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Old 07-13-2009, 03:06 PM   #41
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water works pictures

Temporary water system





Pulling pex






More permanent- pump mounted in cabinet with expansion tank





I am afraid to look at how many days till our Burning Man departure

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Old 07-13-2009, 03:12 PM   #42
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Re: Xtevan's bus

You have an expansion tank because you have a water heater someplace or is it for another reason?
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Old 07-13-2009, 04:10 PM   #43
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Water system

Sorry accumulator tank is more accurate, with out an accumulator the pump would sputter on and off buzzing rather than pumping smoothly. The accumulator will hold the pressure level hirer for a period of time allowing the pump to run smoothly when needed. The tank I used was from a water filtration unit, another bargain find at the Restore. It has a Schrader(innertube) valve to adjust the air bladder pressure.
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Old 08-22-2009, 09:01 PM   #44
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Re: Xtevan's bus

I have been crazy busy trying to get ready for Burning Man. I put in the second AC unit in back and fabbed up a rack to hold the rocket box on top- I built the rack out of pieces of the seats I took apart.



Looks pretty tall together but It's not as tall as the stack of bikes and such last year.



I have swapped out the drivers seat with one from an '80's Volvo



working on a adjustable arm rest with cup holder.

An working on bracketry to use the other Volvo seat for a copilot seat up front. I installed 2 pairs of the reclining shuttle bus seats in place of the factory high backs. Hugh improvement in comfort, much more like an airline seat.

Will pick up my rebuilt trans on Monday

I have a pair of 40 gallon tanks I'm going to build brackets for tomorrow, more pictures to come...
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Old 09-04-2009, 09:51 PM   #45
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RIP Xtevan's bus

This has been a brutal week, got the trans swapped back in on Saturday only a week after the shop promised it, we were planning to leave Friday night.



Took off for Burning Man Sunday morning

Last good picture of my bus



Bracket to create porch over hitch for trailer- did not use it because I need the ball one step higher.



Was really enjoying the new drivers seat and matching copilot seat set up(which I didn't take a single picture of ), when I saw the trailer on fire in the side mirror.

Last picture I took of my bus, out on I95 north of Needles, CA, had to bypass the hoover dam bridge because of the trailer. camera battery was low and died



The fire was already a good ways through the inside of the bus at this point, it was stunning how quickly the interior burned. Everything was reduced to charcoal on the floor, you could see right through the metal seat frames to the back door.

We all got off safely- no one was physically injured, but five days later I'm still exhausted and heavily stressed. Lost pretty much every thing on board, including my wallet

No worries I am thinking about my next bus(and have peeked at the Florida church bus website a few times)- the skoolie thing has become a part of me.My girlfriend was even enjoying driving it, amazingly...
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Old 09-05-2009, 09:18 AM   #46
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Re: Xtevan's bus

HOLY CRAP is right!!!

Glad you guys got off okay! Sorry to hear about the bus. Did you have a fire extinguisher with you? Were you able to get home still driving the thing or did you have to get towed? Wow oh Wow! That really and truly sucks!!!
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Old 09-05-2009, 10:10 AM   #47
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Re: Xtevan's bus

WHAT??? How did that happen??? What was on the trailer?
Man that s an absolute shame!!! Glad you are ok!
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Old 09-06-2009, 01:00 PM   #48
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Re: Xtevan's bus

Xman talk about burning man! oh i dont like that im hoping you have insurance of some kind.Ill bet you are stressed!Sorry to see that happen but you are right all got out OK,thats what really counts.Im sure vanguy will have something to say about FCB.Where is the bus now,must of been a wild scene .....timbuk
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Old 09-06-2009, 08:01 PM   #49
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Re: Xtevan's bus

my jaw hit the f'ing floor when i saw that fire pic
what happened to start that
man im so sorry for you
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Old 09-09-2009, 04:35 PM   #50
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Re: Xtevan's bus

Ouch and pain... Truely sorry... glad to here your ok....
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Old 09-10-2009, 06:45 PM   #51
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RIP Xtevan's bus

Short version of the story: I'm safe at home in Austin. Neither my travel companions nor I were physically injured but while I was on my way to the Black Rock Desert in Nevada for Burning Man, my Bluebird bus pulling a trailer burned to the ground fully loaded. The fire report cites the axle bearing seizing on the rented trailer as the cause of the fire.




Long version, We were just north of Needles, CA on Hwy 95N, in the upper Sonoran desert about an hour and half south of Las Vegas. Was really enjoying the new driver's seat and matching copilot seat set up (which I didn't take a single picture of ) when I noticed the flames from the side of the trailer in the side mirror. I stopped the bus, got off and found that the art car & generators' fuel tanks which were on the trailer had caught on fire. I ran back into the bus for tools and got Deborah & John off of the bus. I got back to rear of the bus to find the flames were now blowing over the hitch and onto the back of the bus. The flames were too big to get close enough to get the trailer disconnected now, and everything on trailer and bus burned (our stuff and the things we were hauling for other people who had flown there) :'( .

