enough with looking over his shoulder ...

[UrsaLunar]

Hullo :greetings:
I've poked about here over the hubs' shoulder long enough, time to jump in on my own.

Wanderlust bit the hubs a couple years ago; wanting to see the country and bring the family on expeditions.
Admittedly I dragged my feet, not interested in the mode of transport he spoke of; RVs. Expensive for a nice one, rickety, cramped ... newp. (Teardrop trailers are adorable for two people max, or one woman with dog asleep at her feet.)
Then he mentioned seeing skoolies. Huh? What's a that? Converted school buses. Huh. Sturdy. Roomy. I googled. And saw The Bus. You've seen The Bus. A renovated Viking bus by an architectural firm in Maine - it's often found under the "tiny house" search term. Matte OD green on the outside - perfect to blend into our small woodsy yard and neighborhood. Warm and cozy bohemian on the inside to please this homebody. Oh yes. Skoolie. Pack the dog, let's go.

A couple weeks ago the hubs found Our "The Bus (to be)" online and flew down to get him. His name is Thomas. Not original. Does his name have to be? He needs work, we knew he would. It's not that much work though and can be done bit by bit as the budget allows.
So far we've only been scrubbing off decals, removing seats, budgeting for mechanical needs, and making lists. For inspection tires and many new lights are needed, but that's it. Our state allows school bus yellow skoolies to count as RVs - just need to have the stop sign, swing bar, and school-purpose decals gone. (Thomas is still being painted before coming home to roost, he's parked nearby tucked behind a friend's business.)
This year he will be a mobile tent at most, next year will begin the true evolution.

The hubs talked about a bigger starter-bus for the family, then a short bus for he and I alone in a few years after children have grown, but Thomas is a nice mid-size, and ours. I want our skoolie done right the first time, so hullo, I'm here to learn.

 

[ghodges]

Awesome! Welcome to the Skoolie club. Hope all goes well with your conversion. This forum is a fantastic resource. If you do Facebook, there a lot of groups you can join. We do Instagram and have found a strong community there as well.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

 

[Robin97396]

Welcome

Well... we want to see pictures of Thomas. You've got a good start.

 

[UrsaLunar]

Thanks for the welcome folks

Created an album here with the first few pictures.

Our teenagers are actually getting right into the project. The 14 yo was under the bus with a wrench holding nuts in place while the hubs was in the bus with an impact wrench taking out the seat bolts. Was my kiddo one dirty monkey when done - came out from under with the proclamation of "Hey, no rust!" when done!

 

[1olfart]

Bus is looking good. I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in how you removed the wording and decals from the bus. No idea how long it took, but ya done good!

 

[UrsaLunar]

Hey, thanks!

He does look pretty good body-wise, we were holding out for a bus south of the "salt belt" as we know how much rust can kill a vehicle. There are a few rust spots but they are very minor - one is quarter size, the other couple smaller.

Mechanically we *think* we're ok, too. We paid a friend-of-a-friend diesel mechanic to take a solid look over the bus. The mechanic works for a fleet and cannot do the work himself - that's nice because he was able to give an honest recommendation as to what actually needs to be done, and was able to steer us to a couple reliable diesel shops.

Tranny fluid is dark but no flakes, it like other fluids and filters definitely need changing. Tires up front are beyond bald and we'll be replacing all 6 with new as getting decent second hand ones isn't that big a savings. There's a tie-rod issue too, we'll take care of that at the same time. Once those are done then we'll re-look at ride, handling, and all that good stuff. Because it's handicap accessible with the chairlift there are no wheel humps which effects what tire size we use and gear ratios etc. There was talk of blocking (whatever that is) but will not be going that route.

Knowing that the bus would be end-of-life for whatever school district it came from (as budget-wise they'll just limp it safely along until it has to be decommissioned because of age) we always mentally earmarked a few grand for things like tires and mechanical needs, and then at least several hundred for paint. And that's all before we do the inner conversions.
Not cheap by any stretch but this all appeals to us more than an RV, and even a nice second hand RV will most likely still need mechanical work.

Decals; razor blades to scrape, and for residue acetone, steel wool, lots of paper towels, and elbow grease. Close your eyes and run your hand over where the letters were to "see" if you got it all. I'm using thick rubber cleaning gloves so the stuff doesn't eat at my skin - it eats away latex gloves fast of course. Even with trying to scrape off the lettering gently there were gouges down to the metal.
I insisted we use yellow primer to cover those gouges because we're doing this initial work at a friend's business and there's already a big yellow bus planted there - I didn't want him having to look at sloppy gray primer splotches, too, so that's probably what helps Thomas look better in the pictures.

 

[jctrembly]

Use a heat gun for any remaining decals. Most of them will come right off. I learned that after I gouged a few spots. I sanded, primed and painted those spots with Rust-Oleum for now.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[jonnichols]

Congrats on the bus!

