A well researched noob.

[ElderDumpling]

Hello, my name is Larry, and I just bought my first bus. Got a good deal on it. I've been researching skoolies for a couple years. I have a camper and love to "camp". I am planning to make my bus a fully off grid skoolie. Mainly for State parks but also for remote camping. Potentially a full-time situation, but that's another topic. I look forward to discussions about the mechanical side of converting a bus to a RV.

[Rucker]

Welcome. What do you plan on doing for the first project?

[ElderDumpling]

Well first and foremost, I need to see what the top speed is and figure out from there if I’m looking at replacing the rear end or just doing some modifications, releasing the governor and getting bigger tires to get it to go highway speeds consistently. After that I’d like to get some more cosmetic stuff on the outside done like new headlights, fix the instrument cluster to get all the lights inside working and potentially raising the roof.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

welcome
what part of NC?
if it truly is an NC bus then it is almost definitely rear end geared for 49-50

[Rucker]

Originally Posted by ElderDumpling

Well first and foremost, I need to see what the top speed is and figure out from there if I’m looking at replacing the rear end or just doing some modifications, releasing the governor and getting bigger tires to get it to go highway speeds consistently. After that I’d like to get some more cosmetic stuff on the outside done like new headlights, fix the instrument cluster to get all the lights inside working and potentially raising the roof.

Sounds like a sound approach to start.

There are a couple of great resources here in the forum for roof raising who will no doubt chime in on your questions.

[ElderDumpling]

Near Raleigh. It has an electronic governor box on the firewall but it “feels like” it’s running about 2000 rpm when going about 50.

[ElderDumpling]

Yeah I figure getting those few things done will be a hurdle that will make the rest of the build more enjoyable.