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Old 04-25-2007, 06:02 AM   #21
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Yeah I have Microsucks streets and trips with the USB GPS receiver. Though I was running it on my Gate-crap laptop that was 4 years old and as soon as you diverted from course it would crash and you would have to reboot the whole laptop. I did buy another software product, which I do not have in front of me so I do not remember the name.

With the USB GPS receiver I did not need Blue Tooth. They are not that expensive either. I think I got the receiver and S&T for around $100.00 total.

For this bus I was thinking of building a micro-ATX PC. To build a basic PC with just the requirements, along with some extra memory and a nice DVD drive for movies, will run about $250. Though that seems excessive for something to be locked down in the bus with little alternate use, so we will probably end up with another laptop before long.

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Old 04-25-2007, 09:21 AM   #22
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We fly out tomorrow to drive the beast home.... pray for us!!!

Any tips on what we should look for when picking it up? other than rust...
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Old 04-25-2007, 09:37 AM   #23
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The usual...oil leaks, oil level, coolant leaks, coolant level, stop off and check tire pressure as soon as you can, I found my tires to all be at half of their ratings when I picked it up.

Stop and buy some oil and coolant as soon as you can.

Ask lots of questions, know where the fuel tank port is, find out if fuel gauge (and other gauges) are working, etc. Go over all the controls, flip the switches, understand what turns on the lights, wipers, heaters, etc before pulling out. Have some duct tape, the fans rattled really bad and I applied some duct tape to quiet them, or else I would have gone crazy by the time I got home.

Make sure all the outside lights and turn-signals work.

Ask directions to find closest gas station that you can get bus in and out of easily and top off, I find that now half my time driving around I spend casing gas stations for bus accessibility. Once you are on the highway then finding diesel truck-stops becomes very easy.

Since you are flying you cannot really take tools with you, but I had all my socket sets, large wrenches and screwdrivers with me just in case.
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Old 04-25-2007, 10:52 AM   #24
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we plan on going through northern texico around amarrilo so shouldn't be tooo much time spent there... we could get tools, but not in carry on. Carry on will be clothes, bedding, shivs, duct tape, you know.... the essential stuff

jk about the shiv, dont call airtran on me lol... they suck enough as it is.
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Old 04-28-2007, 11:17 PM   #25
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Well, we made it back! 1100 miles, 2 days of driving and we didn't even break down. We averaged about 9 miles to the gallon...and about 60 mph, it took about 20 hours of driving. We're all really looking forward to our trip next year, and have some big plans in store for the future!
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Old 04-30-2007, 09:11 AM   #26
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congratulations!
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Old 04-30-2007, 10:42 AM   #27
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now we begin the arduous task of creating sleeping quarters for 8 people (4 of whom are over 6 ft.) into a 7'8" x 7'4" room.....
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Old 04-30-2007, 01:16 PM   #28
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I feel for you. If you ever see any of the pictures of my rag tag crew you'd see we have two guys under 6' and the rest of us are 6'3"....6'4"....6'5" in my case....Hospital mattresses work great if you can get a hold of some. They are wrapped in some sort of a mattress condom so after disinfecting with bleach there is no fear of them being dirty and they're LONG....atleast the ones I got were. The guys in the bunks with the hospital mattresses have longer beds than I do in my "suite" in the back room!
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Old 05-01-2007, 11:01 AM   #29
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We have figured out a way to make it work, by offsetting the beds 90 degrees around the room we can fit 6 beds, 2 of which would be doubles as we have 2 couples... gives everyone aprox 36 inches to the bed above them at their head and aprox 18 inches at the feet. Now we are debating metal framing and wood framing as my uncle that lives nearby is a professional welder, and the metal framing would save space compared to wood.... anyone have experience with either?
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Old 05-04-2007, 11:42 AM   #30
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In the past few days we have: retitled in FL as an RV, got a vanity plate "48 state", torn down one of the ex-bathroom walls, and washed and vacuumed it... I'll take some pictures today or tomorrow and post them up so everyone can oooh and ahhh... ok so maybe not, but still you can see what I speak of. =)

I also found the owners manual to it, 1983 bluebird if anyone needs it I can scan it and post it in the gallery. My cousin who is a diesel mechanic is supposedly sending me a manual for the bus as well and I'll post that when I get it as well.
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Old 06-10-2007, 12:15 PM   #31
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Re: 48 State Bus

Just to give an update: We have taken out the bathroom and knocked down the wall between it and the main room to have more space for the 8 people during the day/driving.
I traded the normal fridge in it for a smaller one that can be placed where the bathroom used to be, and we also got another free mini fridge to place near the front. (maybe we can run the smallest while running and only run the larger when stopped?)
we also have the sleeping arangements settled as we have had another futon sleeper/couch donated so we will sleep 4 in front 4 in back.
one problem we are running into is the cooling and we have some a/c ideas but the girls are forming a union to protest our no a/c while running idea.... so if anyone has experience with an a/c that can run while we run please let us know.
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Old 06-27-2007, 01:22 AM   #32
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Re: 48 State Bus

i live in michigan, and a/c isn't really a necessity here but i've been thinking about taking on an ac project just for fun.

