Blood Bus - Good deal? or Let it go!

[Freedomhauler]

I know of a 1987 Bluebird All american bus/coach for sale. It was made to be a Red Cross blood bus right from the start.
34,000 GVWR
4 roof top A/C units with heat strips
three electric heaters
front and rear RV doors
Hydraulic levelers
Kubota 15,000 watt (15KW) diesel generator.
40 foot long
Cat 3208 NA (Cat reman) no smoke-runs great
Allison trans
5.29 rear axle (Max speed 62 mph)
Air brakes
91000 miles on odometer, 101000 on hubmeter?? why the difference?

There is rust, however I work in an Automotive Collision Shop and own a mig welder.
$7500.00 by payroll deduction over 36 months with no interest.
Do I see a Wanderlodge wannabe in my future - Or should I pass?

[Freedomhauler]

Some pics of the inside.

[lapeer20m]

that's quite a bit more than most of us paid for our skoolies.....

but most of us don't have motors with low miles, or 15kw diesel gensets, hydraulic levelers, multiple rooftop a/c units.

the gennie it'self was prob more than $7K new.

i'd say it's nto a bad deal.....especially in the grand scheme of things.

[Demonknight]

I agree..since you can deal with the rust pretty easy, sounds like a good deal to me as well.

[Abbott]

$7500.00 sounds pricey to me.

[lapeer20m]

anothe bonus is that most of us have to work hard to come up with a proper name for our skoolies. you'rs already has a name. "THE BLOOD BUS" that's good!

[KC10Chief]

If I bought that bus, I would sell that generator and at least two of those rooftop AC units. The generator is overkill for skoolie use. It uses a lot of fuel I'm sure. That would recoup a little bit of the costs.

[DizzyIzzy]

With everything on that bad boy I would get it. The genset is worth 1/2 that.

[KC10Chief]

Yes, buy that bus! Then, sell me two of the roof top AC units! I'll give you $500 for both of them!

[KC10Chief]

I agree somewhat with the above poster. You COULD remove that generator, but you may not be able to sell it. I don't know. I know you could sell those rooftop A/C's. You don't need four of them. I guarantee you that is why you have such a big generator on there. The rust can be a pain in the ass. If it's only on the body, then it may not be so bad. But if the frame is that rusty, I'd think twice. I also hate financing vehicles, and I would personally never finance a bus. I don't finance anything now. Payments suck. If you ever got discouraged on your bus or decided you didn't like it, you're probably screwed on trying to get rid of it! Ouch! So, it might be a good deal. I don't know. I wouldn't do it personally. Too much to spend on a bus in my opinion now that I think about it.

[Freedomhauler]

Darn squirrels - they knocked out my internet and TV for two days.

Thank you for all the response.
BLUDBUS would be a good personalized plate. LOL

The bus currently has (2) generators. I just found out that the Roadside unit is a 20 KW unit and the Curbside is a 15KW.
Part of the deal would be that I remove the 15KW Gen. and the owner of the dealership that I work at gets to keep it.
The 15KW generator currently sells new for $11,800.00
The 20KW $13,500.00
With 166/83 amps 120/240 volts the 20KW is very much overkill.
On a positve note: It would run darn near anything. "Insert TIM ALLEN"S UUGH!"
Gen. fuel consumption is .45 gal per hour at 1/4 load (5000 watts). 1.8 GPH at full load.
If I replaced it with a smaller gas generator I would have to install a seperate fuel supply.

The underside has sprayed in foam insulation. I have removed some of it to look for rust. None Found!
Floor is not soft in any spots that I can step on.
I would also be able to store and work on the bus where it currently is for free.
I need to make a decision by Friday. I am currently leaning toward taking the plunge.
I just cant see spending money on a flimsy plywood/presswood box that the RV Industry calls a motorhome.
The idea of having a clean slate to design a floor plan of my own has me drooling. OK maybe just salivating.
I am currently 42 and have been wanting to do something like this since th 80's.

P.S. Excellent forum.

[lapeer20m]

BUY IT!

[BBTC2K]

I agree. That bus is well worth it in my book. Alot of the work is already done, no windows to fill in...no genset to install... no worries about roof a/c... I would already have PAID for it. The cat 3208 is not a bad motor by any means either, and I would bet it has the allison 643 in it, which is very hard to kill...

I SAY "GO FOR IT!"

shawn

[Freedomhauler]

Lapeer, I am just south of you in Warren, MI.
Ok, Ill buy it, but I might need help with the indoor hot tub, sauna, and tanning booth installation.
Hmm, What else can I do with 166 amps?


P.S. Glad to see that you did good on the bus. Drive carefully.

[lapeer20m]

Originally Posted by Freedomhauler

Lapeer, I am just south of you in Warren, MI.
Ok, Ill buy it, but I might need help with the indoor hot tub, sauna, and tanning booth installation.
Hmm, What else can I do with 166 amps?


P.S. Glad to see that you did good on the bus. Drive carefully.

i think you need a giant tesla coil!




we'll have to hang out sometime. Perhaps you can join Phillbus and i on an excursion when i get my next bus put together.

if my indoor skoolie workshop works out perhaps you can bring your bus up and paint it this winter.

[KC10Chief]

You're 42? You'd better buy that bus and get busy converting it! I would definitely pull that 20KW generator and sell that puppy. E-bay is probably a good place. I'd try selling it on Craigslist first. You might get lucky there too. You could probably get back quite a bit of what you pay for the bus. Whatever you sell it for, I'd use the money to pay off what you owe on the bus. 1.8 GPH is unacceptable! I have a couple of Honda EU2000i generators. I have 4000W between the both of them and they will power everything in an average RV. If I don't need A/C, I can use just one. They are very quiet as well. At full load, they use about 1 gallon of gas every 8 hours. They'll go 15 hours if I'm not running my A/C all the time. On just one gallon! You could easily add a gasoline tank. Go to a junkyard and pull one out of a car. You could use some bed rails to weld up and mount it under the bus. It would be simple to make it to where you could fill it up at a gas pump. Anyways, it sounds to me like you need to buy this bus! Just go in tomorrow and tell them that you're buying it. I don't think you'll regret it. If you've been wanting to do it since the 80's, then it's well past time for you to buy a bus! If you don't, you'll regret it someday. It's only money. Whatever you do, you need to post lots of pictures. BUY IT.

Oh yeah, I'm planning on building a tesla coil for my bus too!

[lapeer20m]

i'd be hard pressed to get rid of a diesel genset that's already mounted to the bus...but that's just me

[KC10Chief]

Originally Posted by lapeer20m

i'd be hard pressed to get rid of a diesel genset that's already mounted to the bus...but that's just me

I dunno... that thing probably isn't quiet. It has 5 times more power than he will ever need. It probably wouldn't take more than a few hours to remove. .45 gallons per hour with no load is about $35 a day in operating costs with current diesel prices. That's unacceptable in my book. He could easily sell it for several thousand dollars I think. You could get a couple EU2000i's and a parallel kit for under $1,800. Way more efficent too!

[Freedomhauler]

Bought it!
Even though it is not an old school bus, can I get a waiver and call myself a skoolie?

[phillbus914]

Originally Posted by Freedomhauler

Bought it!
Even though it is not an old school bus, can I get a waiver and call myself a skoolie?

Hell yeah! Jason doesn't even own a bus anymore and he still posts on here. Although I think he should be banned