Introducing Dazzling Blue

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Rusty

It might be easier for you to tell us which buses you aren't bidding on.

I bid on one at a time, pretty much all the time.
But I REALLY wanted this one!!!

its always nice to see someone get a REALLY good bus, and not just go buy some low spec turd from a dealer for top dollar!
YOU DONE GOOD!

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

It was on Public Surplus.

Yup. There were 4 from this school district. I'm not sure where other Colorado buses get sold. This was the first time we bid on anything at Public Surplus, but I didn't want to take a chance on missing out on the bus. Had we not had someone check it out for us beforehand, I'm not sure how confident we would have been in buying it sight-unseen. This is a new way of buying a vehicle for us!

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I like the color scheme yall got goin on, btw.

Thank you! I suspect we looked like a strange sky simulation towing our bright yellow Xterra behind it, but at least other drivers can see us from a good distance. There was a definite 'one of these is not like the others' aspect in the campground we spent the second night of our ride home, but the people who approached us were friendly and complimentary.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by TJones

Never mind I answeared my own question. This would have been one of the "supreme busses" EastCoast told me I had just missed on public surplus.

Congratulations on the nice bus!

Ted

Thanks Ted, it really was a stroke of luck. I was looking on craigslist and google searches for quite awhile and just happened across the bus. The stars aligned, things fell into place, and we got lucky.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

Yup. There were 4 from this school district. I'm not sure where other Colorado buses get sold. This was the first time we bid on anything at Public Surplus, but I didn't want to take a chance on missing out on the bus. Had we not had someone check it out for us beforehand, I'm not sure how confident we would have been in buying it sight-unseen. This is a new way of buying a vehicle for us!

I had a friend check out a bus in NY for me recently. Just too much rust for me to pay what it went for.
My shorty is from Colorado. Aurora takes GREAT care of their buses.
I could tell just from the auction listing your bus was a REALLY super nice bus. If anything like it pops up this coming year, I'll actually be able to afford it. I think I tapped out around the three thousand dollar mark on this one, just because I'd be using a credit card.
Its nice having eyes on a far away bus, but both mine are nice buses and were bought pretty much sight unseen.
Buying auction buses you really can't go wrong as long as you use a little bit of sense. Even if it breaks, its still cheaper than a dealer.
I'm addicted to these auctions now. I've bought LOTS of stuff- mowers, a van, buses, a police car. Its great, no regrets on any of em.

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by TJones

Kristen,

What auction site did you find your bus on? Where do most of the Colorado busses sell? I've been watching gov deals and public surplus but havn't seen much.

Thanks

Ted

Ted, if you want a bus from a specific state, there is an easy way to find out where they sell.

All school districts have websites with contact info. Email the Transportation Director of the 10 biggest districts, and ask them. A few won't reply. Most will, and they will be happy to share the info. They might even tell you what they have for disposal over the next few months.

[TJones]

Originally Posted by Twigg

Ted, if you want a bus from a specific state, there is an easy way to find out where they sell.

All school districts have websites with contact info. Email the Transportation Director of the 10 biggest districts, and ask them. A few won't reply. Most will, and they will be happy to share the info. They might even tell you what they have for disposal over the next few months.

Good idea!

Thanks Steve

[cadillackid]

some states have mandates on how long districts are to hang on to their busses.. for instance tennessee is to keep theirs 17 years then sell.. so if you see newer busses up for sale from TN, chances are they are worn out, broken, or the district can show that iots taking more money to maintain it than to sell it and buy a new one.

Ohio has no mandate.. but busses here typically are inspected rigorously mechanically but very well may have a lot of rust.. so buying ohio busses can be touch and go.. if a district gets money in the budget thy do buy new ones frequently.. however the ones you see on auction very well may be rust buckets even though theyll run fantastic..

you start learning which states the best busses come from as you read and watch where people here bought theirs and their posts about how well they run.. you can go back through threads and see people that have bought colorado busses and texas busses and see that many times they convert anmd drive.. and dont have lots of rust to contend with..

we have seen several people on the forum that biouyght georgia busses and never made it home before a failure.. (not all obviously) but you start to learn..

and of course dealers and exporters also learn of the "good" places to buy busses so its easy to get outbid..

some of the more off the wall auction sites have less bidders so you can stand better chances.. ie you see public surplus and govdeals mentioned all the time.. but truck equipment auctioneers sometimes get busses.. 422sales, onlinepros, richie brothers.. and many others..

I just watched a NICE shortie in North dakota on a small auctioneer site go for $1800.. 2006, overdirve, sealed transit windows, A/C, air brakes, air ride, 74k original mioles, riust free.... painted white and all school lights non existent.. it was a shuttle from oil drillers to hotels from what i was told..

good deals are out there.. patience is a must
-Christopher

[Twigg]

lol ... funny you should mention that.

