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Old 04-12-2016, 11:10 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
Posts: 23
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17
'02 Goshen conversion

Hi, everyone! My name's Spencer- I'm a vintage clothing dealer and in three more weeks will be getting my Masters in Architecture. My fiance's a photographer and for the past year+, we've been traveling all over the west, shooting small towns and trolling through thrift and antique shops, picking for my business. A couple of months ago we decided we would be taking to the road full time after graduation and went out in search of a bus to convert. We ended up setting on a 2002 Chevy 6.5L Express with Goshen body, formerly operated by Montana Transit.


Here's how it looked when we bought it. Pardon some of the irregularities from the stitch, wanted to get the whole thing in the shot.


And so, we started work stripping it out. Had a few troubles with registration, the state had originally titled it as a GOSH EXP 1 ton pickup, which of course, doesn't really exist, but the friendly folks at the Montana DMV had a good laugh, did some googling and sorted it out, asked me some questions about the conversion I was planning, and eventually settled on giving me regular personal truck tags on it.

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Old 04-12-2016, 11:21 AM   #2
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Welcome Guys! --- Sounds like a good start to a fun adventure. Keep the pix a'comin'.
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Old 04-12-2016, 11:23 AM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
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Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17
Paint going on

Out taking a break


With all the seats out, I started work on the cabinets. While I'm still at school, I have access to a very, very nice woodshop (where I used to work) and a woodshop manager who converted his own schoolbus back in the '70s and is more than willing to help me out.



Cabinets going in. With such low windows in the wheelchair bus, I've made the backs with an angled section, this gives a full view out when you're standing at the counter, and gives a cleaner look from outside. That back angle will be carpeted to match the ceiling when they're all done.

We scrounged up an old dresser, which (though I haven't taken photos of it yet), I've built a frame for it to sit in, bolted in the same way as the rest of the cabinets, and with a matching back angle.


We've gone with a two tank, foot pump operated water system (anyone know a good place to get a faucet without the valves- just the spigot?) For simplicity's sake, we've also gone with a fancy schmancy cooler instead of a fridge, a Nature's Head composting toilet and a PV array for the roof.

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Old 04-12-2016, 11:31 AM   #4
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
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Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17
Here's a detail of how the cabinets are attaching. The bus has L-track in the floor for wheelchairs. I bought some more double stud threaded hardware and dado-ed out some 4x4s to sit flush, which bolt into that hardware. The cabinets have a pocket underneath which sit on two of those 4x's each, and screw into it. They're then all screwed together through the corner reinforcements. Super solid.



I got a delivery yesterday of putting green astroturf, which, in homage to Baltimore row-houses, we've covered the front stairs with. A bit silly, but it goes well with the dashboard hula girl. You can see a bit more in that shot how the shelves and cabinets are going together. We still haven't built the doors for them, but they will all have latches to keep them from swinging open while we're driving.



A bit out of order- another scrounged piece, our kitchen table, which is just the right height to use with the two original bus seats that we're leaving in. I'm using some plumbing hardware to bolt the legs of the table into the floor. The closest leg will have to be moved a bit to make it easy to slide into, but that's an easy fix. In that shot, the cabinet frames are uneven, the section housing the sink needs to be taken back into the shop to be notched out to accommodate the gas filler surround.



The wheelchair lift is also now gone, it lasted three hours on craigslist before someone came with a forklift and tools and pulled it for his father's wheelchair van. Not bad- there are a couple of other lifts from bus conversion projects in town that people have priced way too high that have been languishing on CL for months. Really frees up a lot of space with it gone.
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Old 04-12-2016, 11:58 AM   #5
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Nice job you guys. That looks like an ideal setup.
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Old 04-12-2016, 04:25 PM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dinerman View Post
I got a delivery yesterday of putting green astroturf, which, in homage to Baltimore row-houses, we've covered the front stairs with. A bit silly, but it goes well with the dashboard hula girl.
Ballmer, eh hon? Now yer gonna hafta cover it with PermaStone!
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Old 04-12-2016, 10:17 PM   #7
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Nice build! Are you going to tint the windows with 5% tint for some privacy and to help keep the temp down in the sun?
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Old 04-21-2016, 04:07 PM   #8
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Any new updates????
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Old 04-21-2016, 04:52 PM   #9
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
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Year: 2002
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Chassis: Chevrolet
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It's been put somewhat on hold for the next week and a half until we both graduate. If I could, I'd be out their eight hours a day knocking out the rest of the work. I've had to park it down the street so I won't be tempted and can finish off all the loose ends of my architecture thesis.

