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Old 12-15-2016, 08:34 PM   #21
Skoolie
 
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Location: Fairfield Bay, Arkansas
Posts: 163
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Chevy
Chassis: Ward?
Engine: 8.2 liter ?
Rated Cap: 24 Passenger
Oh man! Please don't let me be working on this for another eight months! LOL

A couple of years ago I re-roofed my home. I worked alone, stripping the old roof and going back with new tar paper and shingles. I'd never shingled a home before and it was a big job on a two-story cape. I worked weekends and after work on weekdays. After getting off work, I would tell myself, "just thirty minutes." Up I'd go. Maybe two hours later I'd come down and repeat the cycle the next day. And that's how it got done.

Today I painted the two steel columns I put in for the shoulder belts. That's all I did. But it was something. Tomorrow I'll punch out and re-rivet the side panel next to the driver's seat and caulk the joint between the cab and box. That will be enough. Anything more is... well... more! Ha!

I SALUTE ALL YOU WIERD PEOPLE!!!

Ross

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Old 12-15-2016, 08:54 PM   #22
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Location: So Cal
Posts: 3,227
Year: 1935
Coachwork: Superior
Chassis: Chevy
Engine: 317 ci/tid / Isuzu
This thread caught my eye. I've read it several times trying to imagine the "bus blues" and I can't. Its a cool concept this bus conversion stuff and the "finished" product is a kick to use. Burlking's post 'splains it all. Life does get in the way--so what. So it takes you 5 years to finish a 2 year job so what, you just keep moving onward. I was born with a "get 'er done" gene -- sometimes a gift, sometimes a curse. If you really want to build your bus then do something every day--even if it is only to do more planning. If life demands you abort the bus project let it go--there may come another chance. So what's to be down about--I don't get it.
Jack
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Old 12-15-2016, 09:36 PM   #23
Skoolie
 
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Location: Fairfield Bay, Arkansas
Posts: 163
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Chevy
Chassis: Ward?
Engine: 8.2 liter ?
Rated Cap: 24 Passenger
Ok Jack... that's it! I'm putting you off at the next stop! LOL

I shall speak for myself.

I have a big bus planted in front of my garage door. My garage is shamblized (that's an engineering term) and choked up with bus crap, tools, wires, insulation, flooring materials, paint cans and caulk tubes. I don't have a better place to put the bus. There's no room left to pile stuff going in or coming out of the bus. And my since of organization, such as it is, is reaching it's limit. My bus has been in this spot (though moved around a bit) since February of '16. And my 91 year old father wants to park in his garage. It is his home... I just quit my job, sold my home and moved in with him (as did my wife) to care for him as he has done for us over the years. He says it's my home now, but it is definitely his damn garage! LOL

Also... I'm impatient. Most projects I do are suited to a two-day weekend. I might work for 48 hours straight but by damn, I'll finish it in a weekend. I've never been diagnosed with ADD but I figure that sums me up.

This is the single largest project I've ever attempted and that's saying something. Electric bikes, 3D printers, set building for my son's theater department... The initial excitement I felt when I started this project has waned considerably but I still lay awake at night planning my next move.

I have sunk more money than I care to think about into this bus. I decided going in, I wouldn't skimp. There would be no do-overs because I did something on the cheap. That doesn't mean I'm building everything from mahogany and lining it with gold leaf. But it will have the basics... a shower, a toilet, good lighting, a single induction burner and small sink, on-demand hot water, a nice fridge and solar power. I've done a crap load of work.

No longer do I bounce out of bed eager to get to work on the bus. Now I have to encourage myself with the desire to be on the road, seeing and doing new things... starting my second life with my wife after kids... a skoolie life.

Oh yeah... and while I'm working on this bus, I'm postponing an ever growing list of shiny new projects I'm itching to start! Can you say... SQUIRREL!!!

I will finish this bus... and I won't take another year to do it. But as the starter of this thread, I do appreciate the sharing received. It was therapeutic to vent a little. Nice to know I'm not alone.

Love the forum!

Ross
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Old 12-16-2016, 06:56 AM   #24
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Thanks for this thread......I'm new to this type of project and still in the "searching for the right bus" phase while questioning my abilities to tackle such a project. I live in coastal NC so my winters are not so drastic as other areas so my work conditions won't have snow as a concern...... While it raises many questions it also gives me a new sense of desire to find the bus and jump in and make something special for me and my family. Everyone keep up the great work and can't wait to see pictures for inspiration!
Thank y'all
John
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Old 12-16-2016, 08:26 AM   #25
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The ability to vent frustration may be the most important part of bus conversion. I am convinced that's how this forum began.

ONWARD!
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Old 12-16-2016, 09:04 AM   #26
Skoolie
 
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Location: Fairfield Bay, Arkansas
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Year: 1990
Coachwork: Chevy
Chassis: Ward?
Engine: 8.2 liter ?
Rated Cap: 24 Passenger
Quote:
Originally Posted by javadogs View Post
Thanks for this thread......I'm new to this type of project and still in the "searching for the right bus" phase while questioning my abilities to tackle such a project. I live in coastal NC so my winters are not so drastic as other areas so my work conditions won't have snow as a concern...... While it raises many questions it also gives me a new sense of desire to find the bus and jump in and make something special for me and my family. Everyone keep up the great work and can't wait to see pictures for inspiration!
Thank y'all
John
My moaning has had unintended side effects! Ha! I can live with that! Surely I never intended to scare others away from their dream of converting their very own bus. But a bit of caution is never a bad thing. If someone told me I would never finish it in six months I would have laughed at them and considered it a challenge!

What I forgot to add in was the time I fixed meals for my dad. The trips I took him out for a drive. The football games we watched together. The political debates we watched and repeated. The time spent with my wife traveling to spend time with our kids, participating in their marriage, watching our first grandchild come into the world, worrying about their choices, learning to let go. What I forgot to add in was life. It continues no matter what you had planned to work on. So things take a bit longer.

Forget buying that stair master! You already own one! It's big and yellow and it has wheels! If I had a penny for every time I climbed in and out of that bus... sometimes ten times to cut one piece of wood so it would fits!

To all those who would join in this lunicratic crusade I bid you welcome! It is a good crusade loaded with bruised craneums, gashed lepictiums, mashed frickthumdiums and splintered eyesplectiums! By God Man! You've come to the RIGHT PLACE!!!

Your humble servant!

Ross
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Old 12-16-2016, 10:00 AM   #27
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Ross that is perfect! Thank you!
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