This is the build thread for my shorty.....some of you will understand the reference.....if you don't, rest assured it is not related to faulty plumbing.
Particulars -- 1997 Blue Bird, 34 passenger, DT466E, Spicer 5 speed manual, 180K miles.
I plan on removing the seats and vinyl floor, addressing any rust issues and priming, then start using it for weekend camping trips as I visualize where I'll be putting what. Long term plan is to hit the road in my retirement (about 7 more years) and travel west of the Mississippi, to revisit places I've liked and hit up the new ones on my bucket list.....and stopping along the way to hopefully buy many of you a beer or two, as thanks for all the fantastic info you've posted on this site.
I feel like I've got a head start as this bus is already a solid platform in a mechanical sense....runs great, steering and shifting are fantastic, and all the gauges and lights work. It got 11.2 mpg on its maiden (to me) voyage home, and hovered at 185-190 degrees for the entire trip over the Smokies from Kentucky to North Carolina. Oil and filter change and fuel filter change coming in next couple of weeks.
First items up are new rear tires and a trip to the International dealership to optimize the engine parameters.....then,
the usual --
couch/bed, counter space/desk area, propane cookstove (to start), sink, shower, bucket toilet, overhead cabinets
And the
slightly unusual --
install 2 swiveling captains chairs up front, skin over the main entrance, cut a new door (probably 2nd window behind driver's area), roof deck, insulate roof interior then rehang existing skins
And the
highly unusual (or at least I have yet to see these on this site, and there may be reasons why
)--
cut off the bottom step at the main entrance for better ground clearance, build a door there for access to house batteries, a 4-6" "awning" over the windows (at eyebrow level) to keep out the rain, a long, low box over the driver's side windows to store a roll-up awning (lift the lid and unroll), and a 12" square x 8" tall protrusion under the deck (on the outer curve of the roof) to house a 'rainwater' type shower head (I HATE crouching to shower, but don't want to lower the floor), and a bucket toilet that will be housed on the shower floor, but will roll through the wall and into the aisle for showering.
All subject to change, of course......but those are the plans going in. Let the good times roll !
(.....I will hold onto the 'vomit control' until our next bar-hopping night....it may come in handy.....).
Don
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