That's not to say there hasn't been any progress since the last round of photos. I talked about it a bit in one of the posts, but didn't get to show it: the wheel chair lift's gone! Frees up a ton of space. We're going to be building a window seat for that area with a flip out table for outdoor dining when the wheelchair doors are open. Inside, we're making an area to hide our composting toilet, with an opening front so that we can deal with all the tanks and cranks that that requires. The other half of it will be separated and used for storage, and the top will be upholstered so that we don't have to crowd in next to each other when we're eating at the dining table (seen in the earlier pictures, moved out now that we've test fitted it).

Funny story (gross story?) on that Nature's Head composting toilet. Seemed like a good way to go since we're trying to keep this whole rig as self sustaining as possible and I've had to sit through eight years of building systems and environmental architecture lectures singing the praises of such units. Well, they're real pricey. But I'm an eBay guy, a vintage clothing dealer by trade, but I know there almost nothing you can't find on eBay a lot cheaper than anywhere else. And hey, after the first use, every toilet is used, right? I don't think I've ever had the honor of a new one. What could go wrong, I said to myself. I found one for about half what they're running new from some guy on the east coast who runs a hipster off grid B&B. Apparently he installed them in the cabins but they take a bit of doing to use properly (diverter, cranks, tanks, like I said) and they ended up being more of a hassle than they were worth. But he said that it had only been in for a season and that it had been thoroughly bleached out, good as new. Well, it showed up in the mail in a great big box, wrapped in bubble wrap and saran wrap and I knew the instant I opened it something was wrong. It was upside down for one. And awfully heavy. And leaking. Maybe it had been scooped out a bit, but both the urine tank and the composting tank still had *ahem* contents. Took a couple of hours with gloves, bleach and a hose, but I eventually got the thing to the point it was supposed to be in.

We got our hydraulic bed lift hinge kit for our as-of-yet unbuilt underbed storage. The second I'm out of my thesis defense that will start being built.

Let's see, what else. Got our peel-and-stick carpet squares for the rest of the bus. With the wheelchair tie down rails held in with so many fasteners, it's not worth pulling them for the 100% perfect, flat floor we'd like. But they're pretty close to flush, so rather than try to build up the floor (and lose headroom, I've only got 1/2" as it is) we're making up for it with thicker carpeting that will get fixed directly to the ribbed rubber. It seems to work decently well when the glue lines run perpendicular to the ribs of the floor.

Our scavenged vintage dresser matches the kinds of design we like, but is a little flimsier than it should be for being in the back of a bus and obviously isn't well suited to things like not tipping over. So- I've built a pocket that it fits into, with 1/2" plywood on either side and on the back, a matching angled panel like the rest of the cabinets, and a footer plate which bolts in the same as everything else. No way for it to go anywhere now.




Lastly, our antique "drive carefully - motorists can be recalled by their maker" license plate topper, mounted above the fuse box.
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Old 04-21-2016, 06:32 PM   #10
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Location: The Valley - Arizona
Posts: 644
Year: 1999
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Chassis: Freight-shaker (Freightliner)
Engine: Cat 3126b 250 HP
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Love the plate......hate the @$$hole who duped you. I'd file a claim with ebay and get your money back and stick it to him. If you really want to get even, and you took pictures of the box, you could call UPS or USPS (whomever he shipped it through) and let them know he shipped an undocumented biohazard shipment....... then you could sit back and laugh as he got arrested and you got your money back.

