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Old 02-21-2017, 10:46 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Northeast Ohio
Posts: 45
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Van Hool
Chassis: T2140
Engine: Cummins M11+ 450hp
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Ready....Set....RENOVATE!

New to forums, new to bus conversions, not new to renovation projects, not new to hard work! Husband of 39 years and I bought a 1998 Van Hool T2140 in October and are renovating it for our 40' long retirement home on wheels. We found Skoolie.net just in time to find expert advice, inspiration and what not to do's. Thanks for that!

Our plans include a spiral entry staircase, queen size bedroom, Star Trek type powered pocket doors with stained glass into the bedroom and the master bathroom with 4' shower, half bath, residential appliances with convection microwave oven, dishwasher and induction cook top. Also planned are 3D printed light fixtures, a 3D printing lab and a live steam train storage area in the basement. Lots of surprises are coming our way. Come along for the ride!

Here we go!
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Old 02-21-2017, 11:08 AM   #2
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oooh a VanHool!!! now thats a Serious Bus... I love driving Serious Busses!
-Christopher
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Old 02-21-2017, 11:15 AM   #3
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Join Date: Oct 2016
Location: Pensacola and Crystal River, FL
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Year: 1998
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Chassis: 3800
Engine: Navistar 7.6L
your bus will be spanning a lot of technology evolution in that bus!

Welcome to the fray, I mean forum.
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Old 02-23-2017, 06:33 AM   #4
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Location: Minnesota
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if you do the star trek doors you must share pics. lol. i've gotta see those! i also stumbled across your album of pictures and man....what a nice sink! i thought it was a crazy blinker at first.
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Old 02-23-2017, 08:27 AM   #5
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Location: IL
Posts: 205
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Never coached any teams, not even junior soccer
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Awesome bus! Bus envy!
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Old 02-23-2017, 09:51 PM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Northeast Ohio
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BurlKing View Post
if you do the star trek doors you must share pics. lol. i've gotta see those! i also stumbled across your album of pictures and man....what a nice sink! i thought it was a crazy blinker at first.
Attaching pictures of the Star Trek doors won't do them justice. Husband wants the sound as well. What he wants to build, he normally builds so it will have to be youtube. We will post it on there a link here for sure when he gets it to work.

As for the sinks, I told husband he could have any sink for his bathroom he wanted (the half bath) and that's the one he chose. It's turned out to be an interesting design challenge but it's been fun to choose the granite counter top, flooring, wall covering, etc to make it stand out in the room. My sink is unusual too, just not as difficult to design around. Can't wait to get them both installed. Hope they look as good then as they do in the boxes!
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Old 02-23-2017, 10:27 PM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Northeast Ohio
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We bought it but....

We bought the bus but we couldn't find anybody to deliver it to us in Ohio from Maryland. We engaged a trucking company to trailer it however they couldn't get a flatbed large enough to carry our 40' bus. We waited impatiently for weeks for them to figure it out. Meanwhile, we were busy designing the layout and placement of each piece of furniture, cabinet, appliance and fixture we could do without the bus in our possession. Being a visual person, this was the only way my old mind could figure out how to do it. Now don't laugh when you see the pictures. It worked for me!
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File Type: jpg top view of model 2.jpg (116.6 KB, 136 views)
File Type: jpg inside view of model.jpg (101.7 KB, 110 views)
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Old 02-23-2017, 10:32 PM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Northeast Ohio
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Year: 1998
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Quote:
Originally Posted by spenceronehalf View Post
Awesome bus! Bus envy!
Thank you! We like it most of the time! Drilling out 40' of rivets on the seat rails along each side so really 80' of rivets that were spaced every 2 1/2" along didn't make me like the bus very much but so far, that's been the only time the bus has been an irritation. Oh and the time that we had to.... Oh and the time we..... Oh the time it.... Oh yeah and when it.... Oh yeah, this too...
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Old 02-26-2017, 07:04 PM   #9
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Location: Northeast Ohio
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Going, going, GONE!!

