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Old 10-18-2016, 09:36 PM   #21
Bus Crazy
 
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Originally Posted by Zndrson View Post
Ok-

So we're at the point now where we've ripped out most of the floors and sub floors. Couple of rust holes, but nothing crazy. I've sanded most of the surface rust off and now just need to cut out the bad pieces and find someone to weld in new steel for us.

The big barrier for us right now are the infamous rear heaters and their coolant hoses.

For the life of me I can't seem to find a valve on the engine to close... Would it be awful if I just cut the hoses and then top off the reservoir afterwards?

Also- I'm no electrician. Our switchbox looks like a rat's nest... Would it be so wrong to cut the wires leading to the two heaters in back and the one under the driver's seat and cap them?

Been taking lots of photos. Stills and video coming soon!
We dealt with that this past weekend. I wasn't there (at the Miami Dolphins game) and my son-in-love and his buddy cut the hose and coolant came out of the hoses into the bus, he was able to catch most of it in a bucket. But the coolant reservoir is empty. (I posted yesterday about what to put in there, haven't gotten a response yet).
That said, he bought a 4" piece of hose and clamped it off on Sunday and he's going to see what needs to be done with the rest of it.
Looking forward to the pics!
Mine are at: www.thismidwifetravels.com

Sandi

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Old 10-18-2016, 10:30 PM   #22
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You'll want an extended life coolant (ELC) like they use in big rigs.... you can tell the difference because ELC is red, as opposed to the sickly yellow/green of regular auto coolant.

You can get it at any truck stop, if your local Walmart doesn't have it.
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Old 10-18-2016, 10:35 PM   #23
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Originally Posted by AlleyCat67 View Post
You'll want an extended life coolant (ELC) like they use in big rigs.... you can tell the difference because ELC is red, as opposed to the sickly yellow/green of regular auto coolant.

You can get it at any truck stop, if your local Walmart doesn't have it.
The BEST coolant: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f33/hd...ant-13875.html
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Old 10-18-2016, 10:50 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlleyCat67 View Post
You'll want an extended life coolant (ELC) like they use in big rigs.... you can tell the difference because ELC is red, as opposed to the sickly yellow/green of regular auto coolant.

You can get it at any truck stop, if your local Walmart doesn't have it.
Thank you, AlleyCat and Time Lord! This is exactly what I needed to know. And yes, the stuff that came out was a darkish red. Truck stops carry it?

Sandi
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Old 10-19-2016, 12:25 AM   #25
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They may or may not have the stuff TimeLord was talking about in his post but yes, a good truck stop will have a couple of choices. I ran Shell Rotella ELC in my International ProStar+ back when I was trucking with no problems.

Just like in a car you'll want to cut it 50/50 with water, if you don't get the premixed solution. I still have a couple of gallons of it here from my trucking days.... looks like I'll finally have a use for it.
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Old 10-23-2016, 11:16 AM   #26
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And so it begins!

Today we won an auction on a 19 passenger AmTran Genesis Front Engine Bus. Tomorrow we're driving it home and getting to work. Dt466, MT643, 6'4" interior height (I'm 5'8 my wife is 5'5 so no roof raise needed), basically rust free, under 32' long, and 165k miles for $2,200. I almost bought a similar bus in Arizona (I'm in CO) for $6500 so I'm pleased as punch. Auctions are the best! Might be buying a Chevy colorado to tow at auction... now I've got the bug.
Hi!

I was wondering where do you go for an auction like that and how do you do it? I am also from Savannah! If you have some spare time I would love to see the bus and help with the conversation.

Thanks.
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Old 12-12-2016, 12:08 AM   #27
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New Videos up!

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Old 12-12-2016, 12:08 AM   #28
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Old 12-12-2016, 10:21 AM   #29
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Hey Z, great progress! Love your videos, I wish my girl and I were as handy with a camera. I will be spray foaming the interior of my bus too. I'm currently grinding off the rust in the floor. Got some questions for you.

What brand of spray foam did you use? Did you like it?
How much foam did it take?
Did you find someone in CO to patch those holes in your steel?

Also, hey if you ever need to do some work that you can't do in your neighborhood, you're welcome to come to my property in Morrison. We got 87 acres, my bus is here with all the tools.

Take care,

F & C
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Old 12-16-2016, 06:55 PM   #30
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Hey Z, great progress! Love your videos, I wish my girl and I were as handy with a camera. I will be spray foaming the interior of my bus too. I'm currently grinding off the rust in the floor. Got some questions for you.

What brand of spray foam did you use? Did you like it?
How much foam did it take?
Did you find someone in CO to patch those holes in your steel?

Also, hey if you ever need to do some work that you can't do in your neighborhood, you're welcome to come to my property in Morrison. We got 87 acres, my bus is here with all the tools.

Take care,

F & C
Hey man! Sorry for the slow reply. Been busy!

1. We used Foam It Green- the 602 size. I didn't do a good job of putting it up, but I think it'll be ok. Will be better than the stuff that was in there before. We're also planning to put in Reflectix with aluminum tape once the ceiling starts going up.

The foam was easy to use, but messy. The website says it depends on the person for how messy the process is- which I'm sure is true to some extent. Clearly I'm the messy kind because it got everywhere. I'd use it again- great instructions, they give you just about everything you need, and the 602 kit covered the whole ceiling (again not evenly, 2-3 inches in some places, 1" in others). I did have a little left over, though. Biggest thing is making sure those metal surfaces are warm enough for the foam to adhere to or else it will fall off.