I currently have tabs open on:

GovDeals
Public Surplus
422Sales
Ritchie Bros
Purple Wave

[Drew Bru]

I just realized it's been 6 months since we picked up our bus! Neither Drew nor I like being on the computer so we never got around to making a build thread. We've taken pictures at each stage that will eventually become a build thread, but until then I want to add a 6 month progress update.

Drew is still working full time and the bus is parked 45 minutes away, so the progress is slow but steady, we feel like we're finally getting somewhere.
Our electric is in up to the point of adding solar. The plumbing is mostly installed but just as a dry run. Here's a bit of what it looks like so far...

[Miles O Roads]

Looks great. Getting down to the minor finishings.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by Miles O Roads

Looks great. Getting down to the minor finishings.

Thank you. There is still way more to do than has been done, but it's feeling more doable now that we've made some progress. We're parked in a field so we had to focus on the inside during the winter.

[Drew Bru]

So, we’re still cruising along on the build. Plumbing is complete and the bedroom and bathroom have progressed quite a bit as well. There are still lots of details to attend to…..lots of trim work to be done. Major work to be done includes: Propane System, Solar Panels, Roof Deck, small Back Deck, Window Screens, Roof Fans, and Seating/Storage stools. That’s a mix of small projects and larger projects, but we’ve been working on the weekends and we’re about to get a lot more time during the week to work on the bus.

PLUMBING:

Our fresh water tank is in the 2×12 lumber frame under the couch and strapped in with 3 cargo straps running across the tank and securely bolted through the floor of the bus. We’ve got a 12v Shurflo pump that feeds an accumulator tank, then across the bus to a filter and water heater under the sink. Finally, it drains to a 62gal grey water tank in the luggage compartment. It’s being held up by 2 400lb cargo straps that run under the top edge of tank then up to the inside of the bus in one continuous loop.

BEDROOM:

The couch/bed was made from 2 torsion boxes (similar to a hollow core door) joined by a piano hinge. The seat rides on 2 heavy duty drawer slides that, when pulled out, create a bed. There’s about a foot of room to walk around the bed. We’ll remove the stash of tools and totes and put a low dresser across from the bed. This will have a pull-out table top, should we decide to take our dinner in the back of the bus. Our closet is made from 2 vintage doors….one salvaged from our own house. It’s about 18″x 30″….fairly sizable for a bus.

BATHROOM

The bathroom is roughed in. Finished in cedar that was scavenged from an old cedar blanket chest, the bathroom is light and airy and smells fantastic! Which is handy, since we have zero idea how the composting toilet will perform smell-wise. It will have a constant flow of air to the outside, so that should keep the smell down. The tub was made from a utility sink we got on sale at the hardware store. It’s nice and deep so should double as a wash tub if necessary. Wine crates will serve as our medicine cabinet and general storage. There will also be storage (probably for toilet paper) under the foot rest in front of the toilet. The toilet seat is fairly high, and so it really needed a foot stool. We'll need to do some painting and some finishing touches.

KITCHEN

Kitchen is largely complete, with some finish work remaining. We polyurethaned the cherry counter tops, added a shelf above the sink, and added some window treatments. The shades on the windows are insulated and have a marine vinyl on the outside layer. The inside fabric varies between plain muslin, tasteful prints, and somewhat kitschy prints. They’re great at blocking light but still letting in a bit of a glow. So far, they seem pretty good at reflecting the heat.

[plfking]

"I love what you've done to the place."

Your whole interior look open and inviting.....really nice. Kudos.

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by plfking

"I love what you've done to the place."

Your whole interior look open and inviting.....really nice. Kudos.

Thanks, man. We had a guy come by and check it out, his coach is parked at the other end of the lot from ours. He said the same thing: open and inviting. More so even than his Class A motorhome.

[BeholdAdventure]

I love how you painted it, it really looks great! Did you go with a fancy roof sealant or good old white paint?

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by BeholdAdventure

I love how you painted it, it really looks great! Did you go with a fancy roof sealant or good old white paint?

We used good old fashioned white paint. Rustoleum industrial paint, 50/50 mix of Almond and White. We also sealed all of the seams and rivets because we were getting a mysterious leak from who-knows-where? Just a dab on each rivet is all it took.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Drew Bru

We used good old fashioned white paint. Rustoleum industrial paint, 50/50 mix of Almond and White. We also sealed all of the seams and rivets because we were getting a mysterious leak from who-knows-where? Just a dab on each rivet is all it took.

Anything worth doing is worth doing right!

[Drew Bru]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Anything worth doing is worth doing right!

Right on. And it was really all that time consuming...took maybe an hour or so.

[2kool4skool]

Love your layout!!