debbiejay 8.3

[cadillackid]

Those into hotrodding... ever see anyone buy a car , paintcit and put a new interior in it before they make it run right? Hoopties not included in this.. oh wait they are.. seen some beautiful looking G body cars in the junkyards awesome multicolor paint and leather dashboards .. cracked frames and blown up engines... sucks to be those guys ..

This bus is being transported to the conversion company.. hopefully they are driving it there so it gets the shakedown run
Christopher

[Defjr333]

Sounds like it will not only be nice, but likely done at a faster pace than us personal built. Will def be following.
Doug

[Robin97396]

In technical terms I expect it to be fancy smancy and a little girly whirly, with a wood stove.

[EastCoastCB]

I wonder if it will get a coat of "converted bus blue" aka seafoam/tiffany.
After the OP started laughing at my situation with my broken bus, it made me wonder about their true intentions here.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

I like the idea of a shake down trip, but during the summer. Even for a trip like that you'd need decent tires and a few things.

It's no wonder there are so many people getting into bus building. On tv they drop $150,000 to have someone go through the bus build process, and then the builders will commonly have a $20,000 overrun. I've never heard anything about mech maintenance from any of the builders. I'm pretty sure I could build a bus with all the reasonable toys needed for living off grid that we talk about here for about $20,000 give or take a little. I could probably get that done in a decade or so.

1) Don't believe the TV shows. One of the bus drivers we had in AK was on the house buying show they had. It's true they were looking for a house. One for about $150k. The show made them go look at $400k houses in places they didn't want a house even if they had the money.

2) That said, if you are putting $150k in an RV or bus, you aren't starting with a 150k miles on the chassis.

3) Even if you did, with a $150k from the floor up, you're going to replace the engine, tranny, and whatever else blew up (vice moving all the stuff to a new chassis).

It really boils down to what you're willing to risk. You can blow up the bus before you get started and end up buying a new bus or you build on an unknown platform and fix it when it blows up.

[CLEW]

I agree with the futon suggestion, it would give you more room. It looks like you are planning a tub in your bathroom, why not a simpler shower, that would also take up less space. This is just my opinion, and I love wood stoves, but again it would use a lot of space. I am new to this forum, and to the idea of building a skoolie, so I don't know all the heating choices, but I would think you could install a small, efficient heating system that runs on propane. Just a thought. Good luck with your project.

[EastCoastCB]

Any pics of the 8.3 in this shorty yet?

[EastCoastCB]

Man, I sure wanted to see an 8.3 in a short bus.

[EastCoastCB]

Still can't find any 8.3 shorties anywhere. I think this was all a farce.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by debbiejay4444

My bus is in transit to Tennessee right now. Skoolie Homes helped me find the bus. Thanks to all of you, I knew what to ask for. Skoolie homes will also be doing the conversion, at least what I can afford for them to do. At my age, and lack of mechanical/carpenter ability I needed help with the conversion.

No damage to the bus at all, and no rust. They will be taking photos for me once it arrives.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

May wana read some actual reviews by customers.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/skoolie-homes-kingsport-2

After months of missed commitments I arrived 10/5/18 for delivery which was one week late
Upon arrival, the propane sensor was not able to be hooked up without triggering the alarm.
The next morning when Jeff came to replace the sensor I had more issues including:

leak under the bathroom area of the bus
no hot water
AC would not stop running
shower had not been caulked
washing machine had not been tested
USB port/cup holder for the driver area was missing
Interior doors had no way to be properly secured
RV door did not close/lock properly
sofa had not been bolted down

We took the bus back to the shop for these repairs Saturday morning where a member of the team with his wife arrived to perform these repairs. When I left that afternoon the AC was still not working, but other repairs had been made.
I made the decision to leave the lot with my bus as I believed the major issues to be resolved and needed to be in Illinois for family reasons.
Ninety minutes into my 600 mile drive the engine over heated and I called Jeff for assistance. When I told him I was disabled on the side of the road he said "You need to get to a mechanic. I don't know anything about diesel engines". I was told on the contract that he performs a 'rigorous 25 point inspection' of the bus before buying/converting.
The first mechanic had to replace the batteries as Jeff's work had killed the cells. The mechanic was unable to re-hook the DC wiring as it was unsafe. Upon further inspection a live wire was found in the battery compartment which previously went to the propane sensor

Beyond the initial safety concerns of no propane sensor and live wires/unsafe wiring in the battery compartment, I have found several items in my bus build that are sloppy, unprofessional and incomplete:

The bookshelf was measured incorrectly and in order to make it fit they cut a notch out of the counter top to accommodate
The shower head is off center and directs the water out of the shower opening rather than into the wall which causes leaking
The bathroom door is too heavy it jumps the track when driving
A light was installed where the bedroom door swings open so the top of the door has been lopped off to accommodate
Lower murphy bunk bed was not built in a manner to allow it to swing down and the locking mechanism was installed with 1/2" metal screws rather than the proper length wood screw. I have replaced the screws and had modified the bunk to allow it to barely squeeze open/closed
Decorative trim on the ceiling has nearly 100 staples per strip - many not set or filled in and does not fit true around lights and up to the walls
New white cabinets have paint to cover scuffs
Bus was delivered filthy
Drawer front under the set up in the bedroom fell off the first time it was opened
Drawer under the stove rarely opens
Fridge handles were lost
Microwave I brought to their site was stolen
Cut outs from the butcher block were 'lost' and I was never given those pieces which I paid for
Back wall of the bus at the ceiling has a 1" gap with visible insulation
There are no sensors to alert me as to the status of the tanks
Electrical box is not labeled so I do not know how to manage electric use to prevent tripping a circuit
RV door does not close properly
There is no vent for cooking smells
There are outlets behind the propane range & one unusable behind the counter
Internal paint job is poorly done and needs to be repainted
I paid nearly 50,000 for a professionally converted bus and what I have looks like a DIY project from someone's back yard that has several major safety concerns.

Skoolie Homes did offer to pick up the bus and take it to their shop to address the issues. I decided not to do that as they do not have the skill set to remedy the work they did poorly the first time and more importantly, I cannot be without my home the several weeks it would take. I did accept a $5000 refund to cover some of these items; however, my expenses already exceed this amount.

Skoolie Homes claim to be the skoolie industry expert, they have no building experience. We gave them a bus, $36,500 and over 4months. They built a death trap with open wiring behind the shower, leaking roof and no plumbing or bathroom. The bus actually caught fire when we opened the battery compartment. This could have been a bomb if the propane was on. We just want a refund.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

May wana read some actual reviews by customers.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/skoolie-homes-kingsport-2

Well, that sounds like a nightmare. Kinda glad we did our own build.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

May wana read some actual reviews by customers.
https://www.yelp.com/biz/skoolie-homes-kingsport-2

For sure that company would be in court explaining themselves. $50k and that quality of workman ship? I'd have a hard time staying in business with those kinds of reviews. That many issues on one build, I'd be embarrassed for myself if I did that kind of work.
Sounds like they profited $30K and gave $5K back, what sports.

[plfking]

Originally Posted by o1marc

I'd have a hard time staying in business with those kinds of reviews.

So where are the reviews of your business?

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by plfking

So where are the reviews of your business?

I'm currently not keeping much of an online presence, but they're out there if you search. Let me know if you find anything negative.

[EastCoastCB]

https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f6/fi...s-d-29930.html


Still waiting to see this 8.3 shorty, "debbie".