out how to convert my antique buffet into our counter without completely trashing it - I think if I can put the top on locking hinges, I should be able to hide the sink in there. Option B would be to just cut out a hole for the sink and drop her in there, but then I'd have to saw the legs off to adjust the height. Of course, the buffet coming on the bus at all is contingent 100% on whether or not we have the space for such a large piece of furniture, even if she is being being used as sink and cupboard space.



ENTRYWAY: The storage closet right inside the door will be for brooms, boots and jackets. If we decide to grab the vintage fridge and stove, this is where the fridge door will end up as decoration if we can’t upgrade/update it to work and we can't figure out how to hide the real fridge behind it.

The wood stove will be installed mid-cabin over the wheel. Having the wood stove located centrally will hopefully allow us to get more even heat through the bus, and having it right beside the door will avoid us having to traipse through the cabin with firewood. I want to eventually replace the angled stairs with straight stairs. Once we remove and flatten the door to put her on a hinge same as the front door) I’m hoping we can figure out how to make a nesting design that when it flips out creates stairs all the way to the ground but flipped up creates a solid floor area. Kind of like this:



BATHROOM/UTILITY/STORAGE: We wanted to maximize privacy which is why we have the bedrooms at opposite ends of the bus. I also hate the idea of having to walk through someone’s sleeping area to get to the bathroom if it's not absolutely necessary. (Guests can suck it up lol.) I wanted the (chemical for now, composting/incinerating later) toilet separate from the shower as well - living in a house with 6 people and 1 bathroom for the last 11 years I cannot tell you how many times there's been someone stuck sitting outside the door yelling for whoever just got in the shower to hurry up. I think that having the toilet and the washing area in the same room is actually a design flaw in modern housing - there's nothing nice I can think of about laying in a tub beside the shitter. Whose idea was that anyway? But I digress.

I knew the shower looked extra-wide - I forgot to put in my photography gear storage cabinet there, which will be a 2ft wide closet that will hold my stands, lighting heads, and other gear. Paring my gear down to a space that size will be challenging, I assure you... I have a feeling my newborn poser will not be making the final cut... ~sigh~

KIDS' BEDROOM: The girls' bedroom at the back of the bus will have a single bed that flips open to a double, plus a 2-seater dinette that converts to a single so that essentially the entire room can be one big bed. If needed, we could also look at making the single bed into bunks. I have to check where the roof hatch is - if it's not inside the room we will have to cut out a person-sized window somewhere so we have an egress. Again, I'm really torn about putting a window in there regardless of where the emergency exit is - lots of light comes in from the little prisoner-proof porthole windows and I know bigger windows will let in more heat travel in and out of the bus depending on the season, but it's certainly not much of a view.

FLOORING, LIGHTING, INSULATION, ETC: We have bamboo flooring we're planning to install from tail to tip. I am hoping to replace the interior metal skin on the ceiling of the bus after we strip and put the spray-foam insulate her. I really want a punched tin ceiling in the kitchen area but that can always be added wayyyyy down the road. With the exception of the crystal chandelier and sconce, most of the interior lighting will be LED, though whether it'll be bulbs or strips remains to be seen. I think we're going to stick with the same dark (police call box) blue for the exterior of the bus but we're definitely painting the roof white with insulating paint (probably both inside and out). I imagine the interior walls will be mostly white as well to help reflect light around and keep it bright in spite of out lack of big windows. Solar panels will go up on the roof along with a bike pen. Not sure if we'll do an awning - it's not a priority right now. And I'm still trying to figure out where to build in the dog's kennel without ruining the aesthetics, too.

What did I forget?

*edited to say, I forgot the damned washer/dryer! Back to the drawing board!

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by pictureLOVE

... I really want a punched tin ceiling in the kitchen area but that can always be added wayyyyy down the road...

We are putting an "embossed tin ceiling" in our bus. Just using anaglypta wall covering on the ceiling and faux painting it with metallic paint and adding just a touch of rust and patina here and there. For a punched "tin" look into using flashing. Comes in narrow rolls and small sheets (3X4 is a common size) for a moderate amount of money. Rolls of flashing are handy. That is what I am using to make my custom "vintage" signs with. Flashing is lightly oiled and if you will be painting it or glueing it in place, it will need the oil removed (I use mild dish soap followed by a cleaning rinse/wipe of white vinegar). The oil attracts dirt.

