It's sink or swim!

[heytherepookie]

Or maybe a bit of both... Since its my first time in water.

Hi, I'm Ethan, I've been looking at living out of a van for awhile, but realized a skoolie would be better for me. So I got on Craigslist and got a 97 BB Int 7.3L 72 seater. It's in really good condition.

I just got the seats, flooring, and rear heater out, scrubbed it down and now have a clean slate. I have a very rough idea of what I'm doing, and my move in date is July 25th this year. I'm excited, and I don't mind working on it while living in it. We'll see how it goes, pictures to come.

I was wondering if some of the veterans out there could share with me some general lessons they may have learned the hard way. Specific or broad, anything helps.

Thank you!

[Priscella]

Best of luck to you my friend! I'm just starting out myself.

[o1marc]

The answers to all your question are contained in this site. Just start reading every thread you can and you will be overwhelmed with ideas. If you have a specific area of interest, the search bar here, unlike most sites I frequent, actually works quite well.

[MasterMerck]

I am almost finished with my conversion.

• It will take a lot more money and time than you imagine
• Tint your windows early if you are leaving them in
• Get a bigger grinder right away
• Don't give up
• Don't settle on a bus. The perfect one is out there
• It will test the strength of your marriage
• Vinyl plank flooring will not work
• Carpet really helps with sound
• There will not be a project that you will be more proud of in the end

[Priscella]

This is great! I'm putting in 100% natural bamboo flooring in my bus. Not only did I already buy it in advance (couldn't pass up the 50% off sale on what I really wanted), I slept on it over the winter beneath my Japanese bed mat because I couldn't store it in the sub-zero garage. The struggle to become a skoolie dweller is real. ��

[Rovobay]

welcome. fill out your bus registry, post pics, share more ideas. You will be living in it full time? that build will be far different from my build as I will be in rural areas and living off grid requires a different set up. it all really depends on your individual needs. read and visit this forum often! follow some build threads of people who are using there bus in a manner similar to you.

[Johnny Mullet]

Welcome aboard! Enjoy your build!

[jjhwick119]

Originally Posted by MasterMerck

I am almost finished with my conversion.

• It will take a lot more money and time than you imagine
• Tint your windows early if you are leaving them in
• Get a bigger grinder right away
• Don't give up
• Don't settle on a bus. The perfect one is out there
• It will test the strength of your marriage
• Vinyl plank flooring will not work
• Carpet really helps with sound
• There will not be a project that you will be more proud of in the end

Can you expand on the vinyl plank flooring?

Also, OP, share some of your ideas for what you want to do on the inside, and then maybe some of us can chime in if we remember anything tricky or have tips for certain parts

If you've just scrubbed the floor, make sure you address any rust on it now before you start building. grab a wire wheel or a flap disc, remove the rust, patch any holes or really bad areas if you need to cut any out, and then treat the rust with a converter like ospho. Then your ready for some primer to seal that up, and your ready to start building!

[Twigg]

Originally Posted by jjhwick119

Can you expand on the vinyl plank flooring?

While "vinyl" is waterproof, some of the vinyl-plank flooring is not designed for installing in wet or damp environments. It will warp in a bus because of the extremes of temp. and humidity it goes through.

Just be careful which you buy and the packaging will make it clear.