Hey, all. I've been thinking about a place to have most of my conversion related things.. and I've been meaning to post on here for awhile now. I have a Chevy Blue Bird Mini Bird, based on the P30 bread truck chassis, from 1990. It's got a 6.2 diesel and a TH400 transmission.
Preface: about one year ago now, I bought my first bus. It was a full length 2003 All American Blue Bird that I bought from my local school district for $425. Beat to **** mechanically and needed so much more work than I knew about.. wouldn't even turn over (wouldn't let us try at the compound, I had to do it when I got it).
As apart of the preface, I feel like a few pictures are needed from my old bus. I loved that thing.. and it broke my heart to sell it. Also, that's my friend on top.
Two friends and myself put a lot of sweat (and blood from the guy on the roof) into that bus. Lots of fun, too. I realized, over time, that the project was a dud and I had to sell it and either scrap the idea or buy a new bus..
so, I was pretty sad for a few weeks. I browsed Craigslist aimlessly for awhile and eventually.. I saw it. It just caught my attention and I fell in love with it immediately. The owner wanted $2000 for it, but, hell, I NEEDED that bus so I offered $2200 if I could pay in two payments.. and, holy ****, she agreed.
This is one of the pictures she posted on Craiglist. I saw it and fell in love. Within a few weeks, I had it towed down.
The pictures above are before I did any work. She was living in the bus part time, I believe. I don't have many, if any, pictures of the actual conversion process.. but I have pictures of here and there, different parts of it. We added a futon and organized the place a bit.
Same guy who was on top of the bus in the first picture!
Here's my other friend! My old, original, roof hatch broke off.. so I accidentally bought a 14x14 RV vent hatch. So, we bought a piece of sheet metal and cut a square in the middle of it!
So, we finally got all of that stuff out of the bus and attempted to clean up.. and here is the result..
Those pictures with the bus empty are about a month old now! Shortly after that, my dad and I built some furniture to put in. We compacted the dresser to work as a table and cut the futon in half and made it into two benches. I have a few pictures of the new looks.. albeit messy.
The wooden benches in those pictures now have the futon cushion on it.. but I only have the one picture of that. The bus is a bit messier now. I haven't slept in it in a few weeks.. I need to organize everything. I'm going to officially move into the bus once I have a shower up and running!
I've put so much work into this bus, not even just the conversion. I've got a new alternator, starter, batteries, fuel injection pump, misc light bulbs/light covers, all new tires (well, the back 4 are used Goodyear and the front 2 are brand new Bridgestone), plus a few other things here and there. I've probably put more money into the bus than I bought it for.. but I love it, it's so worth it.. and I'm really happy with the results so far!