Bus Prep Services

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

I saw something the other day that struck me as odd. Several buses out of Colorado at auction had AT-545s and retarders.

I've seen many with that setup from CO.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

Dude. You know what you need to do....you (understandably) just don't wanna do it.

Get on FB

Yeah, I'll use my wife's account. Can't hide from FB even when you want to.


Got the last seat out of the Nuke bus today. Was one bolt that was stubborn so I had to use the angle grinder.
Got a pile of bus seats now. Saving Kubla four, myself four, and Chris can have as many as he wants.
If anyone wants a couple high back transit style school bus seats hit me up.

I can save you time and aggravation with this bus demo stuff!!!

[Native]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Yeah, I'll use my wife's account. Can't hide from FB even when you want to.


Got the last seat out of the Nuke bus today. Was one bolt that was stubborn so I had to use the angle grinder.
Got a pile of bus seats now. Saving Kubla four, myself four, and Chris can have as many as he wants.
If anyone wants a couple high back transit style school bus seats hit me up.

I can save you time and aggravation with this bus demo stuff!!!

FB .... byuck!


Are you going to remove the walls and ceiling in the Nuke Bus?

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Native

FB .... byuck!


Are you going to remove the walls and ceiling in the Nuke Bus?

no, the walls and ceiling are staying in.

[Doktari]

Great idea to prep buses. What about a painting service too? I know that after I painted my bus by myself I was exhausted and thought my arms might fall off. But with really good equipment it’s much easier.
The high density foam pieces inside the seats are useful for other projects. And the seat covers can be useful for other projects too.
Coincidentally I’ve been wondering about a good place to convert buses and vans.
Old dairy farms have been decent places. I’m at my third former dairy farm and I blend in with the random buildings, rusting equipment, and junk. The barns can be useful also. The owners are often happy to see it getting used again. Or cleaned up in exchange.
One drawback is dairy quality land is usually premium land so buying it might not be an option. But the rent is extremely cheap.

[o1marc]

The place you all describe is called Colorado Custom Coach, and you pay through the nose for the convenience. I'm actively searching for a location to rent to offer these services. Looks like I won't find a space for about 6 months till something reasonably priced comes up.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Doktari

Great idea to prep buses. What about a painting service too? I know that after I painted my bus by myself I was exhausted and thought my arms might fall off. But with really good equipment it’s much easier.
The high density foam pieces inside the seats are useful for other projects. And the seat covers can be useful for other projects too.
Coincidentally I’ve been wondering about a good place to convert buses and vans.
Old dairy farms have been decent places. I’m at my third former dairy farm and I blend in with the random buildings, rusting equipment, and junk. The barns can be useful also. The owners are often happy to see it getting used again. Or cleaned up in exchange.
One drawback is dairy quality land is usually premium land so buying it might not be an option. But the rent is extremely cheap.

I can paint buses. I'm not a professional painter though.
I'd probably roll it on or farm out spraying to someone I know.

[flattopted]

Interested. Should you find yourself up near Huntsville, AL holler at me!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by flattopted

Interested. Should you find yourself up near Huntsville, AL holler at me!

I"m not too mobile but I can gut a bus pretty quick.

[279Auto]

Originally Posted by PNW_Steve

I saw something the other day that struck me as odd. Several buses out of Colorado at auction had AT-545s and retarders.

What is a retarder? I can't imagine specking out a bus in the mountains with an AT545, but maybe this "retarder" thing is the answer to that transmission's drawbacks?

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Originally Posted by 279Auto

What is a retarder? I can't imagine specking out a bus in the mountains with an AT545, but maybe this "retarder" thing is the answer to that transmission's drawbacks?

Basically it helps reduce/control vehicle speeds when descending a steep hill. When used on flat(ter) ground it will slow the vehicle. Similar in function to the engine brakes used in big trucks.

[Sleddgracer]

[QUOTE=Brad_SwiftFur;354541]Basically it helps reduce/control vehicle speeds when descending a steep hill. When used on flat(ter) ground it will slow the vehicle. Similar in function to the engine brakes used in big trucks.[/Q

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FMoUEmSsdE

[cadillackid]

alot of places offer bus prep services.. and they are pricey... even the likes of bus dealers.. BGA, don brown, mcallisters, midwest transit, etc all will set a buiyer's bus up how they want it... well as far as the bus part goes..


I know of someone who bought a bus from a dealer and the sales person sold them something along the lines of a "church bus prep". where they removed all the school lights, letterning, etc painted the bus, and in this person;s case they had them take out the seats for them too... the price for the bus dealer to do it was not cheap however it was much less than any of. the "custom skoolie" companies were charging for it..



the bus itself of course was just an average bus that couldve been bought on govdeals for about 3k less than they paid..

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

alot of places offer bus prep services.. and they are pricey... even the likes of bus dealers.. BGA, don brown, mcallisters, midwest transit, etc all will set a buiyer's bus up how they want it... well as far as the bus part goes..


