New member, New Skoolie

the_experience03 · 02-16-2006, 03:25 AM

So I've dreamt of owning a school bus for a long time (since about 3rd or 4th grade, actually) and have been reading different posts on this as well as other sites for some time now, but I finally feel I have earned the right to announce my baptism into the skoolie community.

You see, as of about 3:00 PM CST on February 15th, 2006, I am the proud new owner of a 1989 Ford B700 with a Wayne Lifeguard 65 passenger body. The bus has ~86,000 miles with a 6.6 diesel,
AT545, and GREAT air brakes. Best part was the price....$1250, $1407.25 after TT&L

Anyway, I hope to post pics as soon as possible, but it was too dark by the time we got back from United Truck Body in Duluth, MN to take any. Perhaps tomorrow? I'm (not really) looking forward to starting my long conversion by ripping seats out tomorrow.

Keep you posted....

Eric von Kleist · 02-17-2006, 07:19 AM

Congratulations! Welcome to the board!

So....what are you going to do with it?

the_experience03 · 02-17-2006, 02:31 PM

PTO driven food processor or maybe a giant blender for adult beverages

Actually, we plan to be kind of boring (I own it, but it belongs to a group of us in a way). It's just goingto be our home away from home for little trips.

I'm not going to bother with all the little details like my water system, electrical, etc until I have pictures to match, but to give a rough idea, the very back will be my "stateroom" with a queen sized bed and not a whole lot else. Forward of the dividing wall for my room will be 4 bunks with yet another wall in front of them. Just forward of the bunks will be the toilet on one side and a sit down style shower on the other. Finally, you hit the living room with the couch , entertainment center, etc. Needless to say, ever inch of length will be used, but it all fits according to my drafts.

In addition, a rear deck will have to be installed for storage as well as because rear decks are just plan cool :P Leading from that will be a later to the upper deck. Again it will be used for storage on the road and 'laxing once we get to our destination.

For this summer we are planning to go to Bonaroo in Tennesse hopefully though we need more people to go, Countryfest in Cadott, WI, and Devo's Wedding in Mississippi. We might just have to take a trip out west at some point too

I'll do my best to keep everyone posted.

We already registered our domain name though there is little on the site yet.

http://www.havoconthehighway.com

Griff · 02-17-2006, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_experience03

So I've dreamt of owning a school bus for a long time (since about 3rd or 4th grade, actually) . . .

Bitten by the bus bug at an early age. . .there's no hope for him now, fellas!

Could not view the pics on yer site (may be my browser?, but it works everywhere else), but am looking forward to seeing some!

the_experience03 · 02-18-2006, 12:04 AM

Sorry about the pics. We're working on that situation right now. Shane (my webmaster) is learning the new program. There's not much to see right now anyway other than about 35 feet of big ugly yellow

The plan is to document the whole conversion process as well as any trips we take. Oh yeah...and to make videos of a fresh 21 year old being all messed up publicly available.

Just think....he took his POST exam today so he can be a cop too

Griff · 02-18-2006, 05:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the_experience03

There's not much to see right now anyway other than about 35 feet of big ugly yellow

. . .

But that's the best part!

Roasting8 · 02-19-2006, 09:37 AM

I don't know, I like ugly yellow.

Welcome.

shaggy · 02-19-2006, 10:38 AM

Here's a computer generated paint job for my new bus project.

http://www.photoworks.com/share/shar...3732C03D&cb=PW

Shaggy

Roasting8 · 02-19-2006, 11:20 AM

I like the paint job, but tell me; what's on the symbol?

shaggy · 02-19-2006, 11:23 AM

Jesus loves you.

Shaggy

Roasting8 · 02-19-2006, 04:13 PM

Why, Thank You.

Only kidding, I was just curious about the symbol.

And, yes, he does love all of us.

ssolga · 02-19-2006, 10:01 PM

Hello everyone! I'm the webmaster which the_experience03 speaks of. He knows the bus, I'm a virgin to html code. It's the first site I've ever done so it's pretty crude, but serves its purpose!

The photos, on http://www.havoconthehighway.com , which apparently haven't been working for most people, should be working now.

There isn't much though, mostly randomness. We forgot to take pictures of the outside of the bus in the daylight.

They'll be there in time though. Patience! It's been -40 in the tundra of Minnesota recently so we haven't got around to anything yet.

Steve · 02-20-2006, 10:06 AM

And if you guys are ever in Iowa let me know, we can get to together and talk bus. (Or bring it down for an ISU football game for the time of your life)

pangaia · 02-20-2006, 01:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roasting8

I don't know, I like ugly yellow.

Welcome.

All I know is ugly yellow got me from ID to Calif w/o being stopped because only when I got my rear in Calif did I notice I had no license plate *sheepish grin*

Yeah, yellow has its uses

the_experience03 · 02-22-2006, 10:27 PM

And so it begins....Shane, Natalie, and I started tearing seats out today after the bus fired up like a champ (it was 30 degrees today, 40 more than last week) and we took it for a short spin.

It took about an hour and a half to two ours of leisurely working to get all the bolts out from the wall side of the seats (Shane and Natalie) and to grind the 4 aisle bolts per seat on 11 of them. That puts us at over half done with seat removal in just 2 hours....pretty damn amazing for a Minnesota bus

You can check out the progress as well as other randomness at the website. We're (or Shane rather) is still learning Dream Book so please forgive any problems you may encounter. Also, dial up beware if you go to look at the pics as they are 4 megapixal pics with no compression or thumbnails. We'll work on that...maybe...but with 5 gigs of hosted space, we're not too worried about it. Finally, clicking on the ads on the bottom of the page generates signifigant income for us and really requires no more than a click on the link and a click on your browser's back button so please feel free to do so.

http://www.havoconthehighway.com

the_experience03 · 02-22-2006, 11:08 PM

I did atleast have safety glasses on although a mask and some ear plugs would have been a HUGE help. Grinding in a giant tin can.....

the_experience03 · 02-22-2006, 11:09 PM

Besides....it's not particularly warm in Minnesota this time of year...those sparks=free BTU's

busone · 02-22-2006, 11:56 PM

Looks like it was a lot of fun getting those seats out. I can't wait to get my bus and start tearing into it. At least it was warm out.

ssolga · 02-23-2006, 02:31 PM

Oh it was lots of fun getting those seats out. It's supposed to get cold again so the other half might not happen for awhile, but it's always nice when mother nature lets us make some progress!

ssolga · 02-26-2006, 07:42 PM

So the pictures on the website have finally been thumbnailed properly (for those who were afraid of waiting for 18 1MB pictures to download all at once) and I also put up a page detailing our expenses if anyone is interested in that also. Thanks for looking and enjoy! (...and if you want you can click a couple times on the ads at the bottom of the page

)

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