Central Florida Lurker

[EastCoastCB]

Yeah, its not crazy. The school boards have no reason or motivation to hype up the condition. A dealer does.

[Jandrew]

that is a great point. I am looking forward to it. Also I went to a friend of a friends house yesterday and may have found a place to build about 30 mins from my house.

[EastCoastCB]

Cool. Friends are always good. You need them, especially building a bus.

[EastCoastCB]

You should post up some pics, its much more personal...

If you get a bus and need somewhere to say- raise the roof or something like that, I *may* be able to help you out.
How much building/fabrication experience do you have?

We really should get together soon, you can see what I'm doing with this Ward.

[Jandrew]

here is some of my travels

Here is the original idea for the interior. Note the fold down bunk.

I don't have any fab experience other than my van. I am learning as I go but seem to be pretty handy.


Eventually attached bunk to the roof.

Now I am redoing it again for possible short term living saving cash while building the bus. I am not yet sure I want to live without a bathroom and shower but would save thousands on rent.

[EastCoastCB]

saving thousands is awesome!

[Jandrew]

As far as the roof goes I like the penthouse/deck style. Probably with the penthouse in the back and the deck in the front. Cliché VW is not required.

[EastCoastCB]

not sourcing the vw will save you tons of money, those things are worth as much as some houses these days.
I remember driving old vw's in high school. they were 500 apiece. I had several. I wouldn't have one for what they cost today.
That said- I'm a big fan of having the porch up there...

[HolyBus]

90s toyota vans can be had cheap enough and provide the same kind of space etc.

[skoolie_n00bie]

Oh c'mon! A Honda minivan?!? Why don't you just cut my wrists?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

[Jandrew]

Good idea on the Toyota. I would also do a regular stick built "tiny house" attic. If I went for a vehicle it would be a American made van. Ever seen an Econoline up there? I would love that.

[Jandrew]

I addition to cost, I would feel awful cutting into one of those VWs. Just seems wrong.

[Veganvegabond]

I see what you guys mean about the dealers making the price go up to insane levels. I'm wataching a couple auctions right now and both buses were at great prices, but now the same damn names keep increasing the bids to stupid levels.

[lornaschinske]

Originally Posted by Veganvegabond

I see what you guys mean about the dealers making the price go up to insane levels. I'm watching a couple auctions right now and both buses were at great prices, but now the same damn names keep increasing the bids to stupid levels.

Makes you wonder if they are not shills, doesn't it. I've run into that at auctions before. They drive prices up to make other buyers "spend all their monry" so that they can't buy at the end of the auction. Stupid when you consider that most auctioneers put the expensive stuff up after the short "warm up" run. I've also been at auctions that had shills in the audience. I would have to think the same things happen with online auctions. There are other sources for buses. And don't discount the "already converted" or "partially converted". While you may need to strip it back down to a shell, you could get some useful "parts". Then again, I have seen a lot of "converted and ready to go" buses that needed to be converted. A portipotti, camping cot and grill are not what I consider to be "converted". Keep your budget in mind, cash in hand and the right bus will turn up when you are ready for it. You may be surprised as to where you find it at. Keep your eyes open and don't limit yourself.