New Member 1.5 month timeline for move in ready

BussBry · 07-20-2018, 01:55 AM

Well where to begin... A skoolie has been the plan for over a year now. We were hoping to get a bus in early spring but lost on on some bids. I am sure those busses are floating around here somehwere

We had an arrangement with our current landlord to be month to month and flexible since she wanted to sell and we were planning our skoolie

We bought our bus about a month ago had a mechanic check it and got one week into the build when we found out the property is being sold Sept 1 st so we have about 1.5 months to get this bad boy livable.

When I say livable I mean bare necessities we can finish the rest as we go. We have a property to live and work on the bus at so that is not a problem but we need to be as self contained as possible.

Priorities:

Roof Raise: 18" so I am not crouching over for the next 2+ years.
Freshwater tank and grey water tank
Propane
Electricity
Subfloor
insulation

In your honest opnions is this doable. Regardless We will be gunning for it...

Our bus is a 98 Amtran Type C bought out of Denver CO. it has a little rust I almost freaked when I saw it then I saw some of the projects on here and immediately did not feel so bad anymore

To date we have stripped the floor ceiling and sidewalls removed all insulation. put in orders for sheet metal to patch the holes around the wheel wells and treated the rust with prep and etch. We should finish painting/sealing the metal and patching the holes this weekend. leaving us one month and a week for the other tasks.

BussBry · 07-20-2018, 01:59 AM

I already have a question for you all as well! with the roof raise I was expecting to find the hat channel empty and have a shop create some hat channel and c channel to fit into it to weld in for the roof support. Lo and behold my hat channel already has c channel running up ever single rib.... it is bead welded every 7 inches or so.

My original idea is shot for now and I need some suggestions.

I was told I could take a flat piece of metal and lay it over the c channel and weld it to create the support. Good or bad Idea?

o1marc · 07-20-2018, 10:53 AM

How about some pictures to help us understand what's going on?

PNW_Steve · 07-20-2018, 12:21 PM

Four of my hat channels had C channel nested inside of the hat channel.

I found that 1" square tube fit nicely inside of the C.

All of the others we had 1-3/16" channel bent up.

family wagon · 07-20-2018, 02:22 PM

I had hat channel made to fit over the existing ribs, rather than inside them. It was fortunate I'd gone that way: like yours, mine has a C channel inside every one of the hat channels.

o1marc · 07-20-2018, 02:25 PM

Ambitious project to say the least.

BussBry · 07-27-2021, 06:44 PM

so remember when I wanted to do this in 1.5 months and then it took me 3 years? ��

musigenesis · 07-27-2021, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BussBry

so remember when I wanted to do this in 1.5 months and then it took me 3 years? ��

I bought mine in January 2019 and was planning on living in it by April of that year when my lease ran out. I'll be thrilled if I'm done in 3 years.

3 years from today, that is.

o1marc · 07-27-2021, 07:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BussBry

so remember when I wanted to do this in 1.5 months and then it took me 3 years? ��

So is it done? Pics or it didn't happen.

o1marc · 07-27-2021, 07:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I bought mine in January 2019 and was planning on living in it by April of that year when my lease ran out. I'll be thrilled if I'm done in 3 years.

3 years from today, that is.

....

BussBry · 07-28-2021, 02:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by o1marc

So is it done? Pics or it didn't happen.

Not sure if these will upload as viewable but here is the link to my drive with the finished pictures

https://drive.google.com/drive/folde...BP?usp=sharing

cadillackid · 07-28-2021, 02:32 PM

give uo the roof raise and you can make the bus liveable.. put the windows back in if you have them out, insulate, make it liveable.. buy or rent some land then go get a second bus that you can build the way you really want..

otherwise if you do the roof raise then you'll have a tall tin can that you may not crouch in but youll be tripping over yourself and a bunch of materials you continually shuffle around to try and build and live in at the same time..