2008 Bluebird Vision | 6.7 Cummins | 72 passenger

[Banjo Joe]

We are the proud new owners of a 2008 Bluebird Vision school bus.
It came from my hometown high school. Which is funny because we have been looking all over the place and we even drove six hours to look at busses we didn't buy because of rust. We had TWO different sellers mark their busses sold on FB marketplace the night before we were scheduled to look at them. Both times we messaged the seller the day before appointment to confirm before we drove hours away and without responding they marked them sold. If someone asked for advise on buying their first bus, I would say- start calling school districts. Ask for the transportation dept. Although we were informed when we bought our bus that the school now leases their busses instead of buying.
It was the baseball team bus and so has lots of under storage. It has a Cummins 6.7 diesel, is 72 passenger, 12 window and about 39' long. It is in good shape, very little rust. Decent tires. Paid $2750. Pics on my profile.
On the way home (about 3 miles) it overheated and we found it was low on coolant. I also discovered the rear differential leaking as well.
So now we begin our conversion. First we will go over the engine/transmission/suspension and fix all leaks and change all fluids. We already bought three new batteries and installed them and filled up the tank ($195.00 USD!).
Now as far as skills, I turned a pole barn into the house we live in in 2004 and we have converted a van to a camper that we still own. So we've installed solar, a maxxair fan, 12 volt fridge, etc. I have some tools and a little experience, but this forum has already been a great resource for me and I am happy to contribute what I can in documenting our conversion here.
Thanks for having us!

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

welcome. and pictures are always welcomed.

[Banjo Joe]

Here is a pic of our bus and of the front heater system with the driver seat removed for access. The first order of business is to delete the rear heater. When we bought the bus it was low on coolant and i suspect a leak, so I want to get the rear heater, that we don't want, out of the equation. Today we found where the hoses to the rear heater need to be cut and looped. I'll post more when we get that done.
I wanted to mention that when I say "we" I mean my sweetheart, Danielle, and me. We will be doing this together so we already have an extra set of hands! This isn't our first project together and we've been together for ten years so we know we can do it!

[Banjo Joe]

Cutting heads off the bolts.

Punching the threaded part through.

Cleaning up all the candy wrappers and broken pencils!

We tried a wrench and sockets with a breaker bar, but the angle grinder was faster and easier. The bolts on the chair rail along the wall, we zipped out with an impact driver and socket on an extension.
Now we will delete the rear heater and turn our attention to the engine. It needs old coolant hoses replaced and all fluids changed.

[Banjo Joe]

Popping rivets with a punch and chisel. Danielle punches the center out and I follow behind with the chisel and cut the head off. It's hard work but we are moving forward and our dream is coming together!

[BarnYardCamp]

Don't toss that rear heater!

When i did my first bus, I lived in Maryland. Planned on using the bus only in summer, only for vacation. We took a trip to Mississippi in April, it was chilly/rainy the entire trip so we really missed having heat. Same bus, trip to North shore of Lake Superior in August. We ended up buying an electric space heater because when the sun went down it took the mercury with it.
On my current build, I removed the heater from under the rear seat and plan to reinstall it in the sitting area towards the front...about 5 feet behind the driver's seat.
Of course, that heater is only for driving, I'll have some other heat source for when we're camping.

[Banjo Joe]

Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp

Don't toss that rear heater!

When i did my first bus, I lived in Maryland. Planned on using the bus only in summer, only for vacation. We took a trip to Mississippi in April, it was chilly/rainy the entire trip so we really missed having heat. Same bus, trip to North shore of Lake Superior in August. We ended up buying an electric space heater because when the sun went down it took the mercury with it.
On my current build, I removed the heater from under the rear seat and plan to reinstall it in the sitting area towards the front...about 5 feet behind the driver's seat.
Of course, that heater is only for driving, I'll have some other heat source for when we're camping.

I like that idea, but it takes up too much room for us. We are installing a diesel heater and leaving the front part of the engine heater, by the driver's seat and door. We heat with wood at home and are thinking about a wood stove, too.

[sandman0231]

Any new updates (photos) ��

[Banjo Joe]

I made 13 window deletes from 18 gauge steel, 'shoebox lid style'. I made a sheet metal "break" out of sawhorses I made from pallet wood, some scrap wood, some square tube and lots of clamps! Then hammered the tabs down. Then painted with Rustoleum direct to metal primer. Only two are installed and the rest are just dry fit.
We sealed with Loctite PL Premium and screwed it in place with 4 screws and then finished with 3, 3/16" rivets per side. We are deleting 15 windows, the back door and both roof hatches (adding a skylight and two maxxair fans). We are getting closer!

[Banjo Joe]

The leaky rear door and windows are "deleted". We used PL Premium adhesive and about 120 stainless steel rivets.
On a side note, does anybody know why this site flips photos upside down? That is some stupid ****. I left it so you can see us in our upside down world. lol

[Banjo Joe]

I found a skylight that fit the emergency exit hole perfectly. I made some wooden supports on the inside. Sealed with butyl tape and dicor lap sealant. Then we painted two coats of Sherwin Williams DTM (color: antique white) on the top half of the bus. We rolled it on and brushed the trim. It went on pretty good. Please enjoy the sideways pics!