 

[UrsaLunar]

Thanks again for the welcome! :biggrin:

The decals had been warmed sitting in the sun, that helped - thankfully not too many gouges, they were simply from my hands slipping ... yeah, need to re-build arm strength, this is all cyclical because doing this conversion will help with that

Hopefully the weather will cooperate and we can work on Thomas more this weekend

 

[Iceni John]

Removing my decals is a PIA - even using a heat gun on a sunny day it's difficult to get them off the paint. Too much heat, then the paint bubbles. I did find that it's impossible to get the decals off paint on top of fiberglass - sufficient heat to soften the decal always lifts the paint completely off, so for the front and rear where Crown used FG I'm just going to strip off all the paint and repaint completely there. At least I won't have to use etching primer there, unlike when I repainted the roof.

John

 

[UrsaLunar]

... I did find that it's impossible to get the decals off paint on top of fiberglass - sufficient heat to soften the decal always lifts the paint completely off ...

Hi John -
Thomas' hood is fiberglass, thankfully there are no decals but the top layer is peeling. It looks like a thin clear coat maybe, and underneath looks more like yellow fiberglass than paint. Wonder how much that will change how we need to paint the hood in relation to the rest of the body.
I'm weighing different paint options - we know the color (a muted medium green to blend with our woodsy yard) - but oil or automotive? Roll & brush or spray? There will be threads on that alone I'll be perusing.
Am already reconsidering the Thomas logo on the side up next to the door (and the corresponding one on the other side), was going to leave it and do a Victorian style "frame" around it but looking closer it's pretty frayed. I'd like to do something that's a nod to Thomas Built and to International, maybe badges?

 

[Brewerbob]

He does look pretty good body-wise, we were holding out for a bus south of the "salt belt" as we know how much rust can kill a vehicle. There are a few rust spots but they are very minor - one is quarter size, the other couple smaller.

Are all the seats and plywood out yet? That's where I found all of my rust; under the plywood.

Paint; I used Rust-Oleum sold in the 1 quart can from your local box hardware store. Bought a $50 sprayer to go on my portable compressor. 4 quarts did a decent job of covering the yellow. MD requires skoolies to be non-yellow. Apparently 45% tho I've not seen that in writing. I have pics in the build thread. If you do a good job instead of quick job (like I did), 2 gallons of paint would do it.

Good luck and welcome.

 

[UrsaLunar]

Are all the seats and plywood out yet? That's where I found all of my rust; under the plywood.

Paint; I used Rust-Oleum sold in the 1 quart can from your local box hardware store. Bought a $50 sprayer to go on my portable compressor. 4 quarts did a decent job of covering the yellow. MD requires skoolies to be non-yellow. Apparently 45% tho I've not seen that in writing. I have pics in the build thread. If you do a good job instead of quick job (like I did), 2 gallons of paint would do it.

Good luck and welcome.

Most of the seats, none of the plywood ... no rust around seat-leg holes, zero rust under body, and no smell of damp - we're feeling pretty positive so far.
We've left just a few of the seats for this year as Thomas will be a glorified mobile tent for now. Next year saving two seats for kitchen table benches that way when all is done we'll have 6 seat-belted seats - we're also installing a "navigator's seat." Doubt we'll ever travel with more than 6 people so that will keep us in compliance wherever we go.
Skoolie-RVs here are allowed to be school bus yellow but the stop sign, swing bar, and all the school related lettering need to be off. Regarding color I didn't even want a red car because I thought it'd be too bright in my yard so yeah, Thomas is getting painted a woodsy green :biggrin:

 

[Brewerbob]

Most of the seats, none of the plywood ... no rust around seat-leg holes, zero rust under body, and no smell of damp - we're feeling pretty positive so far. Not to piss on the parade but I thought I did well too until I pulled up the plywood. All in all I still did ok. I'm replacing the section between the front wheel well and the driver's seat. There are a few other spots that went all the way thru but none big enough to worry about.

The best places to go rust hunting are around the wells of course but also where the heater hoses go thru the floor. I think mine might have been monkeyed with at some point.

Anywho, if Thomas is clear around those two areas, then you are likely to have a cancer free bus.

We've left just a few of the seats for this year as Thomas will be a glorified mobile tent for now. Next year saving two seats for kitchen table benches that way when all is done we'll have 6 seat-belted seats - we're also installing a "navigator's seat." Doubt we'll ever travel with more than 6 people so that will keep us in compliance wherever we go.

I've got 3 rows I've kept. I kept the two furtherest front just to use as benches and sitting while working on the bus and the jump seat that was the exit row. It has little hydraulic arms that I thought I might be able to use for something else. At 4 cents a lb for scrap steel, I thought I'd keep it. If I don't use it, I'll just toss it later.

Skoolie-RVs here are allowed to be school bus yellow but the stop sign, swing bar, and all the school related lettering need to be off. Regarding color I didn't even want a red car because I thought it'd be too bright in my yard so yeah, Thomas is getting painted a woodsy green :biggrin:

It varies state by state but as long as you're sporting whatever your home state license plate is, I don't think MD or any of the rest can give you any grief. I drove mine around town on a couple of errands while it was still yellow and no one said a word.

 

[JDOnTheGo]

Congrats and welcome! Thomas looks like a super find!

 

[DavidWJ]

Fiberglass is infinitely repairable, read up on it and you'll see the great advantage of 'glass.