WoodenYouKnowIt
Senior Member
Hello to everyone. I just found this forum the other day and I found it REALLY fun! I decided to join. This looks like community of fun loving like-minded people.
I do not currently have a bus to convert. I am 59 years old and currently responsible for the caregiving for my 84-year-old parents. If I show this forum to my parents, they would very likely join too. They are skoolies from way back when only hippies did this. They converted a 1951 GMC 4103 into a home a very long time ago. I remember one problem that the coach had was that there was a lot of body flex when traveling. Walls and partitions would break loose from their mounts, cabinet doors were constantly flying open, etc. My parents were not good carpenters but I thought that, at the time, their work wasn’t half bad. I have often wondered since if this is a common problem with newer buses and coaches.
Another common problem for my folks was their finding a campground that would allow an old bus conversion to stay. It seems that many campground owners didn’t want old hippie buses anywhere near them. Is this still a problem?
I drove a school bus for a while and so, became familiar with newer buses from Blue Bird, Thomas and Amtran. Every weekday morning, during the school year, I would have about 45 minutes to wait between delivering the middle school/high school students and the elementary school students. Of course, I would have already pre-tripped the bus each morning. This involved crawling around under the bus and into the engine compartment to check all vitals. I was always amazed at how well built the buses were ONLY where it counted. There was always a lot of quality where needed and pure junk where quality didn’t matter.
I often studied my bus to see how a conversation could be made that would completely eliminate the look of a school bus. I decided that the removal of all side windows except the driver’s window would be important. They would need to be replaced with sheet metal panels and a few strategically placed RV windows. The corrugated panels common to school buses would also need to be removed. This would create a bus with smooth sides. But, I digress.
Finding this forum has refueled a lot of emotions for me. So, I’m happy to be here, happy to meet everyone and happy to start looking for an old bus to convert.
I do not currently have a bus to convert. I am 59 years old and currently responsible for the caregiving for my 84-year-old parents. If I show this forum to my parents, they would very likely join too. They are skoolies from way back when only hippies did this. They converted a 1951 GMC 4103 into a home a very long time ago. I remember one problem that the coach had was that there was a lot of body flex when traveling. Walls and partitions would break loose from their mounts, cabinet doors were constantly flying open, etc. My parents were not good carpenters but I thought that, at the time, their work wasn’t half bad. I have often wondered since if this is a common problem with newer buses and coaches.
Another common problem for my folks was their finding a campground that would allow an old bus conversion to stay. It seems that many campground owners didn’t want old hippie buses anywhere near them. Is this still a problem?
I drove a school bus for a while and so, became familiar with newer buses from Blue Bird, Thomas and Amtran. Every weekday morning, during the school year, I would have about 45 minutes to wait between delivering the middle school/high school students and the elementary school students. Of course, I would have already pre-tripped the bus each morning. This involved crawling around under the bus and into the engine compartment to check all vitals. I was always amazed at how well built the buses were ONLY where it counted. There was always a lot of quality where needed and pure junk where quality didn’t matter.
I often studied my bus to see how a conversation could be made that would completely eliminate the look of a school bus. I decided that the removal of all side windows except the driver’s window would be important. They would need to be replaced with sheet metal panels and a few strategically placed RV windows. The corrugated panels common to school buses would also need to be removed. This would create a bus with smooth sides. But, I digress.
Finding this forum has refueled a lot of emotions for me. So, I’m happy to be here, happy to meet everyone and happy to start looking for an old bus to convert.
