1995 Amtran Genesis Activity Bus / Plans

[bigskypc50]

Hello, everyone! Well it's official I now own a school bus! She is a 1995 Amtran Genesis activity bus with a mechanical turbo DT466 and AT643 trans, air brakes with auto slack, very good tires and just 500 miles ago was service with all fluids and filters done, and an oil analyses that all looked good. There is 123K on the clock with about 6800 hours. She also came with a 100 gallons of fuel in the tank and all of her records from the school district.

She has 6ft 4" head room 7'6" wide and 31 feet of useable space from dog house to the rear luggage bay. Along with the rear luggage bay she has 4 underbelly bays, the only draw back is the under belly bays have some pretty good rust going on.

The drive home was flawless. Justin Hageness from Harlows went above and beyond for me. Paid $2500 out the door with a fresh service.

Right now my plan is for the bus is a more of a tiny home then a "motorhome". Limited RV stuff, 100 gallon water tank, composting toilet, likely no gray water maybe ext tank planing small electric needs propane on demand water heater small camper stove/oven household fridge stackable washer dryer.

I will start the conversion by taking up the seats and floor lay 2x2's down with 1 1/2 ridge foam for floor and walls with T&G knotty pine for walls, Carpet and tile for floor. Will likely leave the roof alone it has an odd roof with millions of tiny holes in the metal and seems to be well insulated. Might paint a few windows black but will try not to, but will tint all the windows for sure.

[GreyCoyote]

An EXCELLENT find! Wow... (And its got a rear wing so you can freak-out the high school kids who think chrome and useless lighting makes something "fast". Lol!)

Congratulations!

[oredigger]

Congratulations! Nice looking bus.

[Tango]

Outstanding! Great combination you found there at a very nice price. Congrats and welcome!

[EastCoastCB]

Similar bus to mine, only yours is MUCH radder!

THese Genesis are GREAT buses, you did REAL GOOD! OUTSTANDING!!

[Tango]

BTW...LOVE the speed foil on the rear. Must help keep traction above 180 mph in the turns.

[bigskypc50]

Thanks guys for your awesome welcomes and input. What is the true reason for that wing? Would this be the correct thread to post updates and progress on the build or would I start new thread somewhere? After spending some time on the bus taking down all the signs doing some lite cleaning I found the floor is not rubber at all, the center isle is the same stuff that's on the steps going in, but under the seats is VCT tile like the kind of tile you would find at hospitals etc. So I am thinking that I won't need to rip up the floor at all just the tin strips that split the tie from the runner, then just build my 2x2 skeleton right there.

Also do bus's have cold weather options? Like the floor I have not see a bus with celling made from millions of tiny holes and there is round hole in the roof like between the 1st and 2nd row of seats that is vent of some sort and you can see the thickness of the roof and fiberglass in there looks to be 2-3" thick, the walls seem equally as well insulated at my 1966 mobile home I live in. So would I be safe to assume that with 1 1/2" ridge pink in the floor and walls with thermal brake curtains one would expect a reasonable level of comfort? I keep the house on 65 durning the winter and plan in having a wood burner in the bus.

[Tango]

That rear "wing" is actually a deflector meant to keep the rear window clean by offsetting the exhaust and crud that would normally get deposited there due to that being a low pressure area.

And if the interior roof has "a million tiny holes" that is a perforated material designed to lower the sound level. My old Blue Bird had it but just over the doghouse/driver area.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Tango

That rear "wing" is actually a deflector meant to keep the rear window clean by offsetting the exhaust and crud that would normally get deposited there due to that being a low pressure area.

And if the interior roof has "a million tiny holes" that is a perforated material designed to lower the sound level. My old Blue Bird had it but just over the doghouse/driver area.

The perforated metal is preferable to solid steel as it can at least breathe.
The fiberglass behind it is far less than ideal for actual insulating, though.

[Tango]

Regarding perforated ceiling metal...quite a few folks have discovered that aging fiberglass tends to rain down through all those tiny holes.

[EastCoastCB]

Itchy lil bits of bus!