Alone in Columbus

[Unenthuzed]

Hi everyone!

I'm Alex, and I just started a new job recently in Columbus, IN. The long and the short of this post is that I am not sure where I am going to end up as far as a career goes and don't want to be tied down by hoards of belongings, a lease, and general things impeding my ability to pick up and go.

I'm shocked at how reasonable used buses are and figured this would be a great way to waste my free time. I'd love to roof raise a bus and convert the rear half into a garage where I could winch my car/motorcycle into and the front half into living space to make a home [with a dividing wall that can move backward into the "garage" to make more room for house stuff.

After all my reading, I've got one critical question that remains. With a roof-raise, I understand that welding the new 18ga skin panels together can cause them to ripple making things look like garbage from the outside, but has anyone been able to do it well enough to avoid that? I'd love to run beads of weld everywhere to avoid having to rivet and seal mating surfaces [which just seems time consuming].

Again thanks everyone for any advice you can lend me.

-Alex

 

[PNW_Steve]

Welcome Alex,

I am using 18ga. metal for skinning after my roof raise. I am not welding it. I am following the way the bus was originally built. Rivets & seam sealer.

Good luck.

Link: http://www.skoolie.net/forums/f11/pnw_steves-2002-bluebird-a3re-21182-23.html

 

[cadillackid]

even without apartment or a house.. you will need to secure some type of place to park your bus, have power, internet, etc.. research this piece before just diving in.
-Cbristopher

 

[Unenthuzed]

Definitely good points. I need to look into if KOAs or other sites would be viable options as far as renting a space to park.

As for internet, the farm house I'm currently at doesn't have any service, so I've simply upgraded my phone plan and am using that as a hotspot which is working fairly well. The main concerns are having a place to park with an electricity source, and a spot that is large enough where I could keep this thing.

Its something that i'll have time to think about over the long winter.