Aimless Pursuits

This bus was sold to an Gentlemen from Montana in the spring of 2007. The following is my description of this skoolie project i completed.
The project was one year from purchase of the bus to finish. Actual build time was about two 3 month periods. It has a 450 amp hour 12 volt wet cell battery bank. All the lighting, water pressure, and refrigeration run from the battery and are easily maintained by the 115 watt solar panel under most all usage/weather conditions. I have lived in this thing with no need of a generator, unless an excessive amount of Computer use and movie watching @ night is done daily with a cloudy day or two.
I have manuals for the bus, engine, wheelchair lift, wiring diagram and every appliance in the motorcoach. With True sinewave power and a large battery bank, this thing is ready for a mini recording studio application.
I had fun building it. Everything works great. Feel free to make comments and ask questions.
It has been Fleet maintained for its entire life. It rides drives and handles cities and mountain passes with ease. Great braking and turning radius.


-1996 International Thomas 3600 Vista ADA
-171,000 verifible original miles
-DT-466 with Allison AT 545 4spd Automatic transmission
_Airbrakes
-160amp alternator
-65 gal fuel tank
-GVWF 8000lbs. GVWR 17,500 GVWTotal 25,200 lbs.
-Tire size 245/75R22.5
-VIN# 1HVBDAAL2TH308346
- the body is made of Galvanized Steel (no rusting)
-the paint is good and in good condition(looks nice and still no rusting)
-It has a good wash and waxing.
-120V plug-in block heater
-gear ratio is 4:78...
-This thing handles mountain passes up and down without a problem.Brakes are excellent. Steering radius is great and it is easy to handle around town.
-Current RPMs are 2400-2500 RPMs @55MPH
- A 4:10 gear ratio would give approx 63mph @2500RPM.
-Also it is possible and relatively inexpensive to Install a transfer case to keep the low end gearing in the Differential and provide an overdrive gear for more highway speeds and fewer RPMs overall. Which means Better Fuel Mileage.
-Current MPG is about 10 MPG.
-30' long (after I extended the rear deck)
-INSIDE behind the driver seat to the rear of bus is ~19'
-CD player AM/FM and CB radio
-MANUALS I have brand new Manuals from International for:
-truck chassis and all its running gear
-drive train, brakes etc.
-wiring diagram
-Engine Manual
-wheelchair lift manual from Ricon
-GREAT for troubleshooting if you ever have a problem or want to consider modifications.
-wheel chair lift is about 1000lb rating and works great.
-The Bus was part of a fleet of vehicles that were bought new and maintained
and used by Clemson Area Transit and the University in Clemson,SC (catbus.com) The fleet was auctioned off. Another ebay member and bus dealer bought the other 6 and I bought this one for this project. At the time of auction the bus had 168,200 miles. It was driven through eastern mountains back to Indiana where I am from and completed the conversion. I changed the oil and filter transmission filter,greased fittings completed the conversion and drove it to Jackson,WY and have been living in it since. I have since driven back to Indiana for the holidays and am still living in it.
It has 173,xxx mi. and is mechanically sound.
-Rubber is in great shape and tire tread are @ about 80%. They are all regrooveable street/steering tread..
THE CONVERSION: Was completed with knowledge and troubleshooting of electrical, mechanical professionals with RV standards in mind.
-There are prices listed after each piece of equipment in the conversion.
These are not necessarily what I payed for them, although in some cases it is.
They are full retail or what you would expect to pay without lots of time and researchand good deals etc. In some cases, the prices are likely to have gone up already.
-I have about $16,000 in this not including the labor and some of the metal costs, and acquired materials
-all RV accessories needed are included.
-The entire interior was stripped down, galvanized floor joices were added
and then 2" of spray foam insulation($600) was added to the whole thing(except floor of the rear utility room and just above the stone pad where I designed for the possibilityof a wood stove to be added.
-The floor then has an orginal 3/4" plywood layer, 2" foam,
3/4 plywood, then the snap together finish flooring(made in Austria from regrown forests).
-That is 3.5" of sound and temp insulation in the floor!
- walls around the bed are paneling with a quality paint finish
- lower wall areas are original galvanized panels with a white appliance epoxy paint applied to them. Durable and washable.
-fold out stainless steel panels are also insulated and tilt out fully for ventilation.
- all windows are emergency exits also great for ventilation.
- all tanks and appliances(heater, fridge, inverter, solar panel, charge control, dump valves, freshwater hose, dump hose etc are new.
-55Gal fresh water tank under counter, It iswell insulated from the wall
and on top, designed to gather heat from interior but not get any cold from
creeping outside temps(by the wall beneath the countertop)
- full propane heat in well below freezing, there is NO sweating anywhere except on the windows, which is with any camper and has never gotten heavy enough to run or drip.
