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Big Bertha
Likwid_Kaneo Likwid_Kaneo is offline
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Scott AFB, IL
Posts: 17
Registry
Vehicle Name Big Bertha
Year 1981
Make MCI
Model 9
Length 40ft
1981 MCI 9
1981 MCI 9 1981 MCI 9
Basic Info I bought this in late December 2017 for $5000 from a lovely family who was having their second child, and therefore, plans changed. It had 335,000 miles on it according to the hubodometer when I bought it, and I was told it was previously a church bus and I could see writing saying it was a charter bus as well, then it was apparently a band bus that did things a bit out of order and bought a bus before they became famous enough to go on tour and offloaded it not too long afterward. I went against my morals and bought it without hearing it run because it was 16F outside and it couldn't start due to low batteries. Hopefully I didn't get burned, but we'll see.
Exterior
- Roof mount A/C added to rear hatch by previous owners
Future Mods:
- Roof Mount A/C added to front hatch
- Roof sealed up and painted reflective white
- Solar panels on roof
- Deck area on rear part of roof?
- Water tanks in rear luggage bay (as large as possible)
- Diesel/electric hydronic water heating system (grumpydog style)
- Propane generator big enough to boondock using larger applicances as needed
- All LED lighting on outside (possibly custom bi-xenon projector headlights using Morimoto projectors, though since quad circle LEDs are few and far between)

Interior
- Gutted by previous owners
- Laminate wood flooring laid down by previous owners
- Three walls built by previous owners around rear bedroom and small bathroom
- Small kitchen area built by previous owners
- Hole in floor leading to forward luggage bay cut by previous owners
- Forward bay carpeted and forced air heater removed by previous owners
- Front interior ceiling panel removed by previous owners
- Wired for 50A with outlets in floor
- Instrument panel pulled apart in preparation for new guages (wiring tagged)

Future Mods:
- Arduino/RaspberryPi w/OLED or LCD digital guages w/engine monitoring/logging and backup camera/monitoring/etc.
- Rebuild interior walls to suit my style.
- Make as much as possible run on 12V on in the inside (such as LED lighting) to avoid running the generator when boondocking
- Wood burning stove
- Add appliances:
-- Already have from a junk RV: 3 way fridge/freezer, 4 burner propane stove/oven, propane forced air heater (w/120V fan; I'll add a 12V fan for boondocking), 12V water pump
-- Already have household applicances: 120V inverter microwave, 220V Bosch Axxis washer/dryer
-- New appliances: apartment size dishwasher, propane on demand water heater, solar inverter/charger, 120V to 220V transformer for washer/dryer when on 30A/generator.

Customizations
- None so far besides interior mods.
- I plan on leaving the bus pretty much stock as it looks good as is.

Renovations and Repairs
- None so far, but needs a lot of TLC.
- Things I know need to be done:
-- Transmission leaks like a sieve due to a bad seal
-- Right side air frame leaks, so needs blockers for air bags
-- Needs a heating system installed
-- Probably needs a full service done
-- Needs new tires (ozone cracked; probaly ok for short term since they're round and hold air, but will need replaced before I hit the road)

Tow Vehicle
2005 Dodge Durango Limited 5.7L Hemi 4x4
- 3rd row seat
- Heated Leather
- Rear A/C
- Rear DVD
- Rusty
- Paid $2100 for it in Jan 2018!

Favorite Camping Destinations
None yet, but I imagine I will enjoy the great outdoors and boondocking much better than campgrounds.
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