[pictureLOVE]

Clemmy finally came home on Friday. We managed to get the path clear enough to pull her in. She made that funny noise when we cranked her steering wheel again - I think it's the power steering but I'm not a mechanic so... we will be getting a once-over done in the very near future.



Kaelan loves the roof. I have to get up there still - there is some sort of symbol on the roof that indicates it's a police bus. She was pretty filthy inside - several layers of dust, straw everywhere, the smell of manure - but we were happy to have her home anyways. There wasn't a lot we could do in the dark on Friday night so we chilled out, ready to haul some serious ass on Saturday.



There a good sized path along the port side so we can get into the compartments if needed, though we will definitely need her to be further away from the fence when we start doing the body work. That's a loooong ways off though. I still need to clean the wheat and chaff from the intake, and I certainly hope we don't blow a tire anytime soon - the spare we have is scary bald!



We knew about the damage to the rear bumper but hadn't really noticed how the front bumper is a bit askew on the starboard side. The rust. Oh my word, the rust is frightening. I'm not looking forward to dealing with all that rust. ~sigh



We saved a couple of slabs from the sidewalk to park Clemmy on so she wouldn't sink into the dirt. We're going to move her a few feet forward once we have the fence finished up, which is why we didn't mother countersinking and levelling the slabs yet. (in the bottom right of the photo above, you can see Art has already marked his territory...)



We definitely want to leave as much of Clementine's character intact, including getting the bus phones and PA system back up to snuff. We're also going to try and get the closed circuit TV to work with the back-up camera. I'm pretty excited about having heated mirrors, even though the likelihood of us doing any winter driving is slim to nil.



There is a TONNE of graffiti all over the inside of the bus. The girls kept giggling because there were so many swear words. The double layer of plexiglass left on some of the windows will be coming off this week, hopefully, along with all the l-brackets on the ceiling that I keep walking into with my head. We're going to have to figure out which heating units we keep and which ones we toss. they had two separate "rooms" on the bus so there were 4 units at ones time but we only have 3 still in there. They aren't leaking or rusted but they are disconnected, so for now we'll just put them in storage.



We didn't find a single mouse turd (which is miraculous) but the pale shade of dust, the straw, and the distinct odour of cow pie from her being parked in a barn makes me believe there was a fair bit of dried manure on the bus. We didn't want the girls playing in Clemmy until the particulate (shiticles, as Bill would say) had been dealt with so, after we hauled all the cabinets, garbage and sheet metal out we gave her a good sweeping and vacuuming before letting the girls mop and wipe her down with bleach from tip to tail. You've never seen three more excited girls than when we walked to the dollar store to get mops so they could "swab the decks." Weird weird weird...



We were able to see that she has fibreglass insulation, which is likely why the smell of manure is still so strong. I assume the rest of the barn smell will go when we take that out. Despite the mild stink, the girls wanted to camp out so we moved in a couch and the bistro set, hooked up the projector, and let the girls have a sleepover in her. The dogs were excited about a sleepover on the bus, too. We also served father's day brunch in her. It wasn't until morning that I really got to admire how nice the cockpit was looking after a bath. Sweet!



We're still debating whether or not we're taking her up to North Country Fair this weekend, as it might be the only opportunity we have to take her out travelling before we get too far into the work. We're going to leave the interior skin of the bus intact at least until after June 29th when we are hosting a buswarming party and yard sale. Since pulling the skin out involves removing the windows and floor, too, we won't be going anywhere until after she's re-insulated and panelled with all the electrical and plumbing roughed in.

[enthe0gen]

Congrats on your bus! It's awesome to see your family getting involved with your project. Best of luck, and remember to ask questions to the members here if you need help. They've helped me out invaluably on numerous occasions. Honestly, if you're this excited about it now, you'll be just fine during the long renovation haul. I started my renovation in September 2013, and it's been such a blast (if not tiring) every step of the way. I know you'll find it just as exciting and enjoyable.

Best. Keep on truckin.


-Matt
Denver, CO