Some people suck no matter how nice you are.

Last note, wheelchair lift is out, ever think of removing the door and installing a slide out closet in it? Your other half might just love you more for that!

And good luck with the last bit of school!!!

-Doc
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Old 04-23-2016, 03:11 PM   #11
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
Posts: 23
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17


Here's the planned paint job. Thinking of doing it with Oliver Green Valspar tractor paint. Leaving the roof white, with all those windows, it's really not a whole lot of surface to cover. I've read through some of the threads, but do any of you havetips and tricks to make our lives easier? Suggestions of things that would be easier or better?
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Old 04-30-2016, 10:25 AM   #12
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
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Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17
Finished up framing the cabinets yesterday- again, pardon the weird photo-stitch stuff going on.
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Old 05-03-2016, 04:03 PM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
Posts: 23
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17
I got some more storage roughly framed out yesterday, which hides the toilet (Nature's Head composting), provides a large storage space to the left and has a padded top for some additional seating. The backside has a flip-out tabletop for outdoor dining when the (former) wheelchair doors are opened. Now to clean it up, trim it out, install hinges, handles, vent hoses, etc. I'm rushing to get all the rough cut build-out done while I still have access to the nice shop through school.

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Old 05-03-2016, 06:13 PM   #14
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I decided to put my outhouse in a tip out.
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Old 05-17-2016, 04:30 PM   #15
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
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Year: 2002
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Now that we've both finally graduated (Masters of Architecture for me, Bachelors in Photography for Alex) I've finally had more time to devote to the bus. The interior's gotten its flip-up underbed storage built, as well as its headboard. We decided to keep the awkwardly placed original heater in the back of the bus and built a chimney of sorts for it so that it can properly vent and keep the back warm. I've almost finished the cabinets, doors are on, shelves are in, vented airtight box for the propane's built, etc. I'll shoot some more of that later once I get some of the trim pieces screwed on.

Today we put a coat of Oliver Green tractor enamel on it. Eventually got the hang of it, a few lumps and bumps and drips, but looks good enough from ten feet and is a massive improvement over the original blue swooshes. Starting to look and feel like us.

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Old 05-17-2016, 04:45 PM   #16
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Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: The Valley - Arizona
Posts: 644
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freight-shaker (Freightliner)
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Rated Cap: Only 1 seat
Your vent tube for the heater, does it have a fan on it to help promote full cab dissipation?
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Old 05-17-2016, 05:56 PM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
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Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17
It doesn't, but there is an upward facing fan built into the heater itself- there are a couple other heaters in the (small) interior area- this is more like an old fashioned radiator cover, an oversized box with a large vent. As the bed came together, we realized that it would be way easier to just put a vent in than the mess around with pulling the heater, tracing back all the wiring and coolant hoses through the spray foam that the state of Montana put under the back. With the route we've chosen, we're not anticipating needing it (and when we would, we wouldn't have the engine running so it wouldn't make any difference). I wanted to wait until it was filled, trimmed, painted- still kind of rough back there at the moment, but here it is, along with the bed lifting hardware and an update on the overall state of things inside. Still a ways to go, but we've got guests coming in two days and need it at least somewhat campable by then.



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Old 05-18-2016, 09:10 PM   #18
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Bozeman, MT
Posts: 23
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Goshen
Chassis: Chevrolet
Rated Cap: 17
More progress. Carpet in, curtain rods in, bed in, trim painted, a bunch of work on odds and ends.
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Old 05-18-2016, 10:01 PM   #19
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Nice progress dude. Looks like you're on a schedule. I like it. Don't you wish the windows were a little higher? I know I sure do.
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Old 05-19-2016, 06:38 AM   #20
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My heater fan blows air through the heater core and out the bottom. Is yours the same? Maybe I'm not understanding what your vent is for?
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