Anyone cutting off a bus

[nevittja]

We are looking for a bus back. Is anyone cutting their bus off? We want to put a roof on our flatbed and add a 5 ft room. This would leave a 3 ft deck. We are thinking of slanting the added roof up about 6 inches. Open to creative ideas1

[Yuuyia_Takahashi]

If no one specifically on here is chopping up a bus you could call around to local truck shops or yards where they send “for parts” busses and ask about coming and grabbing a backend or roof yourself. I’m sure it’d be pretty cheap.

[nevittja]

Thanks for your suggestion. We haven't been able to locate any around us. We may have to make a road trip to GA to find what we are looking for.

[Yuuyia_Takahashi]

If you come to GA, private message me. I can call around and see what’s here before you come so you can get an idea of where you’d have to head to. (If that would be helpful) or feel free to wing it. Just thought I’d put it out there.

[nevittja]

No thanks that would be great. Maybe when the weather breaks here!

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by nevittja

Thanks for your suggestion. We haven't been able to locate any around us. We may have to make a road trip to GA to find what we are looking for.

supposedly there is a bus junkyard somewhere around lebanon ohio..

how much conversion have you done to yours? thinking about at what point does it make sense to try and rebuild what was once there structurally vs getting a new bus and building it out, using m,any of the good parts from your current one.
- Christopher

[Yuuyia_Takahashi]

No problem just let me know about a week or two out. I figured you’d be waiting for better weather anyhow. I know of several of the places in and around north GA that are likely to have something. As long as you bring tools (drills, saws-all, etc.) and have a way to haul it home they’d probably let it go for close to scrap price

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Yuuyia_Takahashi

No problem just let me know about a week or two out. I figured you’d be waiting for better weather anyhow. I know of several of the places in and around north GA that are likely to have something. As long as you bring tools (drills, saws-all, etc.) and have a way to haul it home they’d probably let it go for close to scrap price

What places in north Ga. do you know of for parts?

[Robin97396]

Aren't the end caps usually fiberglass? Not much scrap value, but I bet they ask a pretty penny anyway.

Let's hope you get lucky.

[nevittja]

We have done quite a bit and love what we have done so far! Don't want to start over just add a bedroom. Now we have a bench that opens up and bed folds out. Thinking of traveling out west and don't want to fold and unfold the bed every night so we would add a room about 5 ft and then still have 3 ft deck off the back.

[Yuuyia_Takahashi]

Originally Posted by o1marc

What places in north Ga. do you know of for parts?

Right off the top of my head there is...

Cagle Auto Parts
1139 Old Alabama Rd SW
Cartersville GA, 30120
(770) 382-0199

and

Martins Auto Parts
3601 Cartersville Hwy SE
Rome, GA 30161
(706) 235-8366

Cagles is a U-pull-it style place from last I remember, but Martins pulls stuff for you. However with it potentially being the tail end of a bus I'm sure they'd make accommodations for the purchaser to pull it with one of their employees keeping an eye on you for insurance reasons.

I know that in the Cartersville/Rome/Acworth area that are a number of yards that have plenty of old busses, cement trucks, semi tractors and heavy equipment. These are the ones that I'll be looking up contact info for and gauging the friendliness of the staff, then reporting back.

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Aren't the end caps usually fiberglass? Not much scrap value, but I bet they ask a pretty penny anyway?

Let's hope you get lucky.

I'm not sure if they are fiberglass or not. It could depend on the body maker. I had assumed all standard busses were all-metal construction, but I could be wrong. I guess that's another thing I'll have to add to my googling. If they are indeed fiberglass that could mean very cheap prices for sure.

[Robin97396]

I've got to be curious about what you carry on the flatbed portion.

I'm catching on slowly. You're actually talking about an entire bus back end to make up the 5 ft you want to add, including the back wall? Previously I thought you were talking about buying just the back wall of another bus. I was wondering where the ribs were going to come from. Figured it out.

I agree with the nuther bus theory. I think you're creating a leaker. I'm not trying to be insulting. I just think that's not going to work if it's used in wet weather at all.

I know you've already got a lot of work in that chopped bus, but how would you feel about it if it leaked after you got finished doing all this body work on it?

This is something that never happens on this site. The flatbed is relatively rare, and covering the flatbed is probably a first.

Good luck.

[nevittja]

Our plan is to leave the current back on it alone and just take the emergency door off. We would cut the entry way up to make it a more normal size. Then do like a slanted roof raise up about six inches above the roof that is currently on it. We found most of our bus leaks came from the windows! We currently use the flatbed to haul bikes and also use it as a deck. Still in the planning stages.

[Yuuyia_Takahashi]

Originally Posted by nevittja

Our plan is to leave the current back on it alone and just take the emergency door off. We would cut the entry way up to make it a more normal size. Then do like a slanted roof raise up about six inches above the roof that is currently on it. We found most of our bus leaks came from the windows! We currently use the flatbed to haul bikes and also use it as a deck. Still in the planning stages.

So for a lack of a better way to word it, your wanting to switch from an open porch to a closed in porch?

[Robin97396]

I'm visualizing it with more or less an enclosed back bedroom and the shortened porch?

I've always wanted to do that to a bus, but yes I'd like the overhead cover of the original roof over the back porch unless I was setting up a 5th wheel hauler. I do have a motorcycle garage in the back of my bus, but it kind of turned into the kitchen since there's no cycle sitting there. I like the motorcycle inside to prevent tampering while traveling.

This is going to be interesting because I've never seen how the ribs should be attached after the fact. Thanks for sharing. I like your bus.

[nevittja]

Thanks. We figure if people can take the roof off and raise it up we should be able to figure out how to add one! Its just getting ahold of the right parts and someone with some experience in metal fabrication.

[Yuuyia_Takahashi]

Originally Posted by nevittja

Thanks. We figure if people can take the roof off and raise it up we should be able to figure out how to add one! Its just getting ahold of the right parts and someone with some experience in metal fabrication.

Well, I have plenty of metal fab experience. (related to auto body, and building custom performance engine parts.) I've also seen a wide range of blueprints and schematics for bus bodies lately since I'm doing so much research for the start of my own project... If you have questions / concerns, feel free to ask and I'll give whatever input I can.

[nevittja]

Thanks Yuuyia. I'm sure before this is over we may have taken a rode trip down to N GA! Our son lives in Savannah GA so we have actually driven the bus down there twice.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Yuuyia_Takahashi

Right off the top of my head there is...

Cagle Auto Parts
1139 Old Alabama Rd SW
Cartersville GA, 30120
(770) 382-0199

and

Martins Auto Parts
3601 Cartersville Hwy SE
Rome, GA 30161
(706) 235-8366

Cagles is a U-pull-it style place from last I remember, but Martins pulls stuff for you. However with it potentially being the tail end of a bus I'm sure they'd make accommodations for the purchaser to pull it with one of their employees keeping an eye on you for insurance reasons.

I know that in the Cartersville/Rome/Acworth area that are a number of yards that have plenty of old busses, cement trucks, semi tractors and heavy equipment. These are the ones that I'll be looking up contact info for and gauging the friendliness of the staff, then reporting back.



I'm not sure if they are fiberglass or not. It could depend on the body maker. I had assumed all standard busses were all-metal construction, but I could be wrong. I guess that's another thing I'll have to add to my googling. If they are indeed fiberglass that could mean very cheap prices for sure.

Thanks for that info. I'm looking for a spare rear door at a reasonable price. I'm not willing to pay 10% of the cost of a whole bus for a rear door. 1st place I checked wanted $250, thought that was high, next place wanted $500.

[preacher144k]

Nice bus, how would I go about doing a project like this one?