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09-14-2014, 12:50 AM
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#1
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Gilligus Maxibus
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09-14-2014, 10:57 AM
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#2
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Adirondack Mountains NY
Posts: 1,101
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Welcome!
Were the images moved from the original account location? All I see is placeholders.
__________________
Someone said "Making good decisions comes from experience, experience comes from bad decisions." I say there are three kinds of people: those who learn from their mistakes, those who learn from the mistakes of others, and those who never learn.
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09-14-2014, 11:09 AM
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#3
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Bus Nut
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Texas
Posts: 471
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Ward
Chassis: Ford B600
Engine: 6.6L Turbo Diesel
Rated Cap: 26
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Same here......
__________________
We few, we Band of Brothers. For he who sheds his blood with me shall be my brother.
- William Shakespeare ("King Henry V")
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09-14-2014, 12:00 PM
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#4
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Hmmm, let me see if I can figure this out. I've never used Photobucket before. Anyone know what I copy and paste from PhotoBucket? I couldn't tell what was the direct url.
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09-15-2014, 01:19 PM
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#5
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Yay! I figured out which link to use at Photobucket.
Now, on to the conversion!
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09-15-2014, 03:49 PM
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#6
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
Posts: 2,430
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
Rated Cap: Just the two of us.
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Welcome, good looking bus.
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09-15-2014, 04:37 PM
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#7
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Well, we found out the bus was available to us and we began to make arrangements to go pick it up. Not an easy arrangement with four kids and two dogs at home. Even more difficult with limited funds. We had enough to pay for the bus, and fill it with gas a couple of times. Renting a car one way is ridiculously expensive...they soak you an extra $250.00 just for the drop. Flying was astronomical at the last minute...... Enter a friend who had two stand by tickets. We made the reservations for the next day, made arrangements for the kids for five days and started packing. Got to the airport the next morning to be told that another flight had been cancelled and there was no way we were going to get on the flight. We waited at the gate anyway and at the last minute there were two seats. So, we headed to LAX from Eugene. We'd never flown stand-by before so we didn't know that we weren't booked all the way through to Fresno. When we got to LAX we did not get on the connecting flight. We waited for the one at 9:00pm...nope, didn't get on that one either. That was the last flight out to Fresno, so we were stuck for the night. Did I mention it was our 25th wedding anniversary? Most people go to Hawaii or the Caribbean for their 25th. I went to Fresno...or rather, half-way to Fresno. Well, we didn't want to spend 12 hours trying to sleep in shifts at LAX, so we got a hotel within walking distance. Their restaurant and café were both closed, so we had no choice but to order room service. $160.00 later, we headed back to the airport. Thankfully, we got on the first flight out.
We got to Fresno and went to look at the bus. I have to say, that first sight of the bus was pretty exciting!! We'd waited a long time for that moment. We checked it out from stem to stern and went for a test drive. We slapped down the cash and headed out of town by way of the truck stop. Thankfully, we were prepared for the thirst of the beast and let him drink his fill. Next stop....home to Eugene......
Driving it for the first time!
It's ours and we're heading out of town!!
That moment when you see a reflection of a bus and realize....that's us!
Filling it up the first time....
We had so much fun getting to know the bus on the way home. It was super hot outside as we rolled through Northern California on our way back to Oregon, but having the windows down a notch or two provided a gentle breeze that kept the air fairly cool. There was hardly any rattling and the engine was quieter than we expected. We were definitely falling in love. Not knowing what to expect with the heat and the tires, plus a new bus driver, we stopped periodically to cool down. We also decided to take the grade up over Shasta in the evening when there would be less traffic and cooler temperatures. We were just feeling like we'd handled it successfully, when BAM! Oh boy...that was the scariest noise EVER! We were afraid we had blown the engine. Thankfully, it happened just before the entrance to a rest stop. The flop flop sound as we slowed down let us know we had blown a tire. Sure enough.... one of the re-treads had come apart. It was 9:00 at night, we were tired, hot, sticky, and we had been driving all day long after two days of very tiring flights. Both of our cell phones were out of juice, so we decided to sleep a bit and tackle the problem in the morning. After blocking the folding door with a suitcase, we attempted to "stretch" out on the seats for a good nights sleep......
In the morning, we had enough cell phone power to call 911 and a very nice California Highway Patrolman came to our rescue. He called a tire company for us, made sure we had food and water and left us to wait for help to arrive. Three hours and another $450.00 later we were back on the road.
Thankfully, this torn mud-flap and bracket were the only damage to our "new" coach.
36 hours after purchase, we arrived home to very excited kids. OK, we could manage another 20 minutes for a drive around town.....
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09-15-2014, 05:22 PM
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#8
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
A big ol' Skoolie Welcome! --- Love the lines on those classic Gillies and they have a reputation for being solid. Also like the name...very fitting. Doesn't look to have a lot of underbay built in but there seems to plenty of room for it.
