Gator Tailgating Bus Build - Page 4

kamoo · 09-20-2009, 03:10 PM

The bus made it to its first game this weekend. About 500 miles roundtrip with no problems at all. It was a slow ride at 60mph and hot but definately worth it.
Lots of honks and pictures on the ride up. Lots of lookers throughout the day. I didnt think anyone would really sit inside while parked but having A/C proved me wrong.

Wildcat · 09-22-2009, 09:06 AM

Good looking bus. Will we see you guys in Lexington, Ky this weekend.

kamoo · 09-22-2009, 06:35 PM

The pictures were from before the game. Some of us had tickets (not me) and the rest planned to try and buy them there. They were going for $150+ ea so we watched some on the bus and walked up to the swamp for a little. I wont be driving up to the KY game, it would take forever and a day.
I have to think of a good name for the bus, The Gator Bus is a little overused. Any ideas?

putterspitt · 09-22-2009, 09:33 PM

this year The Tebow Express

Griff · 09-22-2009, 09:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamoo

...I have to think of a good name for the bus, The Gator Bus is a little overused. Any ideas?

Gator Raider...Alibi-Gator...Gator Baiter...Ol' Snaggletooth...

kamoo · 09-23-2009, 08:32 PM

Someone suggested Tim T-Bus. Any others?

kamoo · 09-30-2009, 07:52 PM

I like master gator! If theres one thing Im good at... well we wont go there

NewSkewlHauler · 10-01-2009, 01:47 PM

Wally-Gator was great. I'm a few years younger than Smitty, but I remember. Back when cartoons were good...not the crap my kids watch.

Ben.

Sojakai · 10-01-2009, 06:58 PM

Thats why I watch Japanese Cartoons now. They have programs for Every Age Group and in Every Genre. Drama, Horror, Comedy, Perv.

Although, some have been reduced down to "Little Kid (5yro)" status... Pokemon (Pocket Monsters) is a good example of this. In the Japanese Version, Misty reaches into Ash's pants, grabs him, and tells him to grow a pair. American Version has it cut out... Our 12-16yro kids arnt mature enough to understand it. But then again, Pikachu did put around 600 kids into seizures in one episode... Shouldn't flash yellow, red, blue, and neon green together on the screen... This episode was banned world-wide.

Tenchi Muyo is another one. At one point, One character is trying to get a sperm sample from the main character. In the Jap version, she says that she can get it with her hands, breasts or mouth. American version has it shortened down to "I have Magic Fingers". Or my favorite, Trying to get away from two girls fighting over him, Tenchi points to the mountains and exclaims (Jap) "Hey look, A bear came out of winter hibernation to air out it's futon!"... (American) "Hey look, A bear charging down the mountain!" They dumbed it down cause we arn't bright enough to get the original joke.

Both are aimed at 15-18yro when they were made. Pokemon has been reduced down to 5yro, and Tenchi down to 10. They need to get rid of this Censorship and Localization crap.

kamoo · 10-18-2009, 06:52 PM

Finally got started on the graphics and settled on the name mastergator thanks to jimmyaustintx for the suggestion. Took it back to Gainesville for the Arkansas game and parked with my friends from http://www.gatortailgating.com It was a great time. Anways, here are some updated pics. We want to put some flames along the bottom with wrap material, will get it done pretty soon.

ezbme · 10-19-2009, 09:20 PM

Killer!

kamoo · 10-24-2009, 09:40 AM

I got the graphics made at a sign shop that does alot of vehicle wraps. If I had the money I would have wrapped the whole bus, maybe next time. I dont think I will be able to take enough time off to go to SC this year but there is still a slim possibility.

kamoo · 10-31-2009, 10:50 AM

Ive had alot of people interested in buying my bus so I picked up another one to work on just in case I get that special offer from someone. Itd have to be really special though, Im pretty attached to the master gator.
Its a 1989 Orion transit 35' 6v92 DDEC with 147k on the motor 17k on the tranny. Im picking it up next week. The plan is to build a limo bus and resell at a good price and use this money towards another tailgating skoolie. If neither sell, I'll put the limo bus in service with another guy and keep on tailgating with the other.

Bus Project · 11-02-2009, 07:33 PM

Bus looks good!

swamp7 · 11-11-2009, 09:15 AM

Hey Master Gator,

I am new to Skoolie, but not new to School Bus Tailgating, Gator Style. We converted our bus 7 years ago and have had an absolute blast with our ride. We have 6 active owners and a big following. We also use it at Sebring and other miscelanious trips during the off season as well.

I’ve seen a lot of buses (Gator and non-Gator) come up over the years. I haven’t seen yours yet, but damn, it looks good. In looking at your pictures, it appears you guys are over by the RV lot. Awesome! Do you have an RV pass or do you just get there early? Two years ago, UPD rode our ass pretty hard. They gave us a lot of threats and then actually made us move during the middle of a tailgate one time. Over the years, we have move all around campus and then finally settled down over on 13th street. They have left us alone there. A couple of years ago, when they were getting bad, they said we were an RV and had to be in the RV lot. So I had a buddy let me use his RV pass and then he got written up because he had a bus in his RV spot! What a pain. Anyway, this year they have backed off and left us alone.

