Journey with Confidence RV GPS App RV Trip Planner RV LIFE Campground Reviews RV Maintenance Take a Speed Test Free 7 Day Trial ×


View Poll Results: Should I totally gut the bus to insulate?
Yes total clear out, check for leaks and rust and get her good as new 4 100.00%
Just strip the floor and get rid of rust but leave the ceiling alone 0 0%
Just remove the ceiling and insulate 0 0%
Don't bother, add insulation on top existing surfaces since you are following the sun. 0 0%
Voters: 4. You may not vote on this poll

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
 
Old 05-03-2018, 07:51 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Celestina's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2018
Location: Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: MVP
Engine: Cummins 6 cyl ISB CM550 250HP
Rated Cap: 80
Post Celestina's New Owner takes on yellow

Hi, my name is Starr and 3 days ago I bought my bus while I was on vacation in Nicaragua. Funny thing is the bus was less than a mile from my home in Oregon. I had planned to purchase a bus in June after my Nicaragua trip, but I just couldn't stay off Craigslist. I saw the bus advertised and it met most of my wants, flat nosed, rear exit door, automatic, at least 30' of living space. So I asked my brother to check it out for me, thinking if he said it was in good condition, I would contact the seller to buy. Well, he approved of the condition and bought it for me. The seller drove it to our house and then walked home. All while I was getting a massage and mani/pedi in Granada. Now I have to wait another 3 weeks before I get home to put my hands on her.

She is a 1998 Thomas MVP 40' (I hope I can drive her) with an extra rear exit door and a wheelchair lift. I am thinking the lift might come in handy during conversion.

I plan to live in her full time for 2-5 years and travel around North America. I want to paint her white (taking on the yellow) with some fun accent colors. I would like to put a roof deck on as well as solar panels.

As I plan to travel following good weather, I am trying to decide if I need to do a full gut job and insulate. My brother says to insulate over the existing walls and ceiling. What is the general consensus of this forum? The bus was born and raised in Hillsborough Oregon, so no road salt exposure.

I am a single female in my early 60s and I retired 6 years ago. I spent most of the last six years traveling around the world. Now I plan to travel the US so I can take my dog traveling with me. I am fairly good with tools and I have space on a country property where I can do the conversion work. I hope to have the bulk of the work done within six months and be able to leave Oregon for southern vistas by Thanksgiving 2018.

I plan to be haunting this forum a lot in the coming months. See you in the funny papers!

__________________
Wandering the World in Wonder
Celestina is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 08:01 AM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
2kool4skool's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Spring Valley AZ
Posts: 1,343
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 2 elderly children, 1 cat
Welcome!........
__________________
Don, Mary and Spooky the cat.
2kool4skool is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 10:59 AM   #3
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Owasso, OK
Posts: 2,627
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner MVP ER
Engine: Cummins 6CTA8.3 Mechanical MD3060
Rated Cap: 46 Coach Seats, 40 foot
Have fun with it.

The consensus is that to do it correctly, and prepare the bus for the variety of conditions you will face in a tour, you really should remove the walls and ceilings and insulate it properly.

You will only have to do it once, and you will never regret doing it right.
__________________
Steve Bracken

Build Thread
Twigg is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 11:40 AM   #4
Bus Nut
 
jjhwick119's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: Frisco, Texas
Posts: 829
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: Dt466e
Rated Cap: 71
Full timing for a few years i would say it's a no brainer to insulate as good as you can. You're following the sun, and the sun brings heat, insulation helps with heat as well, and being a Texan i never questioned it.

I didn't go all out with spray foam, but got everything with XPS rigid foam
Attached Thumbnails
20180415_194901.jpg  
__________________
https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/n...tml#post256987
My build thread - Started 3.2.18
jjhwick119 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-03-2018, 12:58 PM   #5
Bus Nut
 
Rovobay's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Damascus, OR
Posts: 681
Year: 2004
Chassis: International
Engine: T444e w/ 2000 Allison Trans
Rated Cap: 35
Welcome fellow Oregonian. Congrats!
__________________
My Build: https://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/sk...doo-22140.html

Follow our build on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/skoolie_doo/
Rovobay is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
40 foot, flat nose conversion, thomas

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


» Featured Campgrounds

Reviews provided by

Powered by vBadvanced CMPS v3.2.3

All times are GMT -5. The time now is 04:32 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.8 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.