A conversion 20 years in the making.

[gearheadgary]

Hi all, been lurking a bit. Currently working on my 30 foot Blubird "City Bird," originally a shuttle bus from Florida.

While not a skoolie, there are many shared elements in construction. We started the conversion in '02 in Alameda, CA and then we moved to Michigan in '04. We weren't able to do anything with it and put it in storage until a year or so, where the mice got to it.

When I brought it out of storage last year, everything we had in the interior had to go into the dumpster (They even ruined the gas range). I've been focusing on mechanicals, and re-arranging things around the engine to maximize floor and storage space aroung the engine.

I have a background in the RV industry, automotive, industrial and Marine systems--That was before moving to high-tech about 30 years or so ago (I'm 60). I currently sell race-car parts on the internet.

I like the vintage buses, however I also like things that work well, so I'm particularly interested in newer technology, and it's great to see some of the things that people are integrating to their skoolie builds. I'm old enough to remember when "Skoolie" was a derogative, but some of the coolest stuff is going into skoolie builds now.



I have to document the recent work on the bus still, but you can see the work we did before we moved to Michigan on my site

[musigenesis]

Welcome to the site! Looking forward to seeing more of your progress.

[BarnYardCamp]

yes, absolutely welcome to the site.
Wow! 20 years (and counting)
I think you may hold the record for perseverance!

[Miles O Roads]

That thing looks like a tank,wish I could have found an old bus. Welcome to the board.

[gearheadgary]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Welcome to the site! Looking forward to seeing more of your progress.

Thanks--Yeah, Me too!

Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp

yes, absolutely welcome to the site.
Wow! 20 years (and counting)
I think you may hold the record for perseverance!

Thanks--Or lack of good sense. I think a wiser person would have walked away and bought something newer, but there are a lot of features on that one that I really like.

Originally Posted by Miles O Roads

That thing looks like a tank,wish I could have found an old bus. Welcome to the board.

It's pretty tough, I've used it as the tow vehicle for a couple of races, and towed 5K lbs across the country and it's a towing beast.

I did make some progress this week, stripped some of the rust and cut for my second window. I'm going to see if I can get that window in tonight after work.



I guess I should probably start a bus build thread. Should I put it with the Skoolies since it's pretty similar?

Short bus, since it's only 30'? (Seems like those are mostly cutaways)

Or as a coach, since it's very similar to Wanderlodge?

[BarnYardCamp]

yes, put your build thread here....it's "skoolie" enough for us.