Hello from Maryland!

[dan-fox]

Originally Posted by Gonce4

Hey there from Ellicott City. My new bus (2001 blue bird) is located on my lot on eastern shore. getting ready to convert her and live in her during the summer months. My focus has been learning the off grid necessities. stationary journey for me...

Speaking of which, how did you come through the floods a couple months ago? I had a friend whose shop on Main Street doesn't exist anymore.

[Gonce4]

Yes...although less crowded since the flood...

[Gonce4]

My place is uphill so did fine...but the shop I worked at flooded 2 weeks before the big one...What shop did your friend own?

[Gonce4]

thanks 007 for the billboard suggestion...My neighbor has two billboards on his property and I see that he uses the old ones for tarps...I am gonna ask if I can have one

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by 05FrieghtlinerThomas

give BGA School buses in Florida a look, bought mine from them and am VERY satisfied. call GregSr at 727-457-1491, they deliver as well for reasonable price which avoids insurance and CDL issues various States have.

Used School Buses For Sale - Better Buses @ Better Prices - We deliver school buses nation wide

I think i know the bus you have... I saw it when I was there last. it was a great lookin unit..

one of my busses came from there.. I probably paid 3X that I could have at an auction however both gregs and betty are good people and let me take all the time I wanted to find the bus(i was there a whole day from open to close).. other than a breakdown on its way home it has run 13,000+ miles since then troublefree..

BGA will deliver, however it isnt necessary... i suppose if DOT wanted to give someone trouble they could.. However I drove my 2nd bus 2200 miles as a yellow bus with 'SCHOOL BUS' still all over it and no one even gave it a look ..

-Christopher

[dan-fox]

Originally Posted by Gonce4

My place is uphill so did fine...but the shop I worked at flooded 2 weeks before the big one...What shop did your friend own?

I'm not sure of the name. It sold yarn, fabric, notions, etc.

[all_aboard22]

I've been thinking about converting a bus for a couple years and I finally decided now is the time. I know....... well next to nothing at this particular moment. I figure once I purchase a bus everything else will just fall into place. By "fall into place" I mean I can't wait to see how many mistakes I make.haha

Anywho, I'm super excited, nervous and anxious to start this new adventure. I currently reside in Denver, CO but I'm moving back to the Annapolis area in April to start this project. LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing all these fellow Marylanders on here! Would love to come visit some of the busses nearby and get some tips and tricks. Maybe even lend a hand for some experience. Also is there any particular auction site(s) for MD I should be keeping an eye on, let me know!

Honored to be apart of this bus-fam!
Nahla the Newbie

[dan-fox]

Originally Posted by all_aboard22

I've been thinking about converting a bus for a couple years and I finally decided now is the time. I know....... well next to nothing at this particular moment. I figure once I purchase a bus everything else will just fall into place. By "fall into place" I mean I can't wait to see how many mistakes I make.haha

Anywho, I'm super excited, nervous and anxious to start this new adventure. I currently reside in Denver, CO but I'm moving back to the Annapolis area in April to start this project. LOVE LOVE LOVE seeing all these fellow Marylanders on here! Would love to come visit some of the busses nearby and get some tips and tricks. Maybe even lend a hand for some experience. Also is there any particular auction site(s) for MD I should be keeping an eye on, let me know!

Honored to be apart of this bus-fam!
Nahla the Newbie

Hey, Nahla! I'm currently splitting my time between Annapolis where I live, Columbia where I work, and Burtonsville where I'm trying to get a house fixed up and on the market. One of your (and my) challenges is going to be finding a place to store/work on a bus. Too many snooty people and HOAs around here; land is worth too much to just put a bus on it. If you've got friends or relations with a farm, good on ya! Otherwise, we might be looking a commuting over the bridge to the Eastern shore to do this.

OTOH, we are near Montgomery County which typically dumps many good looking RE Thomases on the market every May! - Dan Fox

[Stuntmanmitch]

Good to see more Marylanders, welcome! Technically I'm a Mountaineer now. I may have located a storage place between Charles town and Martinsburg, they are full right now.

I got my bus from publicsurplus.com but I prefer govdeals.com.

[Stuntmanmitch]

Random update: This is never going to end is it? I guess you have to start it to end it huh?

I got a hitch now so that's cool. I was suppose to do that last but I needed a place to park till I secured a storage spot. I left it at the truck shop that did the install for over a month lol. They didn't mind.

I ended up paying that 100$ fine cause the cop didn't show in court after he said it would be dropped...could have been worse, 100$ for each day, which would have been 2k or more.

Painted my overhead light area, bumper and rails gloss black to freshin/clean it up. I skipped it the first time cause it was barely warm enough to paint at all and the priority was to get rid of the yellow for inspection purposes. It looks good enough. Now I want to "freshin" up the paint on the wheels too cause it throws me off...smh.