- 'Ventless' wall hang blue flame propane heater($150 from Rural King)
-40,000 BTU AC unit runs off engine only.
-new aquamagic V toilet $150
- 29 gal Grey and 29gal black water holding tanks from plasticmart.com.
($500+ including the freshwater)
- Aquajet ES($125): 60 psi water pump. energy efficient 6 amp max. Electronic demand contro. Very quiet. MADE IN U.S.A.
*Norcold DC only refridgerator.($1000) An adapter can be bought to run this thing off AC if you so desired. It pulls less than 3amps and usually less than 2. No RV leveling or dangerous gases in an accident from propane refrigeration. Besides, the water pressure,lighting and refer run off the battery bank. Usage is easily maintained by solar panel. It is a high quality refer designed for boats, RVs, remote cabins etc for running off 12 volt power supply. Works excellently. I leave it running continuously.
- Bosch/Aquastar 38 on Demand heat.($400) (water pressure from this thing isn't tremendous but is sufficient and the temp is easily controllable, and the showers are nice and hot w/ water and propane use are minimal)
-3 burner Magic Chef propane stove top with oven. ($500)
-Xantrex PRO Sine 2.0 True sine wave Inverter/Charger( $1899)
- 4-Trojan T105 6volt deep cyle batteries($85 a piece) make up the 450 amp hour, 12 volt battery bank. A battery maintenance book and hydrometer are included. I have rarely had to add water to these batteries. ~ every two months. Life expectancy of these batteries is 5-7 yrs.(longer if cared for)
- 12 water saver battery caps.($72)
- Blue Sky Solar Boost 2000E 2 stage PV charge controller. MADE IN U.S.A.($250)
-Evergreen's E115 PV module(solar panel) puts out about 7-8 amps in charge in full sun.($700)
- the bed is made of 2x12's which can be moved or removed for other arrangements.$(50)
- the water system works with the pump or from a hookup. Water can be pumped to outside spicket from the pump or while hooked up. The system has a two stage filtering. process. One canister has a 3-5gal/min 5 micron filter for all water entering the sytem. There is a Stainless Steel screen filter before the pump to protect the pump and there is another standard 10" canister which feeds the drinking water spout @ the sink. It can be
fitted with many different varieties of filters for drinking water. All this can be
drained quickly and is inside. I built this to be used easily in cold weather with minimal risk.
- 40lb propane tank($90) with setup for another to be added.
- exhaust fan 1.5 amps($30)
-low voltage flourescent "Thin-lite" fixtures MADE IN USA liftime guarantee,less than 2amps.($100+)
- back-up standard automotive lighting fixtures, which could also easily be strategically replaced with reading lamps or other LED fixtures etc.
- there are lighting circuits on the house battery as well as the starting battery. Starting battery Lighting circuits can be turned on in the back and front from the drivers' seat.
-There is plenty of room on the house DC panel for expansion of equipment like a DC TV or house security or back-up camera etc.
-THERE IS CURRENTLY NO Carbon monoxide or Propane
detector. A 9volt version can be bought at a hardware store or a permenant DC powered version can be found on the internet and hooked up to the house battery.
-House and starting batteries are NOT interconnected. They ARE seperate systems.
-Radio and CB are currently on starting battery only. Easy switch to be made.
-Shore power can be accessed from a 50amp range plug, a 30amp RV plug or standard 120 wall outlet
-Shore power can be pumped through directly to circuits and/or through the inv/ charger using its relay while it charges and maintains the batteries
-Cables, fuses, fuse panels, housings, breakers, panels, outlets, adapters etc... ($1000+)
-Flooring, Ventilation supplies, Plumbing parts, filter canisters, battery box,
aluminum rack, paint, plywood, stone & grout, Stainless etc ($1500 +)
- there are other backup accessories included, more stainless steel screws, fuses, a window,wire etc
-Fasteners etc...($100)
Any questions respond here and we can exchange phone numbers etc
No warranties expressed or implied.
DELIVERY negotiations POSSIBLE
THE PHOTOS ON THE WALLS AND WINDOW BLANKETS DO NOT GO WITH THE BUS.
Websites you might be interested in:
http://www.rvwaterfilterstore.com/Pumps.htm
http://www.Plastic-Mart.com/
http://www.blueskyenergyinc.com/
http://www.xantrex.com/
http://www.evergreensolar.com/
http://www.backwoodssolar.com/
http://www.rvsolar.com/
http://www.rvsolarelectric.com/
http://www.catbus.com/
http://www.aquatec.com/
http://www.realgoods.com/
http://www.novakool.com/
http://www.solar-electric.com/
http://www.orrorr.com/default.asp
updates: Interior height where floor is raised is 75" or 6'3".
Front and in the back are about 6'5". I am 6' and it is comfortable for me.