New guy in Austin,TX - Looking for some advice

[MaksWerks]

Hey guys,

My name is Maks and I build stuff. Over the last 2 years of attending various festivals, and parties, and in general having a good time, I came across the idea of a Skoolie. I immediately fell in love with it and have transitioned my funds and plans to make that my next major project.

This Skoolie will be built in my driveway so I need to find a bus that is less than 40 ft bumper to bumper. I have not seen many build threads where people do a conversion in a suburb driveway, but that is my plan.

The bus will be used for traveling and will pull double duty on my ranch. Its only about 30 min from the house, but I want to be able to spend time out there over a weekend or w/e and so the bus will have a permanent hookup out there. Unfortunately there is nothing out there atm expect mud, so I cant build it out there.

It seems around here I am stuck with either the 444E or the 5.9 cummins. Both should be acceptable engines but I would love to find a manual bus. Most of the local autos are 545s and I want a lockable TC if I get an auto.

The plan is to build out a full size bus that can accommodate 4-5 people easily and provide all the comforts of home.

If anyone has any suggestions on what sort of bus to look for, resources in central TX, or models to look for, post up!

Also looking for an exact length for a 10 window standard nose and a 8 window standard nose Thomas bus (early 90's).

[Tango]

Welcome Maks --- Hope you are friendly with your neighbors and there is no "association" in the hood. Quite a few folks here have had "issues" with building on their own property due to local whiners and city or area regs. Might be worth checking into before committing much energy into the driveway plan.

Best of luck however it turns out and do keep us posted.

[MaksWerks]

Originally Posted by Tango

Welcome Maks --- Hope you are friendly with your neighbors and there is no "association" in the hood. Quite a few folks here have had "issues" with building on their own property due to local whiners and city or area regs. Might be worth checking into before committing much energy into the driveway plan.

Best of luck however it turns out and do keep us posted.

Yes. Well I was very picky wehn I bought the house. No HOA, and If I can get a bus at ~38ft it wont poke into the walkway. So I am pretty sure I can get away with doing it, as I have built a number of other crazy projects in the driveway without much issue.

Its amazing. Fix a neighbors kids car for $20 instead of the $1200 the dealer wanted, and all of a sudden they are much more tolerant.

I have found this guy about 2.5 hours south of me that has decent selection... What do you guys think?
70 plus Buses / Bus for Sale

[M1031A1]

He sells mostly to Mexicans. You'll find better on the auctions.

[MaksWerks]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

He sells mostly to Mexicans. You'll find better on the auctions.

I have used govliquidations before, but could you point me towards some other resources? I am having trouble finding stuff that isnt 444E/545 combo. I would really like a manual or a MD3060

[Intalleyvision]

I'm in Austin! PM me if you ever want to come check out my current build. I bought my bus from AISD

[MaksWerks]

Originally Posted by Intalleyvision

I'm in Austin! PM me if you ever want to come check out my current build. I bought my bus from AISD

PM sent. I absolutely want to check it out

[M1031A1]

Try Public Surplus or GovDeals, they usually work better.......

[ashandrik]

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm looking at some of the Public Surplus buses and the 70 plus buses guy. The Public Surplus buses seem like they'll go in the $1000-1500 range, but they're only T444e engines, and the 70 plus buses guy has some for $3000-4000 with DT466 engines. I've heard they're MUCH better. Are they $2-3k better? Is the guy in SW Texas that worse?

[mad_wolf]

Have my brother up in the Leander Area looking around for me one .
He found a few over at Burnett ISD last year but at the time I was flat out broke . Check the craigs list for there and Brownwood isd pop up occasionally .

If I can find the webpages he sent me will post for you .

[MaksWerks]

Originally Posted by ashandrik

Not to hijack this thread, but I'm looking at some of the Public Surplus buses and the 70 plus buses guy. The Public Surplus buses seem like they'll go in the $1000-1500 range, but they're only T444e engines, and the 70 plus buses guy has some for $3000-4000 with DT466 engines. I've heard they're MUCH better. Are they $2-3k better? Is the guy in SW Texas that worse?

Originally Posted by mad_wolf

Have my brother up in the Leander Area looking around for me one .
He found a few over at Burnett ISD last year but at the time I was flat out broke . Check the craigs list for there and Brownwood isd pop up occasionally .

If I can find the webpages he sent me will post for you .

Can you guys please post some links? I have been looking on govdeals and publicdeals

[Roadrunner]

Check craigslist too. I bought my bus off of Ebay. Check search engines for used buses, church buses, bus conversions etc. Good luck.

[MaksWerks]

Originally Posted by Roadrunner

Check craigslist too. I bought my bus off of Ebay. Check search engines for used buses, church buses, bus conversions etc. Good luck.

Been doing just that. Not really in a huge rush.

Really like this one: Public Surplus: Auction #1534540

But that would be a hell of a long trip... We will see where the bidding is at in a week or so and go from there.