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08-24-2012, 02:52 PM
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#1
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Austin, TX
Posts: 1,489
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466/AT545
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Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
I just came across this - I don't know the seller, just thought y'all would like to see the conversion:
http://sanantonio.craigslist.org/rvs/3208292884.html
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08-24-2012, 03:45 PM
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#2
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Roswell, NM
Posts: 3,588
Year: 1986
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
Nice looking but.....
Too much money considering....
Kept far too many of the windows... something I dislike since we stay in campgrounds slotted in between other RVs (but more privacy than the apt we lived in when we first met). We are about maxed out on windows in our bus.
The sleeping quarters would need to be reworked... I don't "do" bunk beds any more...
It needs a paint job because it's.... BEIGE which is as bad as white (I live in a sea of white and beige).
Of course I would "need" to rip the galley out and rebuild to suit me because I "need" a big freezer! Those are "needs" not "wants"... just like I "need" a washer/dryer. At some point I will "need" a dishwasher.... David just isn't cutting it!
I'm just not suited for "ready made"... neither is my pocketbook.
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08-24-2012, 04:02 PM
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#3
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 801
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
Of course I would "need" to rip the galley out and rebuild to suit me because I "need" a big freezer! Those are "needs" not "wants"... just like I "need" a washer/dryer. At some point I will "need" a dishwasher.... David just isn't cutting it!
Aw.... come on give the guy a break!!!!
__________________
GreyEagle
Roll - On...
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08-24-2012, 04:37 PM
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#4
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: ellijay ga
Posts: 560
Year: 94
Coachwork: b/b
Chassis: tc2000
Engine: 5.9
Rated Cap: 72
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
NICE INSIDE,BUT WHAT A CRAPPY PAINT JOB ON THE OUT SIDE.....
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08-24-2012, 06:45 PM
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#5
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Oregon/Philippines
Posts: 1,660
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
Not to mention it is Highly manuverable on tight turns...
__________________
Jesus Christ... Conversion in progress.
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08-24-2012, 07:04 PM
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#6
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Roswell, NM
Posts: 3,588
Year: 1986
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
Quote:
Originally Posted by GreyEagle
At some point I will "need" a dishwasher.... David just isn't cutting it!
Aw.... come on give the guy a break!!!!
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David hates washing dishes as much as I do. He's doing it because I am working and he's not. Sounds fair to me. I just wish he would wash them before we get down to no clean flatware! Upside... no arguing over a dishwasher!  I WILL have a dishwasher!
I wonder how they came up with the price? I'm kinda curious as to what our bus will be "worth" once we finish it.
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08-24-2012, 07:26 PM
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#7
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 801
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
YUP, we use ours daily...... One of my coffee drinking buddies fired his wife from washing dishes........
Now he's stuck doing them all himself....
Worked out really well for them. her anyway.....
__________________
GreyEagle
Roll - On...
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08-24-2012, 09:38 PM
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#8
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
I think 20k is a steal.
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08-24-2012, 10:06 PM
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#9
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: So Cal
Posts: 3,245
Year: 1935
Coachwork: Superior
Chassis: Chevy
Engine: 317 ci/tid / Isuzu
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
No matter what the price it cost twice that to build it soooo Lorna, don't hold your breath
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08-24-2012, 10:25 PM
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#10
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cleburne TX
Posts: 692
Year: 2001
Chassis: International Amtran RE
Engine: DT466E/MD3060
Rated Cap: 78
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
Isnt half the fun/joy/pain of making a custom conversion to how YOU want it why most people do this? To me redoing what someone did isnt nearly as much fun?
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08-25-2012, 09:20 AM
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#11
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Roswell, NM
Posts: 3,588
Year: 1986
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
I can understand getting an already converted bus if it's close to what you want. Then a few minor touches to make it "yours". This is a good way to get into the unit fast. And great if you don't have the skills and/or time to do a custom conversion. That's what we figure our daughter will end up doing. She (nor us) have the luxury of having a place to tear a bus apart and rebuild even though we all have the skills. Trust me, it's difficult to stealth convert while living in a campground. It's doable if you have the bus to the "metal tent" point.
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08-25-2012, 03:41 PM
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#12
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: Cleburne TX
Posts: 692
Year: 2001
Chassis: International Amtran RE
Engine: DT466E/MD3060
Rated Cap: 78
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
I can understand and respect someone getting in to a bus. I have most of the skill set to convert one just havent done it on a bus per se. To me this is why I think the challenge is right. Now if the cash flow will pick up Ill be in good shape.
I have 8 acres where I live so I have it better than many. Wish I had a shop building to take this project on but one step at a time.
Nothing wrong with a insto unit. There are many peoples buses on here that I admire their work and the time they have put in to it. Great ideas that people are sharing.
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08-25-2012, 04:27 PM
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#13
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Roswell, NM
Posts: 3,588
Year: 1986
Coachwork: BlueBird
Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
Quote:
Originally Posted by bapos
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Nothing wrong with a insto unit. There are many peoples buses on here that I admire their work and the time they have put in to it. Great ideas that people are sharing.