You guys making it to Columbia? We have a crew of 14 leaving JAX Friday. To be honest, the road trips are a heck of a lot more fun than the home games. Baton Rouge, Knoxville, Columbia, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee are always a must. SEC championships and last year’s national championship in Miami weren’t too shabby either.

I love what you did with the inside. That’s nice. We’re in the struggle of, “don’t make the party bus too nice.” We abuse it pretty hard so investing too much into it is hard to justify. We just gutted and threw in some carpet, couches, futons and lazy boys. Would like to catch up with you at a game sometime to check yours out.

Let me know if you’re going up this weekend.

Happy tailgating!

kamoo · 11-11-2009, 06:06 PM

I think I saw your bus on the way into the Arkansas game, the rugby area on 13th? We are on north south (now Gayle Limerond sp?) next to the commuter lot with a friend of mine that runs the gatortailgating website. We havent been harassed yet but are just waiting for the time. When looking for ideas with building the bus I saw yours quite abit but couldnt tell if it was still active. I really like the flat front style but couldnt find any in Florida. Your paint job looks great and actually questioned the correctness of our orange after looking at yours when ours was painted.
We're still kicking around the SC game but its a long ways from port st lucie. We had a blowout on the way to Vandy which took out some body supports and the inner fender well so Im a little hesitant of going too far until some tires are put on. If we decide to make the voyage Ill let you know and maybe we can meet up and possibly tailgate closeby, I would really like to check out the cockabus, its a really nice looking setup too. Im going to FIU busless but would love to come see your ride if you will be there.
I picked up two more school busses the other day, one for a tailgate platform another to sell to add some money to finance it. Might sell the Master Gator but probably not, too much work into it to let it go. I also have the GTS Orion transit bus that I plan on building and selling, all proceeds go into the Master Gator II slush fund. Either way, I will have at least one bus ready for next season.

The latest additions

swamp7 · 11-11-2009, 07:30 PM

Ha! I love it. You're a maniac. Yes, you have the school bus craze. That Orion will make a nice road trip bus. I’m sure it has air ride. The stiff suspension on ours can get to you on a 12 hour ride to baton rouge. However, a large 200 qt cooler full of beer usually makes up for it. We had one guy finish a full case between Gainesville and Baton Rouge. He was on number four at sunrise.

Yeah, Norman hall next to the tunnel under 13th street. It’s a little off the beaten path, but we’re left alone and it’s free! We are good friends with another bus who we partied with over there. They are the short bus that has the “back porch” on it and a roof platform like ours. They hung with us there until UPS hassled both of us and then they moved to university ave. They met up with us in Baton Rouge and we had a great time there.

I won’t be at FIU, but should be up there for the Criminoles. Hell, if you’re in Port St. Lucie, you need to head west to meet up with us at Sebring. I’m in Venice about an hour south of Tampa. We’ve got a spot in Turn one. You can park across the alley for a lot less and hang. A good off season tailgate to get your fix on.

Here are a few more pics.

swamp7 · 11-11-2009, 07:41 PM

Here's a few shots from last year's Serbing.

Right on the front straightaway. Our only view obstruction is the press scaffolding. Pretty good spot.

ezbme · 11-11-2009, 09:10 PM

Great shots! Love the bus... The roof access is nice. Did you build the ladder for the hatch?
I just moved from Sebring... I was about 10 minutes from the track. Great fun!

swamp7 · 11-12-2009, 07:09 AM

Yes. I built the ladder out of steel 1" square tubing. The bottom half is permanently mounted on the inside. Then the top section has a male/female connection and attaches once the hatch is open. I threw in the diagonal afterwards help hold the hatch door open some more and to stiffen the top. I was trying to keep people from grabbing the hatch door when going up and down. It worked out pretty darn good. I have seen several roof racks with ladders off the back, but I like mine thru the hatch because I can control the people getting on and off the rack. During a big tailgate like FL/GA in JAX, there will be 100+ people at our tailgate. You know, the friends of friends of friends along with lots of randoms. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the large group and all are welcome, but every once and while it starts to get ridiculous. During the peak hours, it's almost a steady stream of people coming on and off the bus to get on the roof rack. Then a few ruin it for everyone as they start going thru our stuff, drinking our hooch, and it's downhill from there. Hasn't been a big problem, but you do get a few idiots sometimes.

Anyway, I have witnessed ladders off the back of other busses and there is no way to maintain control. I like mine on the inside.

I don't have any recent pictures, but here are some old school pics back from when I first did it about 5 years ago. This is before the diagonal. We have redone the inside since then.

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