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Old 10-24-2012, 10:16 PM   #1
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The Man-Venture

My friend and I are building a bus to go cross country on our winter break from college. We plan to run the bus on veggie oil. The bus is a 2001 Freightliner Thomas 77 passenger bus. It has a Caterpillar 3126 engine with an Allison AT 545 tranny. I bought it at a state surplus auction for $1600



This is a crude sketch I made durring one of my classes.


We thought it would be cool to have a covered porch off the back. We plan on using hammocks to sleep in, that will be attached some how from the interior sides.

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Old 10-24-2012, 11:07 PM   #2
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Re: The Man-Venture

Great buy and a fun plan! Keep us posted as you go. Love the "Covered Porch".
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Old 10-25-2012, 10:05 AM   #3
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Re: The Man-Venture

you got a great deal at $1600....looking forward to watching your conversion in progress.
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Old 10-30-2012, 08:53 PM   #4
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Re: The Man-Venture

I was able to work on the bus this past weekend, thanks to Hurricane Sandy closing the college scene for a couple of days. Me and my brother were able to get all the seats out and 3/4 of the rubber up. My brother is going to work on it a little this week, getting the rest of the rubber up and the rest of the mounts cut off.
We went from this:

To this in a matter of 4 hours
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Old 10-30-2012, 09:42 PM   #5
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Re: The Man-Venture

Isn't it a great feeling to be making progress! It took three years after I bought my skoolie to even begin on it... Keep progressing!
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Old 11-01-2012, 10:19 AM   #6
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Re: The Man-Venture

What did you do with that dead body they left between the seats?
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Old 11-01-2012, 10:27 AM   #7
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Re: The Man-Venture

Quote:
Originally Posted by roach711
What did you do with that dead body they left between the seats?

since they are in college...maybe he was sleeping one off
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Old 11-08-2012, 02:32 PM   #8
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Re: The Man-Venture

Anybody have any suggestions on how I could hang hammocks from the inside of the bus. I know i could just bolt it right through the wall, but i was wondering if there is any less invasive way of doing it.
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Old 11-08-2012, 02:39 PM   #9
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Re: The Man-Venture

Side to side?
mount big eyebolts to 2x4's with large washers on back to spread load, and then drill and tap the studs between the windows, 2x4's fit perfect and still allow windows to open.
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:05 AM   #10
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Re: The Man-Venture

You know, veggie fuel is getting harder and harder to come by. Its also a lot of fiddling to do and probably twice as much fiddling in the winter time. Skip the veggie fuel and have a fun trip! Just my $.02.
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Old 11-09-2012, 12:05 PM   #11
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Re: The Man-Venture

The only problem is that diesel is very expensive and I am trying to go from New Hampshire to California and back. I was looking for a cheep alternative, to buying thousands of dollars of diesel. I guess a few years back it would have been easier, before all these environmentalists hopped on veggie wagon. Is there any alternatives to veggie oil and diesel? Im only in college and don't have a ton of money to dump into fuel.
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Old 11-09-2012, 12:09 PM   #12
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Re: The Man-Venture

No alternatives. There is no cheap way to drive from NH to CA, no matter what you are driving. Maybe ask your President to kick in. ;)
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Old 11-09-2012, 04:23 PM   #13
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Re: The Man-Venture

Maybe if a few more people voted for the other guy we would have the Keystone pipeline. Then diesel wouldn't be $4.50 a gallon in CA.
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Old 11-09-2012, 08:47 PM   #14
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Re: The Man-Venture

Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal
Maybe if a few more people voted for the other guy we would have the Keystone pipeline. Then diesel wouldn't be $4.50 a gallon in CA.
Topped off at 3.87 today....after "cruzin" town...damn..a lot of small parking lots in this "small" town ....shopping for...shiat...just to drive the bus because its kool....ahahahhaahhhaahhh
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Old 11-09-2012, 08:52 PM   #15
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Re: The Man-Venture

I've budget'd $5 a gallon at 5mpg this summer/fall...I have avergaged 9mpg at less than $4.00 a gallon...so it has been a win/win so far
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Old 11-09-2012, 10:24 PM   #16
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Re: The Man-Venture

This past weekend for us was 1400 miles at $3.98 and 9mpg.
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Old 11-09-2012, 11:36 PM   #17
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Re: The Man-Venture

Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
Quote:
Originally Posted by crazycal
Maybe if a few more people voted for the other guy we would have the Keystone pipeline. Then diesel wouldn't be $4.50 a gallon in CA.
Topped off at 3.87 today....after "cruzin" town...damn..a lot of small parking lots in this "small" town ....shopping for...shiat...just to drive the bus because its kool....ahahahhaahhhaahhh
Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
I've budget'd $5 a gallon at 5mpg this summer/fall...I have avergaged 9mpg at less than $4.00 a gallon...so it has been a win/win so far
You're happy with $3.87 and $4 a gallon. You have a tunnel to Fort Knox or sumthin? I don't think that's anything to be happy about unless diesel gets to $8 a gallon.
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Old 11-10-2012, 05:37 AM   #18
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Re: The Man-Venture

Happy no,just releived I actually get 9mpg...and everyone knows Fort Knox is empty
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Old 11-10-2012, 10:20 AM   #19
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Re: The Man-Venture

Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
everyone knows Fort Knox is empty

........................,,-~*~,,
......................./:.:.:.:.:.|
......................|;.;.;.;.;./
......................|.;.;.;.;.|
............._,,,,,_.).;.;.;.;.|
.........,,-":.:.:.:."~-,;.;.;.|
........(_,,,,---,,_:.:.);.;.;..",,
......,-":.:.:.:.:.""-,,/;.;.;.;.;.",
.....(:.__,,,,,,,,,___);.;.;.;.;.;|
...../"":.:.:.:.:.:.:¯""\;.;.;.;.;.,"
....\",__,,,,,,,,,,,__/;;;;;;;;;/\
.....\.::.:.:.:.:.:.:.;.);;;;;;;;;/:\
.......\,,,,,---~~~~;;;;;;;;,"::::\
.........."""~~--,,,,,,,,,,-"::::::::::\
...................\::::::::::::::::::::::\
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Old 11-10-2012, 10:57 AM   #20
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Re: The Man-Venture

Quote:
Originally Posted by opus
Quote:
Originally Posted by bansil
everyone knows Fort Knox is empty

........................,,-~*~,,
......................./:.:.:.:.:.|
......................|;.;.;.;.;./
......................|.;.;.;.;.|
............._,,,,,_.).;.;.;.;.|
.........,,-":.:.:.:."~-,;.;.;.|
........(_,,,,---,,_:.:.);.;.;..",,
......,-":.:.:.:.:.""-,,/;.;.;.;.;.",
.....(:.__,,,,,,,,,___);.;.;.;.;.;|
...../"":.:.:.:.:.:.:¯""\;.;.;.;.;.,"
....\",__,,,,,,,,,,,__/;;;;;;;;;/\
.....\.::.:.:.:.:.:.:.;.);;;;;;;;;/:\
.......\,,,,,---~~~~;;;;;;;;,"::::\
.........."""~~--,,,,,,,,,,-"::::::::::\
...................\::::::::::::::::::::::\

How'd you do that?
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