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Old 02-22-2022, 11:18 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 13
Bus Body Extension

Hello, Skoolie Members,

I may be off on my verbiage and the proper terms, but I wanted to ask how to get this done.

My wife and I bought a 1993 9-window Blue Bird TC2000 bus. We were told that the bus was 28ft long. We found that out to be a lie. The bus, from bumper to bumper is 26ft long. We'd love to add 2 more feet to the end of the bus by extending the chassis and getting a similar body piece to fit over the chassis for more internal space giving us the 28 ft we want.

We have a welder in mind, we just don't know where to get the extra piece of chassis and body portion to make it happen with the welder. Does anyone know where to acquire such pieces in the Midwest area (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois) area?

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Old 02-22-2022, 11:37 AM   #2
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Jun 2021
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 270
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DT466e 215hp Allison 2500
Rated Cap: 77
These folks are in Minnesota, they sell used buses and part some of them out. Really good people!



https://qualitybusandtruckparts.com/buses-trucks/
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Old 02-22-2022, 12:53 PM   #3
Bus Nut
 
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Join Date: Oct 2021
Location: Jacksonville, FL
Posts: 871
Year: 2003
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: TC2000 28ft
Engine: Cummins ISB 5.9 24v, MD3060
Rated Cap: 14
I asked the length of many buses and felt that a number of the replies were a general length estimate. Maybe they only owned a 25ft tape measure?
I have a 9 window BlueBird that is 28ft exactly.
The front 4 windows are 35in and the back 5 windows are 28in.
Personally, extending a body would be a ton of extra work. You actually have a rarer/more sought after 25/26fter. You might actually be able to sell yours and rebuy a 28fter for cheaper.


Ideally, my bus would've been a 32fter so that it had a longer wheelbase. Then I would've taken out one or two ceiling panels to get my back platform.
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Old 02-22-2022, 01:56 PM   #4
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by fo4imtippin View Post
I asked the length of many buses and felt that a number of the replies were a general length estimate. Maybe they only owned a 25ft tape measure?
I have a 9 window BlueBird that is 28ft exactly.
The front 4 windows are 35in and the back 5 windows are 28in.
Personally, extending a body would be a ton of extra work. You actually have a rarer/more sought after 25/26fter. You might actually be able to sell yours and rebuy a 28fter for cheaper.


Ideally, my bus would've been a 32fter so that it had a longer wheelbase. Then I would've taken out one or two ceiling panels to get my back platform.
Yeah, that's the draw back, the sizing of the windows. We'd just done measuring on them yesterday. The first window is 35, then there are two more at 35. The other 7 are between 24 and 28.

And yes, we know that this will be a ton of work, but we do have a welder to get that process taken care of as long as we can provide the 2ft of chassis and the additional body to go over it and be meshed together.
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Old 02-22-2022, 01:57 PM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 13
Quote:
Originally Posted by Timeline View Post
These folks are in Minnesota, they sell used buses and part some of them out. Really good people!



https://qualitybusandtruckparts.com/buses-trucks/
Thank you, Timeline. I've since sent them an email and will be waiting on their response.
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Old 02-22-2022, 06:10 PM   #6
Bus Crazy
 
Join Date: Apr 2020
Location: Northern California (Sacramento)
Posts: 1,632
Year: 1999
Coachwork: El Dorado Fiberglass
Chassis: Ford E450
Engine: V10 Gas
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kurt Wagner View Post
Hello, Skoolie Members,

I may be off on my verbiage and the proper terms, but I wanted to ask how to get this done.

My wife and I bought a 1993 9-window Blue Bird TC2000 bus. We were told that the bus was 28ft long. We found that out to be a lie. The bus, from bumper to bumper is 26ft long. We'd love to add 2 more feet to the end of the bus by extending the chassis and getting a similar body piece to fit over the chassis for more internal space giving us the 28 ft we want.

We have a welder in mind, we just don't know where to get the extra piece of chassis and body portion to make it happen with the welder. Does anyone know where to acquire such pieces in the Midwest area (Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois) area?
Have you considered doing a bumper extension with a toolbox or whatnot instead? 24" is a lot of interior space, I know, but worth a thought, given the likely cost of that extra two feet.
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Old 02-23-2022, 10:45 AM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2021
Posts: 13
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Originally Posted by Rucker View Post
Have you considered doing a bumper extension with a toolbox or whatnot instead? 24" is a lot of interior space, I know, but worth a thought, given the likely cost of that extra two feet.
The extra two feet is for the bed area and the garage area that will be beneath it.
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