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Old 10-17-2015, 05:44 PM   #41
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Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
I don't often say things like this...
But that is a CUTE bus!
I won't hold it against you, I'm a bit taken with it myself.

Reminds me of something a little kid would draw. The wheels on the bus... yada yada.

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Old 10-17-2015, 06:01 PM   #42
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The thread of cuteness...

I really do like that bus, man. Can't wait to see it painted.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I REALLY hate the color of national school bus chrome yellow.
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Old 10-17-2015, 06:06 PM   #43
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Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
The thread of cuteness...

I really do like that bus, man. Can't wait to see it painted.
I'm probably in the minority here, but I REALLY hate the color of national school bus chrome yellow.
Ah man, now I'm going to have to rename this thread.

I'm thinking a light blue on this. I've seen some that I really like leaving the roof white and the rub rails (? Think that's what they're called) black.
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Old 10-17-2015, 06:11 PM   #44
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I LOVE that.
Baby blue, light blue... I like that kind of color and its practical.
White roof is almost a MUST! Helps tremendously in the summer temps. Almost all our buses here in FL come that way.
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Old 10-17-2015, 06:18 PM   #45
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Year: 1982
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Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
I LOVE that.
Baby blue, light blue... I like that kind of color and its practical.
White roof is almost a MUST! Helps tremendously in the summer temps. Almost all our buses here in FL come that way.
Def. It's fairly warm here in socal. And I'm hoping to leave all the windows uncovered. Don't know where I'll end up long term, but pretty well decided that roof has got to be white to help with the heat.

I'm not an expert by any means, but a light blue seems highly visible, especially at night and hopefully fairly good at reflecting heat.
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Old 10-17-2015, 08:28 PM   #46
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Highway speeds

Love your project Penny. You mentioned that you had a lot of engine vibration at highway speed. Most all skoolies are geared for lower speed stop and go use. If you will do much highway driving, you might want to consider changing the rear end to a higher ratio. I did it with great success on a full size skoolie. You will not over rev the engine and you should get much better fuel mileage. Anyhow, I hope you keep us posted on your progress.
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Old 10-18-2015, 11:03 AM   #47
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Location: Minnesota
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Nice progress and great work. Getting hurt and banged up is something that happens to all of us so dont feel stupid, just means youre working hard! i actually picked up a head of a screw i drilled out and burnt myself too, twice! Lol. Learned after that though.
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Old 10-18-2015, 05:37 PM   #48
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@capnron It seems to like shimmying and shaking in general, but I'll definitely look into that. Thanks!

@burlking I definitely don't feel outright stupid. But, I definitely do like to have a little laugh at my own expense when I do something a little dumb (:

Alright, today I'm going to try to flip at least one window upside down, finish the plywood on the stairs so I quit punching holes in the insulation and start framing from the windows down. Oh, and finish spray foaming and spray painting my driver side interior. Onwards!
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Old 11-03-2015, 11:59 PM   #49
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Year: 1986
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Chassis: P30
Engine: Chev 350 gas-replacement
Your bus is so cute! I was going to ask what model and year it was, but I see that info on your profile. It looks a lot like the Mini Birds of the 80's--early 90's.

Is a gas or Diesel engine?

What are your plans for it? Camping, road trips, living in it full time?

Cheers,
TA
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Old 12-31-2015, 01:27 PM   #50
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Originally Posted by Tool Amour View Post
Your bus is so cute! I was going to ask what model and year it was, but I see that info on your profile. It looks a lot like the Mini Birds of the 80's--early 90's.

Is a gas or Diesel engine?

What are your plans for it? Camping, road trips, living in it full time?

Cheers,
TA
Hey TA,
Its a gas engine. I've got tiny home plans, so I will be full timing it once its ready... Hopefully by next summer. I'll be camping and road tripping in it as early as this spring though.
Thanks for reading!
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Old 12-31-2015, 01:46 PM   #51
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Well, I haven't done a lick of work since October, but I am currently sitting at the DMV, which means someone has been getting their hands dirty. After two and a half long months, the darn thing finally passed smog. Some quite sneaky issues, but now its time for plates and driving and getting back to getting my hands dirty.

Replaced/repaired: spark plugs, distributor cap, rotor, wires, carburetor, intake manifold and gasket, camshaft and plugged a line that I had left open when I removed the pneumatic door opener (let me tell you that bad vacuum I created really made for a confounding problem, live and learn)

The DMV scares me, but giving them this smog paperwork should mean plates. Fingers crossed.

