Why aren't there many high end skoolies?

[Aleanis]

Granted skoolies and prevost coaches dont ride the same, but why aren't there many high end school bus conversions. I've seen a few that were absolutely beautiful, and a lot more that seemed to be as cheap as possible. I just wondered why people converting charter buses do things so much differently than school buses, does it cost that much more to use higher quality materials? Just wondering, I think I would like to make my bus quite nice, with flat screen tv's, wireless networking, security camera (I also happen to be very very good with electronics, lol). I just wondered why I don't see things like this much.

[wmah]

This is more of a thing if you are going the school bus route the chances are you don't want to spend that much anyways and the result is you only put in the things you want. Why go through the trouble of putting in more money into the job when you can put in less and be happy with the results and of coarse save yourself the money by spending less which can go towards more trips in the bus.

Myself I figure I have less money into it then what I could buy a equaly as good class c stick and staple rv and I am happier with it since it is safer if a collision was to happen and my floor plan layout makes more sense to me. Some of the facorty rv floor plans don't make sense. In my case I wanted more open floor space to put loose stuf on and of coarse a wheelchair which is something most factory rvs don't have.

[the_experience03]

High end skoolie conversion=Bluebird Wanderlodge

[Steve]

I think if you are using a school bus many times you are starting from scratch because you want to make the bus your own. Everyone has different tastes, abilities, and things that they call necessities. A lot of the skoolies are used very hard to such as for tailgating and support vehicles if you put nice thing inside they would be trashed very quickly but if they had been using a normal motorhome like this it would fall apart.

[KC10Chief]

I wouldn't say that my skoolie is going to be "high end", but I'm planning to make it pretty nice on the inside. Modern looking, with carpet, wood flooring (fake stuff, but it looks real to me), air conditioning, heated flooring, flat screen TV with satellite, a king size bed, shower, toilet etc. I bought a brand spanking new travel trailer (Puma 25RKS) back in early 2005. We used it for over a year and I just wasn't all that pleased with it. It felt fragile and like it was going to fall apart if I wasn't really careful with it. The only camping I do really is boondock type camping. We go to a lot of dirtbike races and I use generators and my water tanks. The trailer only had 35 gallon tanks. 35 gallons of water goes quickly with a wife and two kids. I kept thinking that I could build something better than my trailer. Then I saw a guy with an old airport shuttle bus that he'd done a REALLY cheap conversion on and it hit me. Sell the trailer, buy a school bus and build it up myself. I took a BIG hit selling my trailer, but it was worth it I think. The bus is a lot more rewarding. Anyways, I'm planning to do a pretty decent conversion on my bus. It will be at least as nice as my travel trailer was and a whole lot more durable.

[bdavis441]

Stay tuned, I'm going all out on this one! It will take a couple of years total, but it will be as high end as I can possibly make it. Most people were pretty darn impressed at how nice the interior of Big Blue was, this one will be much better.

[swinada]

High end skoolie conversion=Bluebird Wanderlodge

you cant really throw them in here since the wanderlodge's are manufactured that way and cost lots of money to buy. They are not a skoolie in my opinion just a good looking RV off the mill.

Here some history on the birds http://www.vintagebirds.com/history.htm

[fightingsiouxbus]

Its kind of a culture. Plus, most of us are doing it ourselves and have trouble making things look "high end", especially me.

[Steve]

My bus is also built to take a lot of abuse, if I had a normal RV it would have been destroyed by partiers years ago.

[BassnTruck]

I will add to this a little. I will not go over what has already been said so. Now I may be wrong but. Being most of the skoolies have high miles, used hard, body not prefect, and nearing the end of their life maybe people do not want to put a lot of money into them.

Now on my bus I plan on making it what people might call high end. But my bus has hardly any miles, body is clean, super head room height, and dose not look like a school bus.

Just not sure when I will get around to starting and finishing it.

[delbertinie]

well guys I am the wierd one here. I come from a hot rod show car background. I have been doing body mods and paint for most of my natural life.
The reasons I am starting a skoolie is
1. I love building anything.
2. I have champain taste on a beer budget.
3. There are no commercial rvs that really turn me on, or up to my standards
4. a skoolie will double the square footage of my house
5. I love the shape of 30's to $50's school buses with the round shapely coachwork and the front bodywork is not your average run of mill econo van.
6. I'm in my 40's now and trying to drive above 160mph is just flat dangerous with my slow reaction times
7. I have some pretty wild ideas for my skoolie,( it may anger the purist but I really want to keep the neat aspects of the coachwork, but make it look like it was never a bus at the same time)
8. I just want to se if I can accomplish it.
9. It will definately be my taste and personality.
10. my wife wants an rv

