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Old 04-15-2017, 10:34 PM   #1
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Join Date: Apr 2017
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I bought a Shortie!!

So, a week ago I got an idea.... maybe I should buy a bus, convert it , and do some road tripping..... yesterday I bought a bus! So excited

It's a 1991 International Blue Bird, short bus, with chair lift. 135,000 miles, Detroit diesel, Allison automatic, WELL maintained by Cobb Co and just retired. Only $3900!

The fella I bought it from is gonna add an RV AC in the roof hatch, remove 4 seats ( of 6) and replace the original seat with an air ride one from a big rig. All for $650.

In 3 weeks I'm going back to pick it up ( it's less than an hour from Atlanta where I live) and bring it home to start the conversion, and my goal is to be done in 6 weeks. Here are some pictures and a route I'm thinking to do....
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Old 04-15-2017, 10:40 PM   #2
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General thoughts

I'm 💭 no to keep it simple, make it more for camping than living, so no toilet/shower, simple sink, LED strip lighting, insulate floor, I should have a bunch of Brazilian hardwood decking ( free) to kit it out with. For flooring, bunk, etc. I want to add the magnetic curtains, a table using bus seats, and I'm thinking to use the chair hoist to pick up a Vespa and bring it with me.
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Old 04-15-2017, 11:13 PM   #3
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awesome camper
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Old 04-15-2017, 11:45 PM   #4
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That's a nice size bus. Congratulations. It's always interesting to see how fast someone can put a conversion together. Even a simple one.
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Old 05-09-2017, 07:19 AM   #5
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Progress!

I pick the bus up on Saturday and then yesterday I took out the seats and pulled up the center aisle to see what condition the floor was it

NO PLYWOOD AND NO RUST 😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😍😎😎😎🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀🍀

This makes pulling out the interior much much easier obviously and much less prep work before I put down my new floor so that was positive news

I also scored a bunch of Brazilian hardwood rough-cut pallet material to do the floor with I got 12 pieces 14 1/2 feet long to do the center and then around the wheel wells I will use shorter sections
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Old 05-09-2017, 07:26 AM   #6
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what an awesome little bus!! it's the older cousin of my RedByrd!, i go through your city all the time on my way back N forth bewteen ohio and florida

that hardwood floor is gonna be awesome in there!!!
awesome build, i love simplicity... my idea was similar, get a bus and do some roadtripping.. except I kinda skipped the conversion part.. I just got a couple busses and started roadtripping.. LOL.
-Christopher
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Old 05-09-2017, 07:46 AM   #7
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So, a week ago I got an idea....


Dude this thing isn't going to last you a week like this. You gotta keep the shiny side up.
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Old 05-09-2017, 07:50 AM   #8
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In 3 weeks I'm going back to pick it up ( it's less than an hour from Atlanta where I live) and
Any of that wood left? My mom lives in Cloudland. I could take a road trip down there.
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Old 05-09-2017, 08:29 AM   #9
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Any of that wood left? My mom lives in Cloudland. I could take a road trip down there.


I might be able to get more of it. I'll ask the guy. How much do you want? If you email me I can send close up photos. It's petty rough but I'm a furniture builder and have tons of tool.

Tobin


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Old 05-09-2017, 08:52 AM   #10
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I might be able to get more of it. I'll ask the guy. How much do you want? If you email me I can send close up photos. It's petty rough but I'm a furniture builder and have tons of tool.

Tobin
I'm thinking purpleheart for counter tops. I have a portal planar but no joiner. Tho I do have a friend with one in his garage... hmmm.

PM sent.
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Old 05-11-2017, 09:16 PM   #11
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I hired my old fraternity to help and we had a realllllllly productive day!!

First we removed the rubber flooring, wheel chair lift, and rear heater ( AND. I just cut the lines, a pain in the ass mistake gotta fix that tomorrow)

There was NO RUST at all on the floor. So, filled the holes with silicone, put down 2/3 layers of roofing felt, then ever 24 inches we screwed down 1 inch wood strips.

1 inch insulation board between each strip, another layer of roofing felt, and got most of the rough cut ( but sanded) full length floor boards laid out ( will nail them to the wood strips next week). I brought the wrong nails :/.

Used silicone to glue the wall insulation to the lower wall. Next week, wooden wainscoting goes in.

Moved an escape window into a better location, removed the buzzers

Did painting prep work and washed the bus.

All in one day!!!

Right when we were deciding what to do with the trash and the chair lift.... an city worker in a small dump truck pulled up to eat lunch.... so I talked to him and he took it all 😎😎😎

I'm beat !
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Old 05-12-2017, 07:13 AM   #12
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put down 2/3 layers of roofing felt, ... another layer of roofing felt,
Dear gawd, WHY?!!? I dunno why but that just sounds like a terrible idea. I think I would use a nice latex basement paint before roofing felt.

Way to bust a$$ tho!!
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Old 05-12-2017, 07:17 AM   #13
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How much do you want?
As much as I can get my greedy grubby hands on if it's good stuff. The buddy with the joiner would take it even if I don't use it all.

I supposed to be getting wood from an old barn but I dunno if that'll go thru. Friend of a friend, you know how that goes.
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Old 05-12-2017, 10:09 AM   #14
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You mean you cut the rear heater lines? You wouldn't have been able to get it out without cutting I don't think.

It's an easy fix. The best way is to just go to autozone or another chain auto parts store and get two connectors. If you follow them to the front, you'll likely find two 't' connectors. Pull those out and swap in straight connectors instead.

You may lose more coolant that way, depending on how high up the hoses connect. If you don't want to do a coolant flush now and don't want to lose anymore, you can also just get one connector and reconnect them in the back.

I was advised against doing this because it's just extra places where coolant can leak and potentially cause problems.
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Old 05-12-2017, 12:19 PM   #15
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Someone definitely could have used that wheelchair lift.
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Old 05-12-2017, 01:57 PM   #16
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Thank you so much for your condescension, i'm sure it makes you a joy to live with. What you didn't know is that I spent a week trying to give it away, I hope jumping to conclusions has provided you with a great deal of exercise
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Old 05-12-2017, 03:04 PM   #17
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Yup, pretty hard to sell a lift. You see them online for $300 pretty frequently, and eventually for free. Sometimes you can find a disabled person that needs one, but they're afraid of getting junk that doesn't work.

I've also been wanting to take out my lift, but motorcycles and wood stoves are heavy to get in and out.
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Old 05-12-2017, 03:08 PM   #18
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IF/when I pull mine out its goin to the curb, where some metal scrapping poor person can spend three hours of their day scrapping it for a six pack of natty light.
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Old 05-12-2017, 04:00 PM   #19
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I'd like to take my lift apart and see if I can make something out of the cylinders and pump. Two cylinders like that might might help stabilize the bus while parked. Sometimes when the wind blows I need sea legs because of all the movement.

Let them scrappers pick up cans on the side of the road to get their natty light. Oregon's can return recently went up to 10 cents per can. They only have to can hunt for half as long now.
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Old 05-12-2017, 04:13 PM   #20
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I'd like to take my lift apart and see if I can make something out of the cylinders and pump. Two cylinders like that might might help stabilize the bus while parked. Sometimes when the wind blows I need sea legs because of all the movement.

Let them scrappers pick up cans on the side of the road to get their natty light. Oregon's can return recently went up to 10 cents per can. They only have to can hunt for half as long now.
It takes all day, a truck, and $20 gas money to find enough scrap to come out ahead enough to get a sixer of natty. I try to throw the poor scrappers a bone.
A can aint even worth a penny here, man. No one picks up cans except guys like me who hate having to dig them up while metal detecting.
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