Hello All!
I have frequented this site over the years as a fan of this community and now I am ready to be a part!
A few months back, my girlfriend and I decided that we wanted to either build a tiny home or convert a school bus into our home. We went with converting a bus due to the fact that they are meant for the road.
This past weekend we purchased a 30 ft 1995 Thomas Built Saf-T at an auction in California. The bus was used as a charter for the Department of Probation in Santa Clara. The engine is in great shape with less than 70,000 miles.
We are thrilled to get this into our back lot and begin the process.
Our immediate goals:
1. Make it legal - The state of California has labeled this and thousands of other buses as "Non-Compliant", until it is brought up to standards with a particulate matter filter. Since we will be driving a minimal amount (under 1,000 miles annually), we qualify for low-use exemption. This is going to be an interesting ordeal with both the DMV and Air Resource Board of California.
If any of you have information on this, that would be greatly appreciated.
2. Gut the interior. Fun.
3. Figure out what we need/want. Sleeping arrangements, kitchen and appliances, water source, power source (solar? wind?), ETC.
4. Where will we park? We currently live and work in Berkeley/Oakland area. Ashley does odd end work and I run a film production company and studio. So we are looking for a place that is nearby (hour or less of a bike ride). Ideally we will find a bare piece of land with water and power available. Who knows.
We do have the luxury of using the backlot at my studio to do all of the work