And so it begins!

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Ive been reading post on this site and watching Youtube videos of conversions for a couple months now. Found a 1992 Thomas 40 ft diesel pusher with a mechanical 8.3 Cummins, with 159,000 miles. Will start with a roof raise and entry door relocation to somewhere south of the front wheels as the wife wants a seat right up front like a traditional RV. The rest is a blank canvas and will unfold as we go. Wish me luck!

 

[EastCoastCB]

Whats the plan for the roof raise?
Seems LOTS of folks buy a Thomas to do a raise on. That's fine but they're a lot tougher to make look good due to the 6 degree slope.

 

[Tango-SKO]

Did they have the taper in '92? That one at least "looks" square.

 

[o1marc]

Did they have the taper in '92? That one at least "looks" square.

Yup, the only taper is on the back.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Did they have the taper in '92? That one at least "looks" square.

Yeah its tapered.
This is a 92'

My friend's 91 is tapered.

 

[Yukon Cornelius-SKO]

nice looking rig, love the ambition for fab

Also digging the name :wink1:

 

[o1marc]

Yeah its tapered.
This is a 92'

My friend's 91 is tapered.

Is it a flat nose?

 

[EastCoastCB]

Is it a flat nose?

Yeah man.
Its a Thomas thing.
Blow up the pic of OP's bus and its there.

 

[Shotgun Navigation]

Yes it is a flat nose

 

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If you follow Wes from Transcend Existance, he recently did a raise for someone in San Francisco that is almost exactly what I want. About 20 inch raise starting directly behind the front roof transition cone.

 

[EastCoastCB]

I've chatted with him before.

Its not rocket science, I'm just saying it takes more finesse with a Thomas. Wes' exact method won't work without some tweaks as you've got different geometry at work.

 

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Yeah, I'm sure I have a learning curve ahead of me, to be sure! Not in a huge rush and am expecting about a 2 year build out.

 

[Tango-SKO]

"Not in a huge rush and am expecting about a 2 year build out."

LOL! That's what I said. Six years ago!

Good news is you aren't totally rebuilding an antique...so rock on!

 

[PNW_Steve]

"Not in a huge rush and am expecting about a 2 year build out."

LOL! That's what I said. Six years ago!

Good news is you aren't totally rebuilding an antique...so rock on!

Mee too....

I am at the two year mark and have made substantial progress on the roof raise. It's not quite "weathered in" yet.....

Life/health/family seem to interrupt our well laid plans...

My 2 year plan has turned into a 3-4 year plan...

 

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Hey
As long as your making progress and haven’t lost interest in it, it’s all good!

 

[MarkyDee]

April will mark three years for me....

 

[cowlitzcoach]

If you start the raise below the windows you can achieve two benefits.


First, when you do the raise the windows become normal height for you to see out of while standing.


Second, by doing the raise below the windows you avoid most of the taper as most of the taper starts at the window line.


Understandably making a cut below the windows would require removing some, or most, of the exterior panels and all of the interior panels. Since you will most probably remove the interior panels in order to add more insulation that is an added job.



Make sure you take lots of photos. First, years down the road you will have a record of how you did things so if something needs fixing you will know how you put it together at the start. And second, documenting and sharing your project can educate and encourage others to do something similar.

 

[Shotgun Navigation]

Good advice! However, I am removing all the windows and replacing with RV windows. The documentation part is excellent advice. Not sure yet if I will do photos exclusively or if I want to do videos with the end goal of a Vlog or YouTube channel. I have about a mont or so to decide as I am not starting the project till end of February or early March.

 

[PNW_Steve]

Make sure you take lots of photos. First, years down the road you will have a record of how you did things so if something needs fixing you will know how you put it together at the start. And second, documenting and sharing your project can educate and encourage others to do something similar.

Amen!

I found my photo library to be invaluable when I converted my first bus.

It was not quite finished when we went on the road and found myself working on projects a year later and wondering "what is behind this panel?" or "how in the world did I do this?".

Out came the photo albums to refresh my memory.

Also, some of us get a lot more detail out of still pictures than videos.

 

[cai70]

If you haven’t already, check out “ the bus life “ on YouTube. They did a roof raise on a Thomas re and installed rv windows. Her a link :