I have a goal zero 1250 yeti solar generator with a replacement battery chained to it to increase run time. I plan to charge it from a boulder 100 panel that I will mount to the roof. I'm currently trying to figure a way to charge it off the engine (two inputs, same time) but I'm not sure where its going to end up location wise. I know I could have came out cheaper but I wanted something I could remove from the bus and still use. The battery bank route was too much for me to take on alone lol. Thoughts? I still may need an alternative. I been thinking about a Maxxair fan.

Also can anyone point me in the direction of a water system using two 55 gal drums for a fresh tank inside the bus? I've read a lot on here and other places but don't remember where to find the right combination of info and pictures. Can I just bolt em to the floor with the fuel tank straps?

and that's where I'm at. Still no demolition as my days off have been too scattered (working an overnight as I type) the few days I did have I wanted to go for a ride.

[Stuntmanmitch]

random pictures

[Stuntmanmitch]

Finally got the ball rolling on demo, I took out the ceiling up to the driver area and the side panels. I cut a wire to get a panel over the light by the chair lift so I think that's why my dome lights don't work now...But the Wheel chair rail was 90% unboltable above the windows. I cut the side panels off under the emergency exit windows with the grinder...and I didn't even start a fire!

I fixed a solar panel to the roof for my solar generator (yeti 1250) and installed a Maxx Air fan. It was still hot as S#*! though, outside was 95*+.

Then I started on the floor but so far only the center isle is exposed metal which I gotta say isn't as bad as I thought it would be. The wood was heavy and completely soaked with water. It bubbled steamed and foamed as I tried different methods to get the rails out. I set the depth and used my skill saw to make a run down the isle as close as I could get to the wheelchair rail. The edge of the plywood came to the center of the isle so I was able to pry that section out. I had already peeled the rubber mat up, it was no trouble, maybe because the wood was was holding so much water. I'm not sure I want to do that (skill saw) in between the remaining 7 or 8 wheelchair rails though, besides its the rails posing the problem at this point. These rails are held down by a 4mm allen in most spots, phillips head bolt in few other areas but all will spin anyway. Grinding the heads was effective but sloooow. 8 rails 25' long with bolts like 6" apart? I'm leaning towards enlisting a friend at this point to tag team the bolts in addition to grinding the unreachables. I went to the hoe depot looking for a 4mm for my impact but of course it was in a 20$ assortment pack and @5pm was too far to go for something that may or may not get it done so I called it a day.

Attention noobs: If you're thinking about removing interior panels/rivets by hand you better have alot of hands. Even waiting for a smaller compressor to refill with air will be a life saver.

Also the house I'm renting came with a 16gal shop vac...WIN! A quick clean was needed as there were bolts, screws, rivet heads, insulation pieces and sawdust everywhere. A regular broom wasn't getting it and with the tracks still in place a push broom would have been clumsy.

[IAmGuadalupe]

Where in MD are you located? More so, what side of the bridge?

[dan-fox]

Look at his location. The numbers don't lie.

Where are you? I'm in Annapolis.

[Stuntmanmitch]

Originally Posted by IAmGuadalupe

Where in MD are you located? More so, what side of the bridge?

I'm always on the move these days. I'm from Montgomery County though

[Dog Rescuer]

Are there any places to park a bus for a few days in the Annapolis area? in January?

[dan-fox]

Originally Posted by Dog Rescuer

Are there any places to park a bus for a few days in the Annapolis area? in January?

My landlady just hosted friends in an RV for 2 days and they parked streetside; maybe you could do that here if you don't look like a refugee from Woodstock. Other than that pickings are slim. Maybe Walmart in Bowie? Annapolis tends to be pretty nose-in-the-air about such things.

Lemme look around and see if I can find an RV park or campground. I'll get back to you.

[Dog Rescuer]

I am planning on towing my car - so I can park further away from Annapolis - I am just having trouble finding a secure place to leave it for 3 or 4 Days. Any leads would be great!


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[dan-fox]

There's a KOA pretty close (Millersville), but IIRC I heard that they're not bus-friendly (KOA in general, that is; always worth a call).

Cherry Hill Park in College Park is right off the Capital Beltway at Route 1. Probably 30 miles, but they have been known to let buses in. Has kiddie playgrounds and rec rooms out the yin yang, so maybe not the cheapest option?

Greenbelt park is also right on the Beltway at University Blvd. Probably 1/2 hour from Annapolis. They are Nat'l Park Service so they have to take buses, and they say they have RV sites. My daughters Girl Scout troop used to do weekend camping there; it's a really nice park in the middle of urban blah. Reservations suggested.

Once you go over the bridge to the Eastern Shore, the world's your oyster. Lots of stuff over there. The Bay Bridge itself is not cheap but does give a small discount for using an EZPass.

Hope this helps. PM if you need more. All I did so far was to combine Google results with personal knowledge of local geography.

Hope this helps.

[Dog Rescuer]

Thanks!! It is a crowded area - but I’ll see how close I can get. I hope I can wait until the weather is better - several state parks seem to be closed for camping in January. Winter is the best time to camp!!!


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