I am a 20 year old sophomore software development student and I just bought a 2000 Chevy 6.5L turbo diesel short bus (5 window) with 34,000 miles and I am in the process of building it out into a camper bus (I'm working on it every time I get the chance on school breaks and such).
I'm new to this website but I think you guys may be able to help me with a few questions I am running into. Forgive me if this is the wrong place to ask. If anyone who sees this has any familiarity with this bus please let me know. In the meantime I'm going to finish this semester strong so that I can dedicate my winter break to developing my skoolie!
[Extra unnecessary stuff for those who wanna know more below]
If you are reading this part, howdy. Here is some more general info on my bus:
I bought it for $2,500 at 33,500 miles. The previous owner had left the swinging passenger doors open while driving and hit something with the doors causing body damage to that area which I have pulled out using an electric wench and a LOT of time swinging a hammer. It's been all riveted back together and I am now trying to figure what I want to do about the door.
One idea I have is to re-bend the old doors into shape and weld them together with a bit of extra steel in the middle to account for the gap and use some angle iron for the back stop with a seal, fit a door handle with a deadbolt going directly into the ribs of the bus for security and replacing the one window that broke on one of the doors that way it looks like a regular bus from the outside but the door opens like a regular house door with added security.
Also, the back emergency door is damaged. It has a crack in the steel which I plan on welding back up with some extra sheet steel in the back for added rigidity. and if that fails, I will have to consider buying a new rear door or fabricating one myself. However there is also a twist here. I don't want the door to open like normal. I want it to open DOWN making a makeshift cooking area or place to put a chair, or just a little area to sit. I think that would be neat but I'm not dead set on that idea because that could limit what I could have attached to the back of the bus.
Another issue is that the rear axel is VERY loud and I suspect it has something to do with the pinion gear being over tightened because I took back off and the gears look nice. No unusual wear marks other than that there is a little spot on the ribs of the gears which are not making contact which I believe to be indicative of someone getting in there and over tightening that crush washer so I'm gonna see if I can fix that when I get back home (I'll have to buy a new washer).
Other than that, mechanically the bus is in very good condition both mechanically and structurally. There's a bit of rust hear and there but nothing that is of any major concern. I've treated much of the rust I can see with some protective enamel and I will be covering more as I go.
One of the main things now that I'd like some help with is how I am going to plan out the interior. This is where I get pretty confused. Everything I look up on this bus is vague and unspecific on the inner dimensions and even the name of the bus so if someone could help me there I would greatly appreciate it.
I'm sorry for this book of an introduction but thank you very much if you read this far!
Thank you!
I pulled the trigger
Linear Mode
