Newbie dreamer here to ask lots of questions...

[BackToSkool]

Hello skoolie family!
I can finally say, that after many many years of dreaming, my bus is now a reality. I cannot wait to start with the demo.
My name is Kourtni, I live in upstate NY with my 2 year old son, Mac. My bus is a 2002 flatnose Thomasbuilt, with a CAT engine.
I know a little about a lot, but not a lot about everything. This will be my first major project like this. I have been doing A LOT of research. I can't wait to see what the future holds.
Hoping to join the family soon. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.
Much love ✌❤

[Kmprshn]

Hi kourtni I'm Derek and im although I'm also a newbie to Skoolie conversions I have knowledge in this most of these trades. I live in nj feel free to contact me

[Robin97396]

Welcome. You're obviously an adventurous sort. I like your bus driver.

You seem to have a plan in mind. I've got to be curious about how far you're taking your build.

[Rusty]

That is a nice looking bus.

I am very excited for you- 2 years scheming and dreaming is a long time. It will sure help firm-up some hard decisions now that you have such a beautiful platform. Those Thomas buses are really growing on me.

Where is CaptSquid? Anyway, Welcome. What ya doing with that big yellow bus, anyway?

[BackToSkool]

Started ripping out seats yesterday...what a job haha. You can read all you want, its a whole other story to get in it. Loving every minute of it, of course.
This bus will serve as my primary residence. I will park on family property here until I am finished and ready fkr my first trip.
The goal is to have a bed in the back with storage underneath, bunk for the baby monster, more storage, bathroom with shower (small tub), room for the cat box, and composting toilet, full working kitchen (no microwave, it's terrible for you and I love to cook), pull out sofa to bed, and a woodstove to top it all off.
Hoping to keep progress steady through winter. First, obtain my own generator.

✌❤

[Robin97396]

Hmmmm, I didn't have room for a cat box in my bus. Nope, no room for that at all.

I did build them an insulated cat house outside. Besides, Bob is a tomcat and occasionally sprays my work boots which is bad enough inside the bus.

I live on a dead end road where a lot of people simply drop off unwanted animals. Most don't survive the cougars, bobcats and coyotes. For that reason these dropped off animals are called cougar snacks. The smart ones migrate to someone's house. Tada, I involuntarily have two cats. It has subsequently come to my attention that dropped off animals frequently have some type of behavioral problem. I need to find a cat lady in the city to give them to. Anybody with 27 carts won't notice a couple more.

Before anyone writes back, yes we have an animal shelter here and I'm not serious about dumping them in town. Somehow it does seem fitting though.

[EastCoastCB]

I have a dog and five cats, thanks to the rotten, horrible folks who dump their animals.
I gotta say, folks who hunt with dogs are the worst offenders. I grew up in the dog hunting community here and am the first to call them out on their treatment of their animals.
NOT the bird dog people- its the coon, deer, and hog hunters that are the ones I'm referring to. And no its no ALL of them, but its enough of them that its part of their scene and they know it.

Dixie was being used to breed hog hunting dogs. Someone dumped her right after she'd had her last litter. If I hadn't taken her she'd be dead. She's the best dog I've ever had. But I do wish we had laws to restrict animal breeding. Hell maybe laws to limit people breeding, too.

[Robin97396]

All this from the single mention of a cat litter box. Sorry OP.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

All this from the single mention of a cat litter box. Sorry OP.

Hey, sorry if it went OT, but I've seen the train go WAY further from the tracks before!

[M1031A1]

BTS,

Just to help you out and avoid an unpleasant surprise, check the power cables coming from the battery box. Be sure they are NOT pinched between the body and chassis of the bus. IF they are, IMMEDIATELY replace and re-route them to a safe area where they will not be pinched.

When I was working for Katy ISD, we had three of these exact buses go up in flames due to that exact reason. Thomas eventually put out a recall on those buses for that reason. That year over 100 of those buses in different school districts lost those Thomas buses due to a pinched positive cable wearing through and making an arching contact that set off the fire and the buses burned to the ground.

I'd hate to see you guys build that bus up only to have that problem occur.

Just tryin' to help.

M

[golfersmurf57]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

BTS,

Just to help you out and avoid an unpleasant surprise, check the power cables coming from the battery box. Be sure they are NOT pinched between the body and chassis of the bus. IF they are, IMMEDIATELY replace and re-route them to a safe area where they will not be pinched.

When I was working for Katy ISD, we had three of these exact buses go up in flames due to that exact reason. Thomas eventually put out a recall on those buses for that reason. That year over 100 of those buses in different school districts lost those Thomas buses due to a pinched positive cable wearing through and making an arching contact that set off the fire and the buses burned to the ground.

I'd hate to see you guys build that bus up only to have that problem occur.

Just tryin' to help.

M

M1031 : I'm in SC and a few years back the Thomas buses had an issue with the PS lines wearing and spraying onto the exhaust causing a fire as well. We run older buses down here too. So good idea to inspect the underside before adding things get a creeper and a light and take a look.

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