2. As far as the holes, we used some spare steel and cut it to fit, then used JB weld to patch the larger pieces (like where the coolant hoses go through the floor, if yours did). The smaller bolt holes we used 100% silicon. Its a little delicate at first, but after it dries and it gets touched up it seems like it will do ok.

Thanks for the offer for the property. Very much appreciated. Can't foresee not being able to do most everything here but I'm sure we'll run into something.

We've bought several tools already- if you'd like to borrow some let us know! Can't wait to see your progress
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Old 12-16-2016, 07:28 PM   #31
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Great video quality. I'll definitely be subscribing there to check these out.
My 12 year old really wants to be a youtuber and Santa is bringing him a camera (nothing fancy but a good starter). I may have him film my progress with the bus (I'm just getting started) and get him some editing practice that way. His camera along with the gopro and cell phones we should be able to capture most.

Non bus related question: what software do you recommend for a begining film editor?

Bus related question: are you leaving all the windows in? We are blanking some out such as where walls, bathroom, bunks and things will go for the efficiency of heating the bus because those blanks can be insulated.
Speaking of heat 🔥 what's the plan? I've been waffling back and forth between wood stove and propane heat. We are a little bit colder here in cheyenne than you guys but CO still gets cold.
Great insulation. I'm leaning towards that for mine.

Sounds like there are plenty of Colorado skoolies out there we should do a Colorado skoolie meet up someday. I'm just 8 miles north of the Colorado border in Wyoming.

Good luck! And I hope your YouTube chanel blows up.

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Old 12-16-2016, 08:54 PM   #32
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If you're running Windows 7 you should already have Windows Live Movie Maker.... nothing fancy but does have some pretty good editing tools in it, and pretty simple to learn. It's what I'm using for my JasmineBus Conversion Project videos.
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As a level 1 burglar, Bilbo got a pony when he accompanied the level 60 dwarves on the Smaug the Dragon raid. Those powerlevelers probably invited him solely so he could trigger fellowship attacks for them.
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Old 12-16-2016, 09:08 PM   #33
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Originally Posted by AlleyCat67 View Post
If you're running Windows 7 you should already have Windows Live Movie Maker.... nothing fancy but does have some pretty good editing tools in it, and pretty simple to learn. It's what I'm using for my JasmineBus Conversion Project videos.
Is yours on YouTube yet? I've been looking everywhere for videos to watch. So far the best going the I've seen is transcendence, that dude has some fab skills.
I think I'm gonna start a thread tomorrow or so, a roundup of all the YouTube bus conversions and kind of do a little review of each maybe.

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Old 12-16-2016, 09:23 PM   #34
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*pointing to my signature*

Still working on ripping seats, haven't been able to get motivated with the cold and dreary weather we've been having.
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As a level 1 burglar, Bilbo got a pony when he accompanied the level 60 dwarves on the Smaug the Dragon raid. Those powerlevelers probably invited him solely so he could trigger fellowship attacks for them.
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Old 12-16-2016, 09:24 PM   #35
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*pointing to my signature*

Still working on ripping seats, haven't been able to get motivated with the cold and dreary weather we've been having.
Gotcha. Sig blocks don't show on the Tapatalk app for some reason. I'll check it out [emoji2]

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Old 12-16-2016, 09:26 PM   #36
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Oh ok I did not know that..... just search for JasmineBus Conversion, that should bring it up.
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As a level 1 burglar, Bilbo got a pony when he accompanied the level 60 dwarves on the Smaug the Dragon raid. Those powerlevelers probably invited him solely so he could trigger fellowship attacks for them.
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Old 01-03-2017, 09:24 AM   #37
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Adventure Bus View Post
Great video quality. I'll definitely be subscribing there to check these out.
My 12 year old really wants to be a youtuber and Santa is bringing him a camera (nothing fancy but a good starter). I may have him film my progress with the bus (I'm just getting started) and get him some editing practice that way. His camera along with the gopro and cell phones we should be able to capture most.

Non bus related question: what software do you recommend for a begining film editor?

Bus related question: are you leaving all the windows in? We are blanking some out such as where walls, bathroom, bunks and things will go for the efficiency of heating the bus because those blanks can be insulated.
Speaking of heat 🔥 what's the plan? I've been waffling back and forth between wood stove and propane heat. We are a little bit colder here in cheyenne than you guys but CO still gets cold.
Great insulation. I'm leaning towards that for mine.

Sounds like there are plenty of Colorado skoolies out there we should do a Colorado skoolie meet up someday. I'm just 8 miles north of the Colorado border in Wyoming.

Good luck! And I hope your YouTube chanel blows up.

Sent from my SM-G935V using Tapatalk
Thanks for the kind words!

Always fun to start making videos. I use adobe Premier, but that's because I already have the Adobe creative cloud and shooting short videos is part of what I do for a living. If they're using a Mac, imovie is actually a great editor. Past that, I'm unsure of what's out there. Sorry I can't be more helpful!

We won't be leaving all the windows in- but trying to leave as many as possible. Will most likely be removing at least two to accommodate for our pot belly stove (which we just picked up yesterday).



Since you're in Cheyenne it might be a good idea to have some form of both? Though I've heard wood stoves can put out some serious warmth. We don't know yet so its hard to give advice

A Colorado Skoolie meetup sounds awesome!
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Old 01-03-2017, 01:11 PM   #38
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Tiff made a 1/16 scale model to plan with.

THAT is an awesome idea.

I'm definitely stealing that one!
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Old 01-03-2017, 04:25 PM   #39
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Of the many folks I've met in person from this site- one brought a fully detailed scale model made of cardboard. It was amazingly detailed. I wonder if he ever got a bus? Zach- you ever get that bus?
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Old 01-03-2017, 05:34 PM   #40
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Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
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