But seriously as small as the the interior of a bus is why can't we use high end materials
Take the bathroom for example in my house at home I could not justify marble but the size of the bus bathroom I can afford it.
so why not. I want the interior of my bus to be dream house that we ( my wife and I) could not afford to do because of the size of the job, and it is a get away from everyday life so why not make a small fantasy of it.?
Yes I do resto's and show cars for a living but I don;t do it for pride or ego. Its an internal drive to make things a good as they can be,
.......and truely that philosophy will transfer into my skoolie.

guys I hope that did not come accross as bragging or egotistical
I really am the odd duck and sometimes that is unsettlling to others
I guess I'm the a typical perfectionist anal but off the wall at the same time
Dale

[delbertinie]

and by the way I'm the idiot in the bunch that is always trying to reinvent the wheel

[bus-bro]

I'd say, one reason is that there are guys like me. My goal is not the perfect RV, but a shrine, a monuent to obselete technology. I was raised on that stuff. Thanks to Evil-bay I can Frankenstien a life support system from the dreges of a long gone civilzation (i.e: '40's & 50's). Love that copper, love that steel & no, you can't know where I park it (damn the meth freaks).

[sportyrick]

I think that there has been enough talk here about our perception of how there is no re-sale value of a skoolie to the general public so it scares us from putting too much time and money into one thinking we will never get our money back out of it. I learned in my younger years no matter how much you love a material thing you just can't put endless dollars into it and never think about what it's worth when it's done, been there done that (hobbies, real estate etc). How many times have we owned something and at the time we planned on keeping it forever and low and behold here we sit haveing sold our "one and only" (happily or regretfully). We are a little gun shy from this and it holds us back from doing our best; some even more than others. Like Delbertinie explains above, some of us reach for the "pinacle of perfection" in our projects but rarely recieve proper monetary comphensation when put on the auction block so this hindsight holds us back. DAMNED THE EXPENSES, FULL SPEED AHEAD. sportyrick
ps
I also think that the "crappy" school bus conversions that we see are a good example. Where they just threw some house paint over the yellow, a couple of couches inside, a bucket, some carpet and spray painted the windows to block out gaukers drags down our self esteem and re-sale value. If all skoolies were high end conversion then the resale value would be a lot higher and so would our conversion efforts. Anybody can buy a bus and re-muddle it so why would anyone pay us a real dollar value when they can get an old bus at the bus garage for next to nothing. Isn't that why we worry about the campgrounds letting us in? and Marge says "I'VE SEEN IT ALL NOW, LOOK AT WHAT IS COMING THROUGH THE KOA GATE, AND THEY EXPECT TO STAY OVERNIGHT HERE!!!"

[delbertinie]

heck anything that rolls and had a motor goes down in value if you use it.
Damm the dollars and common sense build what you want
be happy be proud.

And ya know in my line of work the rich idots will pay for our hard work sweat and tears because they can't do it themselves
more importrantly won't stoop to a working mans level to do the job

I also know from experience that paying attention to details does not necessarily mean more money.
look just because its a ratty old bus does not mean that you should not have pride in your own work

such as making your wiring neat and tiddy wire tieing it make straight wiring runs good sodder joints, and using different colours in your loom ect. the point is with a little extra time and pactience (ANYONE) can make a job look professional and neat. Even if it will never show.
the important thing is that YOU know that YOU did the best job you could.

I make my money by paying attention to the details. ( AND WHEN IT COMES TIME TO SELL YOUR PRODJECT YOU WILL GET MOST IF NOT ALL OF YOUR MONEY BACK) IF YOU DO QUALITY WORK!!

THE BETTER YOUR WORK THE BETTER THE RETURN

ok I'm off my soap box now
but when you see quality craftsmanship you are willing to spend more to get because you know it will last longer.
There is a craftsman in each one of us here thats why we are feeding off of each other to learn more and better at our craft ( our skoolie )
and we are not doing it for others approval.

I find the guys who try to build show cars for approval of others never finish the project, and if they do they are never really happy with it because everybody and there brother influenced the build.
and thus it is never really their car because their heart and soul is not in it.

ok ok 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 breathe breathe ooooo kkk ok I'm really off the soap box now.

yes I'm a little anal and yes I'm a little too passionate about being a good craftsman but when I finish the job I no regrets
Man I'm a freak
time to finish this post and destroy my soap box
sorry about the rant
Dale

[delbertinie]

man that delbertinie is a real loon

[swinada]

yeah totaly loony, nobody today wants nice proper craftmansship, just quick and cheap but shiny. Who cares if it brakes down in a coupple years the bank has more money...

[the_experience03]

[golf clap] Nice post! [/golf clap]