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I think the reason a fair amount of folks are still looking for the "perfect" bus is because of fear. I have often though some of these need to buy an "insto unit". It would do two things... #1 get them into the bus and using it. #2 give them a basis of what to renovate on the bus they bought or changes to make to their NEXT bus.
Converting a bus is an expensive, time consuming project. I once read on one of the the coach forums that 90% of converters never get the shells to the point of usability, much less actually finished. They ran out of $$, out of time or family obligations forced them to get rid of the shell. The standing joke is a conversion is never really finished. In reality, many of the conversions never got past the starting point.
Reality for us was, the deeper we got into the frame of the Eagle, the more we realized the kids would have grown up and moved out before we ever got the bus to the metal tent stage. We were lucky in that we had the pop-up to use to take family vacations/outings in. As it was, we sunk a lot of $$ and time that we could never get back, in a project that ended up going nowhere except the scrapyard. The experience with the Eagle has shaped a great deal of our decisions with the BlueBird. The money we sunk into the Eagle in buying the shell, the minor engine work & metal to repair the frame, could have bought the Bluebird, converted it, tagged/titled/insured and probably had a few $$ left over for the fuel tank. In many ways I regret the waste. But that experience showed us what was important to us and changed how we looked at the BlueBird conversion. We did learn a great deal from the Eagle, just not what many would have expected. It was a costly lesson. We also learned a great deal from living fulltime in a 22 ft vintage Class C. Including the realization that we didn't need a 40 ft bus (35 ft floor space) but only really needed about 25 ft of floor space. We ended up with a 40 ft bus.
We did not buy the BlueBird to convert. We bought a bus to use as a moving van. Instead of having a large box van to convert into an RV (our original expectation), we ended up with a schoolbus to convert.
There are many "wannabees" looking for the "perfect" bus to convert. I often feel like giving them a head slap and telling them to to buy an bus that has already been converted and find out if they love "skooliedocking". They can always do a bit of remodeling to the bus. But the wasted time can't be replaced. I have noticed that in many cases, the conversions sell for the same or less than the sum of their parts. Yes, you don't have the "fun" involved in the build process. But you could also be using your bus within a week of buying it, not YEARS later.
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08-25-2012, 05:37 PM
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#14
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: NUNYA
Posts: 4,236
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: 3800
Engine: DT408, AT545
Rated Cap: 23 500 gvw
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Re: Here's a nice conversion - price is high though...
Quote:
Originally Posted by lornaschinske
Quote:
Originally Posted by bapos
...
Nothing wrong with a insto unit. There are many peoples buses on here that I admire their work and the time they have put in to it. Great ideas that people are sharing.
|
I think the reason a fair amount of folks are still looking for the "perfect" bus is because of fear. I have often though some of these need to buy an "insto unit". It would do two things... #1 get them into the bus and using it. #2 give them a basis of what to renovate on the bus they bought or changes to make to their NEXT bus.
Converting a bus is an expensive, time consuming project. I once read on one of the the coach forums that 90% of converters never get the shells to the point of usability, much less actually finished. They ran out of $$, out of time or family obligations forced them to get rid of the shell. The standing joke is a conversion is never really finished. In reality, many of the conversions never got past the starting point.
Reality for us was, the deeper we got into the frame of the Eagle, the more we realized the kids would have grown up and moved out before we ever got the bus to the metal tent stage. We were lucky in that we had the pop-up to use to take family vacations/outings in. As it was, we sunk a lot of $$ and time that we could never get back, in a project that ended up going nowhere except the scrapyard. The experience with the Eagle has shaped a great deal of our decisions with the BlueBird. The money we sunk into the Eagle in buying the shell, the minor engine work & metal to repair the frame, could have bought the Bluebird, converted it, tagged/titled/insured and probably had a few $$ left over for the fuel tank. In many ways I regret the waste. But that experience showed us what was important to us and changed how we looked at the BlueBird conversion. We did learn a great deal from the Eagle, just not what many would have expected. It was a costly lesson. We also learned a great deal from living fulltime in a 22 ft vintage Class C. Including the realization that we didn't need a 40 ft bus (35 ft floor space) but only really needed about 25 ft of floor space. We ended up with a 40 ft bus.
We did not buy the BlueBird to convert. We bought a bus to use as a moving van. Instead of having a large box van to convert into an RV (our original expectation), we ended up with a schoolbus to convert.
There are many "wannabees" looking for the "perfect" bus to convert. I often feel like giving them a head slap and telling them to to buy an bus that has already been converted and find out if they love "skooliedocking". They can always do a bit of remodeling to the bus. But the wasted time can't be replaced. I have noticed that in many cases, the conversions sell for the same or less than the sum of their parts. Yes, you don't have the "fun" involved in the build process. But you could also be using your bus within a week of buying it, not YEARS later.
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Well said.
I did find the perfect bus...well almost. If it had a 643 and about 275hp, it would be close enough to perfect for me.
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