Hi Ho Silver Away, we are onwards, upwards and keeping on trucking.
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Old 01-10-2016, 07:41 PM   #52
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Well, I got my plates. Still trying to work out the insurance, or at least planning to. Progressive, big surprise, gave me a big fat no. Referred me to a local place who hasn't answered the last two times I've called. I'll get a fire under my butt when I'm ready to take it out and about.

Spent 4 hours dilly dallying on the window I pulled out and flipped before. But, this time I disassembled and cleaned the glass and all the bitty parts. There was much trial and error with a wire brush, rags, scouring pads, and whatnot to get the aluminum clean before settling on sanding it right quick. So, now, my upside down window is clean and sparkly, and has the little glass decals right side up. A little grease in the tracks and it glides open and shut (as much as a bus window can glide and not kachunk) And, it's got new weather stripping all about the sides.

I present, the anatomy of a window:


I used this around the edges, but I think I'm going to pull it back off and put wider strips in the top and bottom:


No pics of the very, very clean window because of dark. I used my last bit of window hatred energy to spray paint the driver side interior panels (long overdue), so I'm pretty much ready to frame out the insulation on both side of the bus under the windows. I think I'll do it in conjunction with pulling off, flipping, and cleaning all the bitty window pieces. Maybe I can shave that time down to an hour a window. Maybe I can convince a hoard of elves to clean the windows while I insulate. More likely a couple of friends. A girl can dream.
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Old 01-12-2016, 11:31 AM   #53
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Location: Corvallis, OR
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Year: 1991
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Chassis: Ford E350
Engine: 7.3L diesel
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Curious you got turned down by Progressive. I had ours insured via it for 6 months without issue, and only cancelled it because we knew we weren't going to be driving the bus for a while.

It was insured as a school bus, but specifically with the "without seats" option checked, which basically removes it from any passenger liability. No conversion had been done on it so there wasn't any kind of stretching of truths required.
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Old 01-12-2016, 07:08 PM   #54
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Curious you got turned down by Progressive. I had ours insured via it for 6 months without issue, and only cancelled it because we knew we weren't going to be driving the bus for a while.

It was insured as a school bus, but specifically with the "without seats" option checked, which basically removes it from any passenger liability. No conversion had been done on it so there wasn't any kind of stretching of truths required.
Interesting. Mine was in the process of conversion when I took it to the dmv for it's vin verification, so that came up on the registration paperwork. I was hoping it would go in my favor since it's registered as a van.
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Old 01-12-2016, 10:18 PM   #55
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Also, by cancelled, I mean we cancelled it not them. When it's time to go insure it again I'm curious how it will go.

As it was, I think it was about as good as we could get it. The bus indeed was a bus with no seats and not finished at all or converted - so pointless to pay for any kind of RV-level insurance or anything else beyond the basic shell it is at the moment.
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Old 01-14-2016, 08:17 PM   #56
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Originally Posted by Puggy View Post
Also, by cancelled, I mean we cancelled it not them. When it's time to go insure it again I'm curious how it will go.

As it was, I think it was about as good as we could get it. The bus indeed was a bus with no seats and not finished at all or converted - so pointless to pay for any kind of RV-level insurance or anything else beyond the basic shell it is at the moment.
Yah, who knows, there don't seem to be any cut and dried answers when it comes to insuring them. I'm going to give my place a call again tomorrow and hope that they pick up.
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Old 01-15-2016, 03:04 PM   #57
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INSURANCE!!!
ASC, the company Progressive referred me to, gave a no right off the bat. I asked them to refer me to someone who might be able to help and
***drumroll please***
Allstate. Who insured my bus, knowing it's a bus that's registered as a van.

I won't hold my breath to see if they cancel, but as it is, I'm paying 49.06/month. Not too shabby. About what I pay for the car.

Feeling triumphant.
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Old 01-15-2016, 05:37 PM   #58
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Hey Penny!
Nice project and lov'in the progress reports and pic's. Looks like you have most of the tear-out accomplished.

Allstate, who'd have thunk it. Their Corp folks must have huge mood swings from state to state. I got a resounding "Nope" from them when I asked for insurance here in Ohio for a similar project.
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Old 02-06-2016, 02:24 PM   #59
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Location: Decatur, Illinois
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Year: 1992
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Is that your smart car behind the bus. We are planning on towing our smart car when we leave on our adventure. We have a 1992 midsize bluebird bus that is 75% complete. your bus will look fantastic when you're done...
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Old 02-06-2016, 02:29 PM   #60
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I was lucky because the original owner had already registered it as an RV which made it easy for me to continue the registration as RV...
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