Time for all 57 seats to GO!! Luckily, we put them on craigslist and were able to sell some to some people who wanted them for home theater, gaming seats and believe it or not seats in a spooky Halloween limosine. Took the rest apart and sold the frames for scrap.
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Old 03-03-2017, 08:59 PM   #10
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Location: Northeast Ohio
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Year: 1998
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Chassis: T2140
Engine: Cummins M11+ 450hp
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Dreaded parcel storage removal

Take it from us please! Don't ever, ever try to remove Van Hool parcel storage units from a bus! They are welded, glued, bolted, riveted, screwed, stapled, painted, nailed, stitched, wedged and bubble gummed into place with 1 million wires running through them. It took too many man hours to count and several Sawzall blades to get through the two of them. If I hadn't wanted the windows open for our viewing pleasure for the next 20 years, I would have just left the dumb things and forgone the torture!

First picture with parcel storage still in. Second picture with parcel storage removed. The difference is remarkable in my opinion and that's why we did it!
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bus with parcel area still in.jpg   bus during construction 4.jpg  
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Old 03-03-2017, 09:36 PM   #11
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Posts: 205
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Never coached any teams, not even junior soccer
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That bus goes on for days. And great windows!
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Old 03-06-2017, 04:36 AM   #12
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Location: The West
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It's looking great!! Keep at it!
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Old 03-12-2017, 11:08 PM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Location: Northeast Ohio
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To see or not to see.....

With 5 windows per side on our Van Hool, that's a lot of being seen from the outside. We soon realized we might want some privacy while on the road. Also some areas are going to have floor to ceiling cabinets, fridge, etc. so they needed to be covered. How to do that was the question. We chose to try to match the outside of the bus as much as possible. We replaced 4 of the emergency exit window glass with 1/4" plastic panels backed with 1/2" exterior plywood. We think the result looks less like a bus and more like a motor home.
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front full length bus.jpg   bus with windows done.jpg   bus in driveway 7.jpg  
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Old 03-13-2017, 08:26 AM   #14
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Year: 1997
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Are you guys ready for the snow coming our way? Nice build..
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Old 03-13-2017, 11:11 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Whims and Wishes View Post
We replaced 4 of the emergency exit window glass with 1/4" plastic panels backed with 1/2" exterior plywood. We think the result looks less like a bus and more like a motor home.
Are the window units you took out salvageable? I'm thinking that if they come in frames so they still slide, latch, etc. they'd be really nice living/dining room gallery windows in a skoolie.
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Old 03-13-2017, 01:24 PM   #16
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Northeast Ohio
Posts: 45
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Are you guys ready for the snow coming our way? Nice build..

Hey there, neighbor! Only 6-8". That's not bad. We look forward to the day when snow is a choice for us not an absolute!
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Old 03-13-2017, 01:28 PM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Northeast Ohio
Posts: 45
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Van Hool
Chassis: T2140
Engine: Cummins M11+ 450hp
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dan-fox View Post
Are the window units you took out salvageable? I'm thinking that if they come in frames so they still slide, latch, etc. they'd be really nice living/dining room gallery windows in a skoolie.
We do still have the windows however in redoing the windows, we reused the frames. We could not get just the frames from Van Hool so we had to use the ones we had. We do however still have the windows themselves intact and you are right, they would make wonderful picture windows in another skoolie! How do I get that word out there?
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Old 03-13-2017, 03:38 PM   #18
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We do still have the windows however in redoing the windows, we reused the frames. We could not get just the frames from Van Hool so we had to use the ones we had. We do however still have the windows themselves intact and you are right, they would make wonderful picture windows in another skoolie! How do I get that word out there?
You just did.

Under "Skoolie General Forums" there is a topic "Classifieds|Buy, Sell, Swap". Post there with a couple of pictures.
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Old 03-15-2017, 06:28 AM   #19
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Originally Posted by Whims and Wishes View Post
Hey there, neighbor! Only 6-8". That's not bad. We look forward to the day when snow is a choice for us not an absolute!
I hear that...
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Old 03-20-2017, 01:15 PM   #20
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Feb 2017
Location: Northeast Ohio
Posts: 45
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Van Hool
Chassis: T2140
Engine: Cummins M11+ 450hp
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The son and The Sun!

Our son is a 30 something who is determined to drag us into the generation of recycling, reusing, clean air, clean fuels etc. He seems to forget that we were around for the first Earth Day and we have been doing it for decades! Anyway, one of our next projects was to install a solar water heater system on the roof as well as solar cells for our power system.
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