The 911 call didn't go smoothly because our call was picked up by Nevada and they were concerned that we were still in California...that's a whole separate story, but by the time any fire dept help got there it was way too late. People traveling along the highway who stopped were as supportive as they could be (unlike the California Highway Patrol officer!), especially a man named Jake from Boulder City, who eventually drove us into Las Vegas to spend the night.

Some young marines saw John's tatoos (he got out with only his pants, boots, and cell phone & wallet in the pockets), gifted us clean Tshirts and a clean hoodie. Allen came to our rescue long distance by arranging for a hotel room and flights back to Austin the next day. (BTW, it is possible to fly without an ID, as my wallet was on the bus with my last purchases from the Kingman AZ Home Depot. I was talking with a another skoolie converter and was distracted after giving him the bus tour. The TSA has procedures for that, you just have to allow a lot of extra time to be processed as if you might be a terrorist. At least at the Las Vegas airport, they were very sympathetic and helpful.)

So we didn't make it to Burning Man--we had our own personal "burn." I knew we were on an adventure, but this was certainly far beyond anything I could have imagined. The fire happened Monday around 5:45 p.m Pacific Time. We were back in Austin at 5 p.m. on Tuesday. Literally only moments before we saw the fire, we had been enjoying the spectacular view and talking about what we were feeling grateful for. I think all of us have a pretty good perspective on what's important--we're grateful to have walked away, and we do understand the relative unimportance of material possessions, but it is still very difficult to watch so many of your things go up in flames. The emotional and financial hit is pretty hard for all of us. I think we're doing OK, but the traumatic stress response continues, including in some ways that are surprising me (particularly physiologically).

I was really bummed to leave the art car remains, I spent two days welding up the twelve foot tall guitar neck/head & don't have picture that does it justice(was waiting to get the gas jets in).

For now, we're taking care of related business tasks, prioritizing as best we can. I got to the DMV Wednesday for a replacement drivers license, have ordered new credit/debit cards, & am now working the insurance hoops.
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Old 09-10-2009, 08:10 PM   #52
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Re: Xtevan's bus

Wow Glad no one was physically injured.

Thanks for sharing the backstory. I hope you can recoup some $ through the rental co's insurance.

Best of luck with everything.
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Old 09-10-2009, 09:32 PM   #53
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Re: Xtevan's bus

Brutal. Hard to know what to say when a person loses so much...just good that you're all okay. And glad to see you've got plans on another bus...take care!
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Old 09-10-2009, 09:39 PM   #54
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Re: Xtevan's bus

Siezed axle bearing on rented trailer......mmmmmm? When the trailer owner tries to make you pay for the trailer give him a bill for the bus and all the possessions lost.
Sorry about the loss, especially during a trip. What a huge bummer. If you feel any withdrawals you are welcome to come down to Wimberley and stretch the legs on my bus.
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Old 11-16-2009, 10:21 PM   #55
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Fallen to the dark side

Hope you guys are doing well, I have super busy with my class work since my last misadventure.

I found this one on eBay and to my utter amazement stole this flood damaged BlueBird Wanderlodge for $25 over the minimum bid. The seller said he had a lot of calls when I talked with him so I set up a bid and tried to forget about it. Exact same length as my TC2000 was. Fingers crossed & knocking on wood I hope to have her running before spring.



I looked real close at pair of Crowns the same week- really want to do a Steam punked Ray-Gun Gothic Crown conversion some day... Even with the towing bill I have less than half of what I paid for my TC2000 in this one, though I suspect I will $pend a lot more on this one. The girlfriend is ecstatic after seeing it this weekend.

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Old 11-17-2009, 03:28 PM   #56
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Re: Xtevan's bus

CONGRATS MAN i thought you had been brokenhearted about the fire accident and given up on skoolies
so glad to hear the good news
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Old 11-17-2009, 06:33 PM   #57
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Re: Xtevan's bus

Is it me, or is your new bus trying to do a hand stand? ^.^
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Old 11-17-2009, 07:11 PM   #58
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Re: Xtevan's bus

It looks like its hooked up to a wrecker (notice the light green arm extended from the rear). But I thought the same thing when I first saw it.
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Old 11-17-2009, 08:34 PM   #59
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Re: Xtevan's bus

I missed the arm... But, I was thinking, "Damn thats a strong bus!"

Missed the arm, but I did see the backside of the AC in the window, that others missed, in another thread. ^.^
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Old 11-18-2009, 08:47 PM   #60
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Re: Xtevan's bus

great to hear you are back after the fire... WOW nice bus too! Congrats!
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