i don't see why you couldn't take an AC unit from a larger vehicle, say a chevy suburban, or a ford ambulance and adapt it to a skoolie.

i don't know much about a/c systems, but you can buy the r134a ac kit from autozone for about 35 bucks, uncluding the refrigerant and the connecter, guage, ect...

i think the system is basically just 1 radiator that gets hot, the a/c compressor, and 1 radiator that gets cold. I don't see any reason that you can't install the compressor on your skoolie, run the lines (which are most likely NPT thread, otherwise i'm sure you can get flair fittings that convert to npt) mount the hot radiator (condensor?) in a place where it gets plenty of air flow ie: in front of your skoolies radiator. then mount the cold radiator (evaporator?) anywhere in the bus that you see fit. You'll need a 12 volt electric fan to move hot air in the bus through the frigid radiator creating cold conditioned air. Might as well use the ac box and fan out of the donor vehicle as i am quite certian you will produce a lot of condensation that needs to be drained to the outside.......

anybody ever try this?

it seems to me the biggest obsticle is finding a suitable means of driving the compressor as most all light duty vehicles since about 1990 have serpenteen belts and your skoolie most likely uses v-belts. If finding a suitable pulley is the most difficult part of the job, i guess it doesn't sound too bad.
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Old 08-14-2007, 03:02 PM   #33
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Re: 48 State Bus

Here's how you have A/C while driving:

http://www.myfoxhouston.com/myfox/pages ... geId=3.2.1

Even has me tempted because I don't really like driving on a hot summer day and it's noisy with all the windows open. I have a roof top A/C unit (not on the bus) but that draws way too much power to run off an inverter/alternator. Right now that is setup to cool my 900 sq. ft. shop (although I never use it).

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Old 08-19-2007, 03:27 PM   #34
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Re: 48 State Bus

Well, I have found a floor unit that puts out quite a bit of air, the only problem is the reliability of the alternater running it.

With 8 people aboard I doubt the girls will be willing to sacrifice their a/c.
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Old 08-19-2007, 03:36 PM   #35
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Re: 48 State Bus

I've also run into another problem, the taillights do not work.... I have checked all of the fuses and the bulbs as well, I have been told that it is probably the wiring and that it possibly has just rusted out... any other possible answers?

the brake lights work, just the running lights do not.
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Old 08-19-2007, 08:01 PM   #36
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Re: 48 State Bus

My beds are all wood and rock solid. I choose it because it was easy to work with in the time frame we had available and because steel is so ridiculously priced right now. I'm not sure if you are planning on putting in any walls, but my beds are quasi-integral with the walls so everything shores everything else up. Like I said...rock solid. I hear where you're coming from on the size thing though and if you can get a deal steel beds wouldn't be a bad plan, especially with the amount of time you have left to fabricate everything.
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Old 08-21-2007, 12:00 AM   #37
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Re: 48 State Bus

Well, I think we have the bed situation figured out for the most part, there is a 8 foot section that is walled off from the rest. I will take some new pictures very soon so that you can see all that I'm talking about, but we have 2 futon-beds along the side of the bus that provide sleeping space for 4 people and I think we are going to set up 3 folding cots in the back to make up for 3 more.... we only have 5 financially committed right now but 4 more want to go.... so depending on how many man up we might be good on the sleeping arangements. The only problem now is going to be the taillights and the a/c. There is a slight air leak into the fuel lines, but me and my uncle are going to fix all of the engine problems come fall (hopefully).
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Old 08-21-2007, 07:58 AM   #38
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Re: 48 State Bus

NONE of the running lights work, or just the ones in the back?

None is actually an easier fix

i have seen at least one bus that had a switch on the switch panel that controlled the marker lights...it was completely separate from the headlight switch.

If none of them work, chances are pretty good that if you connect a 12 volt + wire through a switch (and a fuse obviously) to the wire that goes to any one of your marker lights they will all light up. In my bus, there is an overhead compartment above the drivers head. Inside this compartment i can actually see the front three marker lights (or at least the screws that are holding them in place) from the inside of the bus There is usually only one wire that connects to the marker lights, just splice into this wire....the lights are grounded directly to the bus body.





The yellow wire is connected to the running lights. If you poke arond through the insulation you can see the screws that hold the marker light on the bus.

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Old 08-21-2007, 12:02 PM   #39
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Re: 48 State Bus

I'm one of those with a seperate switch for the running lights...in fact I have far too many switches *S* but that gives me something to play with going down the road right?
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Old 08-25-2007, 02:58 PM   #40
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Re: 48 State Bus

Well, thankfully the running lights work now.... I haven't done anything to them so I hope it isn't just a loose ground or something. I looked at all of the switches and there is none for the lights other than the strobe on top. Everything is coming along nicely and we just got a dry erase board piece big enough to cover the top section and hopefully we will be getting that tire replaced soon, so if anyone knows a good place to get a bus tire please let me know.
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