1949 Aluminum Lady

[Cahlager]

Hello, this is our 1949 Brill bus IC-41 Project.

This bus has been an incredible adventure in our nearly a year of having it. It was interesting and challenging to get it to my property: it cost me $300 for the bus, then two days of preparation and a 40 hour day for me to transport it 200 miles to it's current location. The bus was already an RV when we got it, and so with our limited budget we began remodeling, our budget ran out fast and we stopped the work for cold months as we live close to 7,000 ft elev.

We actually have lived in this old beat up bus the last 10 months or so, and just this week we have started back up the renovations. We are beginning with replacing the subfloor in two major areas that have rot. The shower/refrigerator area, and the kitchen. To relocate the shower to where we need it, it required me to remove the gas tank(by cutting and banging and lots of digging). Up until yesterday I was unsure weather or not we would be keeping the original (and fully functional! I drove it!) pancake 779ci gas Hall Scott engine. With the removal of the gas tank and old oil filler tube, things are set in stone, I will be replacing the engine.

The plan for the bus this spring is to build a bunk bed and drawer setup, the shower, and the kitchen to be sure. The other projects for this bus include the whole elctrical system, all the plumbing, we are going to replace the antique kohler generator with a more modern and efficient model. We also intend to put a mixed use deck/patio, solar panels, and a water collection system on the roof.

This bus has a ton of history with it first being used as an RV all the way back in 1967, it has since been remodeled a handful of times. I know some of the story to it, but a lot of it is still a mystery. We love the little windows into history that we get when we find an original piece of equipment, or an old accessory or tool. Such as an old ACME brand paper towel holder, the coolest old cast multi tool wrench thing, and much more.


Our bus is a FAR bigger project then we wanted or anticipated, we are way over out heads with required skill and needed capitol, and although I didn't think of myself as a hippy, a year ago I worked as a banker in a large bank, now I live in an old bus, on an off grid property far back into the forest, with long hair and flip flops.






WE LOVE IT, and cant wait for the many adventures we are going to have.

[Rusty]

Very cool home ! So much style to that bus.

Any plans to make it mobile again? Or is it permanent now...


Welcome !

[Chevydude01]

Cool old bus! What part of northern AZ? I lived in Flagstaff for a couple years and loved it but unless one does as you do and live far out, it is very expensive to live up there and jobs are hard to find but it sure is beautiful. locals call it "Poverty with a view"

[2kool4skool]

Originally Posted by Chevydude01

Cool old bus! What part of northern AZ? I lived in Flagstaff for a couple years and loved it but unless one does as you do and live far out, it is very expensive to live up there and jobs are hard to find but it sure is beautiful. locals call it "Poverty with a view"

Tepme? LOL


Cool bus Cahlager

[Tango]

"a year ago I worked as a banker in a large bank, now I live in an old bus, on an off grid property far back into the forest, with long hair and flip flops."

Excellent call. Welcome to a madness that mends minds and souls.

Beautiful old girl BTW. Best of luck on the rebuild and please do keep the pix coming.

[Cahlager]

Well today was a full day. I wound up finding some nice and thick aluminum road signs to use as patches for the bus at an old scrap yard in town, $10 a sign! I ended up picking up a few just for myself, but I should have grabbed more for the bus, I ended up measuring incorrectly and then being short on material, I had to (sort of had to) slopily patch two pieces together to make one correctly sized piece. I also removed not one, but two crazy heavy, like 200+lb heavy, AC units. Unfortunately we are still staying with a neighbor tonight, I was not able to finish patching the roof holes where the Units were, there was just too much prep work, and not enough daylight.

Tomorrow I will finish patching the AC unit holes on the roof, and also open up some new holes. There is no shortage of useless screws, vents, brackets and etcetera in my roof that need removing. I also hope to buy or order our galvanized steel tank we will be using as a bath tub.

I will also hopefully finish the subfloor repairs, and begin building my electricity and water hub, in place of the giant hole my 1970s water heater left in the side of my bus. I am going to make an aluminum housing that will be the singular location for my city water hookup and my grid power hook up, even though there is no city nor grid where I am. This will be nicely located in the kitchen, where most the pipes are, and where the electrical box is.

And to answer your question; ABSOLUTELY!!!! I have every intention to get this bus reliably back on the road. Our entire reason for getting a bus and not a trailer is because we will be taking it everywhere we possibly can, even across oceans if I feel like shipping it over instead of doing hotels.

This bus will see the American Continents, and potentially the world, with us if all goes as planned.

[Cahlager]

Also the "Do Not Enter" Sign ended up being steel and not aluminum, so this doubled my material shortage.

[Robin97396]

Keep chugging away at it. Sounds like you're doing it right.

Incidentally, have you checked how much it would be to ship a bus overseas? Just curious because I've thought of the same type of overseas traveling.

[M1031A1]

A RORO (roll on - roll off) ship charges by the cubic foot IIRC. They're not expensive, but they can get pricey depending upon the destination.

M

[Robin97396]

I'd previously heard how expensive it was for guys to ship their Harley to Australia. I was afraid to ask how much a bus would cost to ship overseas. That would be pretty cool to do Europe in your own bus.