We rescued a 1961 GM Fishbowl from the desert

[TheLills1961GM]

Originally Posted by whiskey runner

wow what a cool project. . and really interesting build album.. I am for sure going to be following this .. I also have a old bus (1946 white) that I have been building.. but I sure don't have your talent for making a cool build album..

Hey, thanks for following along and for the kind words! We love your bus, great work! We're excited to see more!

- Peace & Love

[TheLills1961GM]

Originally Posted by whiskey runner

wow what a cool project. . and really interesting build album.. I am for sure going to be following this .. I also have a old bus (1946 white) that I have been building.. but I sure don't have your talent for making a cool build album..

Hey, thank you! We appreciate your kind words and encouragement! That's awesome about your '46! Sending you good vibes and good luck on your build!! - Peace & Love

[TheLills1961GM]

We've begun our bus conversion on the 1961 GM Fishbowl / New Look that we rescued! This is part 1, showing the floor drop, removing insulation and beginning the exterior rust treatment. Stay tuned for more progress!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6qeYFApGKw

- Peace & Love

[whiskey runner]

very nice.. you did a good job of getting more headroom.. it was a lot of work but well worth it.. cant wait for more updates

I am trying to get my pictures organized.. once I figure how to get them off photobucket and into here..

[TheLills1961GM]

Originally Posted by whiskey runner

very nice.. you did a good job of getting more headroom.. it was a lot of work but well worth it.. cant wait for more updates

I am trying to get my pictures organized.. once I figure how to get them off photobucket and into here..

Hey, thank you, we appreciate it!! Every bit of progress feels good! We're excited to share more updates and we'd love to see more of your photos!

We did a quick search for getting your images off of photobucket:

1. Click a thumbnail to display the full-size view.
2. Locate the Media options box to the right of your image and then select Download. The media will be downloaded to the file you select, or the default "downloads" folder.

We hope that helps!

- Peace & Love

[TheLills1961GM]

Hey bus buddies! We're excited to say that the Part 2 video from our 1961 GM Bus Conversion is live on the Tube! In this video, we bring our 1961 GM Fishbowl / New Look bus into the shop, we fix an air leak, remove the windows, do a ton of body work, remove paint, replace rivets, finish the rust treatment, remove the shroud and remove the a/c unit. It's been a labor of love, but we're so excited for everything to come!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rloqoLQqy2A

- Peace & Love

[TheLills1961GM]

We're excited to say that the Part 3 video from our 1961 GM Bus Conversion is live on the Tube! In this video, we remove the decorative aluminum panels. cut and weld a hole in the body, finish our rust treatment, remove all of the old paint off of the roof and so much more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lbfWJkHgxwg

- Peace & Love

[cadillackid]

Sweet to see this project still moving along!! Are you going to put the original windows back in or skin and fit RV windows?

[TheLills1961GM]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Sweet to see this project still moving along!! Are you going to put the original windows back in or skin and fit RV windows?

Oh yes, we've been hard at work! We're going to put the original windows back in with new seals. We want to keep the integrity of the design. More to come soon! - Peace & Love

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by TheLills1961GM

Oh yes, we've been hard at work! We're going to put the original windows back in with new seals. We want to keep the integrity of the design. More to come soon! - Peace & Love

going through that now on mine.. just begun the restoration but all of those cloth seals on mine have come unglued on a lot of windows.. Love that you have a lot of windoiws and natural light when you are done

[TheLills1961GM]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

going through that now on mine.. just begun the restoration but all of those cloth seals on mine have come unglued on a lot of windows.. Love that you have a lot of windoiws and natural light when you are done

We're rooting for you! - Peace & Love

[TheLills1961GM]

So much has happened since our last video, so we put together this little update showing everything that's been going on with our vintage GM New Look bus conversion. Our next big project: painting our 40 ft bus!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGf-C40z6es&t=189s

- Peace & Love

[The lazy farmer]

Videos are unavailable. What's the finished product?

[Ronnie]

I could not find their YouTube channel either. The last video I saw they were painting it, and doing a great job. Would love to see an update.

[The lazy farmer]

That is unfortunate. I hope nothing bad happened.

[DeMac]

The bus in this thread appeared on Craigslist, August '22, in nearby Savannah, Georgia for $12,000.



It was also featured in Barn Finds, but seems to have been sold.
barnfinds.com/your-next-home-1961-gm-new-look-fishbowl-bus

[Ronnie]

Thanks, that is for sure the bus in this thread. Wonder what happened? They were really enthusiastic about it.

[DeMac]

The Lills added two pages of terrific photos to their skoolie.net albulm⤵

TheLills1961gm-GM-Fishbowl-New-Look-Bus


They've invested alot of sweat into restoring this classic.

[paddywagon]

Their bus was really neat and they were doing a great job but, I don't blame them for selling. I initially wanted to get my hands on one of these old coaches, specifically a Flxible Visicoach. What a rig.



Early on, while researching, I ran across this article (https://www.doityourselfrv.com/dont-...reality-check/) that gives an honest reality check on resurrecting an old rig. Having been through a couple car restorations, I'm not sure how I didn't know better, but I willfully ignored the truth in the article and soldiered on. I didn't end up with an ancient, obsolete coach (thankfully) but I settled on the '68 Gillig/B-series Chevrolet that my neighbors gave to me. I have a thread on it over in the school bus section.


To make a long story short, by the time I finish my build, I will have sunk more into the restoration of the bus than into the conversion itself. I remember how I felt after I had gone through most of the drivetrain, restored all the windows and lights, and had it painted. After spending thousands, I had an empty shell.



Without getting too depressing, I was able to continue and I'm close to the finish line (though still dealing with engine issues). I'm very happy with my bus and I'm sure it will serve me well, but I wouldn't go old again.

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by paddywagon

Their bus was really neat and they were doing a great job but, I don't blame them for selling. I initially wanted to get my hands on one of these old coaches, specifically a Flxible Visicoach. What a rig.



Early on, while researching, I ran across this article (https://www.doityourselfrv.com/dont-...reality-check/) that gives an honest reality check on resurrecting an old rig. Having been through a couple car restorations, I'm not sure how I didn't know better, but I willfully ignored the truth in the article and soldiered on. I didn't end up with an ancient, obsolete coach (thankfully) but I settled on the '68 Gillig/B-series Chevrolet that my neighbors gave to me. I have a thread on it over in the school bus section.


To make a long story short, by the time I finish my build, I will have sunk more into the restoration of the bus than into the conversion itself. I remember how I felt after I had gone through most of the drivetrain, restored all the windows and lights, and had it painted. After spending thousands, I had an empty shell.



Without getting too depressing, I was able to continue and I'm close to the finish line (though still dealing with engine issues). I'm very happy with my bus and I'm sure it will serve me well, but I wouldn't go old again.

I have reached the point that repairing yet again my old bus that it does not really serve my needs. Long distance cruising, with reliability. With all the rebuilding I have done it is still a lot of maintenance, and some surprises that I do not need. It would be nice to restore and use for short trips or go to a museum . To be honest I do not need two buses. Might be time to put it up for sale....