I know of someone who bought a bus from a dealer and the sales person sold them something along the lines of a "church bus prep". where they removed all the school lights, letterning, etc painted the bus, and in this person;s case they had them take out the seats for them too... the price for the bus dealer to do it was not cheap however it was much less than any of. the "custom skoolie" companies were charging for it..



the bus itself of course was just an average bus that couldve been bought on govdeals for about 3k less than they paid..

How much $ are they charging for stuff? I'd love to know how much "church bus prep" goes for. That's sorta what I'm shooting for.
I'll do if better AND cheaper!

[cadillackid]

on average paint is 3K. that includes real prep and spray of typically a urethane single stage enamel.. taking out the seats varies..



BGA charges quite a bit but apparently still marketable as every time I stop and visit those guys they have busses being re-seated, painted, prepped etc...



in their case they do real body work vs riveted metal over holes.. so it looks pretty good.. but again its pricey..


I think if you offered Budget-style services you could do well at it.. most people have No idea where to go ... so they let the bus dealer do it or take it to a company in their town.. which you get a really nice job but is pricey..



if you offered it at a level say with riveted metal over school light holes, rolled with hardened rustoleum.. removed the letters, reflective tape and fixed visible rust you could make decent coin id think..




https://www.wesellschoolbuses.com/services.html#paint

[EastCoastCB]

Dang, thanks Chris!


Looks like they do charge a ton. $200 to wire trailer lights!!! lol To drill six holes and hook up four wires they're getting $850 for trailer hitches.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

on average paint is 3K. that includes real prep and spray of typically a urethane single stage enamel.. taking out the seats varies..

I think if you offered Budget-style services you could do well at it.. most people have No idea where to go ... so they let the bus dealer do it or take it to a company in their town.. which you get a really nice job but is pricey..

if you offered it at a level say with riveted metal over school light holes, rolled with hardened rustoleum.. removed the letters, reflective tape and fixed visible rust you could make decent coin id think..

https://www.wesellschoolbuses.com/services.html#paint

I think this is all good advice/information. For frame of reference, ECCB, I went through our invoices for what we paid someone to do demo work. We bought our bus at auction, as you know, and we had someone who offered bus demo services to inspect and pick it up for us.

• DOT inspection was 250
• transport from school to his location was another 250.
• seat removal and disposal was 400
• wall removal was 400
• floor removal and sanding/painting (I'm unsure of) but was probably around 4-500 plus material costs.
• paint was 2000-2500 (again, not sure) plus materials of course
• we didn't have him remove the ceiling, but it was offered. Unsure of the price though.
• he disabled and removed the stop sign, but we left the upper flashers.
• I forget what his hourly rate was, but he taught us how to operate and drive this beast as well. Just a couple hours tooling around town was well worth the money....it's reassuring to have someone who's done this before instead of being baptized by fire!

We were happy to pay for the services so we didn't have to do them ourselves and were glad to have a fresh/blank canvas to work with. The price was considerably cheaper than some of the other bus conversion shops. You see how many people get burned out after doing the demo work and give up on their dream bus....we didn't want to fall into that category. I think that with your amount of hustle and knowledge you could make some decent money doing this.

[EastCoastCB]

Ok, great!! THANK YOU so much I really do LOVE you folks here.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

I think this is all good advice/information. For frame of reference, ECCB, I went through our invoices for what we paid someone to do demo work. We bought our bus at auction, as you know, and we had someone who offered bus demo services to inspect and pick it up for us.

• DOT inspection was 250
• transport from school to his location was another 250.
• seat removal and disposal was 400
• wall removal was 400
• floor removal and sanding/painting (I'm unsure of) but was probably around 4-500 plus material costs.
• paint was 2000-2500 (again, not sure) plus materials of course
• we didn't have him remove the ceiling, but it was offered. Unsure of the price though.
• he disabled and removed the stop sign, but we left the upper flashers.
• I forget what his hourly rate was, but he taught us how to operate and drive this beast as well. Just a couple hours tooling around town was well worth the money....it's reassuring to have someone who's done this before instead of being baptized by fire!

We were happy to pay for the services so we didn't have to do them ourselves and were glad to have a fresh/blank canvas to work with. The price was considerably cheaper than some of the other bus conversion shops. You see how many people get burned out after doing the demo work and give up on their dream bus....we didn't want to fall into that category. I think that with your amount of hustle and knowledge you could make some decent money doing this.

This post certainly has me leaning towards offering these services at those rates. I hate stripping, but it's a whole new ball game if I'm getting paid to do it. I need shop space.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by o1marc

This post certainly has me leaning towards offering these services at those rates. I hate stripping, but it's a whole new ball game if I'm getting paid to do it. I need shop space.

That's cool. maybe I'll call my buddies at the fab shop and offer hat and c channel kits as well.