Have you ID'd the engine & tranny yet?
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09-15-2014, 06:04 PM
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#9
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
We love the lines, too. Can't wait to dress him up. It's gonna be a simple paint scheme.
It has an automatic Allison transmission and a Cat 1160 engine.
Any idea how to edit my profile? I see that I typed when listing the engine model.
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09-15-2014, 07:06 PM
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#10
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Danville, California
Posts: 345
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: Supercoach
Engine: DD6-71T
Rated Cap: 78
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Congratulations on joining the mad, mad, mad world of bus conversions. Although I am partial to Crowns, the second best school buses ever made were Gilligs. They are still in business in Hayward, California. They stopped making school buses because there was not sufficient profit margins compared to making city transit buses. Why use up valuable factory lines for a school bus that you can only get about $120,000 for when you could be charging $300,000 for a city transit bus going down the same factory build line????
Gilligs are great buses. You got the classic Gillig style body instead of the later model that was more boxy and looked like Gilligs city transit style buses at the time.
Many of us love to give advice and suggestions. There is no better web site for ideas, advice, and where to avoid the mine field directions.
Again, welcome!!!
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09-15-2014, 07:45 PM
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#11
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Apr 2010
Posts: 1,208
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: 3800 International
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 72
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
welcome, good looking bus and a good story bringing it home
gbstewart
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09-15-2014, 08:24 PM
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#12
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
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09-15-2014, 08:43 PM
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#13
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 702
Year: 1995
Engine: DT408
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
__________________
I am an sojourner in the earth; hide not Your Commandments from me. Psalm 119:19
Here is the patience of the saints; here are the ones keeping the commandments of YAHWEH, and the faith of Yahshua. Rev. 14:12
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09-16-2014, 12:38 AM
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#14
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Tango, you're right. the underbelly is wide open and waiting for custom building. Hubby has planned and additional fuel tank, large fresh tank, generator bay and many other cool things.....
Sojourner, I enjoyed reading your thread and can't wait to see the Sojourner come together.
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09-16-2014, 05:39 AM
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#15
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: MNT CITY TN
Posts: 5,158
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
welcome
YOU still had some tread left
Love her sexy lines...good luck and keep pics coming
__________________
Our build La Tortuga
Accept the challenges so that you can feel the exhilaration of victory.
George S. Patton
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09-16-2014, 06:36 AM
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#16
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Site Team
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: southwest lowsyana
Posts: 542
Year: 1988
Coachwork: ward
Chassis: international
Engine: dt360a
Rated Cap: 65
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
gotta love the rounded lines! and the dash! hopefully all the bad stuff is already behind yall.
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09-16-2014, 11:15 AM
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#17
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
More than just Cheap Labor" --- what a great opportunity to share a remarkable experience and all the life lessons that go along with such a project with your kids. Gonna' be some genuine memory material involved. Enjoy!
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09-16-2014, 07:20 PM
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#18
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 58
Year: 1971
Coachwork: Gillig
Engine: Cat 3160
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
After we got the seats out of the bus, we spent a couple of days deciding what to do next. We thought we might just cover over the existing floor to expedite the conversion process, so I went ahead and laid out our floor plan with masking tape. So, we have this beautifully laid out floor plan and are getting excited to begin building, when we realize that we are very unsettled not knowing what’s under all that rubber and linoleum…..sooooo, enter plan 5,062 (yes, the plan has changed that often!). Once we made the decision to pull the floors, my gung-ho girls got right to work. Scraping, pulling, ripping, tugging….whatever it took to get that stuff out of there. And lest you think us parents are lazy and enjoying the slave labor, we busted a few knuckles ourselves! Even the boys wanted a piece of the demolition process.
So much to ponder and think about!
My eldest does not like to stop in the middle of a project. She wanted to complete it as long as she had the strength and insisted on working after dark. The boys decided to help out a bit more, but discovered it was much more fun to play with the masking tape that was once my well thought out floor plan!
This one lost her oomph!
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09-16-2014, 07:37 PM
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#19
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Valley - Arizona
Posts: 644
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freight-shaker (Freightliner)
Engine: Cat 3126b 250 HP
Rated Cap: Only 1 seat
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
Glad to see you have a small corporation of help there! That rubber is a monster to get up if it isn't 90° and 112% humidity outside for a month!
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09-16-2014, 08:44 PM
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#20
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Landlocked... for now.
Posts: 285
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Re: Gilligus Maxibus
I want to touch that bus. Soooooooooo pretty looking.
__________________
'Tace
Dog is my copilot. As I have no dog, I have no flight plan.
"If all porkchops were perfect, we wouldn't have hotdogs!" -Steven Universe
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