How long did it take you to find your bus?

[milkmania]

If the snoring gets too loud, I'll do a sudden lane change or brake check. SQUIRREL!!! Didn't you see it? Big fat fluffy guy. I just saved his life.

Buddy sees them before I do....
Since December he's banged his head hard on the windshield 6 times and has finally learned how to get on the dash of the suburban

 

[Brewerbob]

Buddy sees them before I do....
Since December he's banged his head hard on the windshield 6 times and has finally learned how to get on the dash of the suburban

Buddy is in the avatar?

I like my fish. Inside joke with the gf. Every time the dog needs to go out in the middle of the night while it's 40° and raining. Every tie they leave a present on the carpet. Every time one of them runs off around the neighborhood. Every time she trips over them. Etc.

My fish almost peed on the carpet once but I scolded him and he hasn't tried since.

I do have two cats that have wrecked the basement but even they are better than the dogs. They don't like being stepped on so there's no tripping. And as long as my daughter keeps the litter boxes clean (she's harder to train than the damn dogs), they don't need to go out.

 

[WIbluebird]

District-owned buses are great. Usually the maintenance is up to par. Some states are better than others. Georgia and Florida seem to be the worst states in this regard, a lot of buses from those states tend to be parts/non-running.

I wouldn't buy buses from private contractors, a lot of times maintenance is the bare minimum and they will generally only sell buses when there's absolutely no life left in them.

 

[jctrembly]

I would never buy a bus without looking at it. You just never know what your find. I drove 10hrs one way to see an eBay bus in "good condition" only to find it was junk and smoked so bad I couldn't see the car behind me. I'm the end I flew to Florida as Orlando was getting rid of all no. A/C buses. I had 5 or six class D's to choose from and the one I picked was just taken off a bus route prior to being sold. Still had to replace a driver kingpin but other wise it's Its in really great shape.

Most regular school buses in WV sell for $700-$2K but the rust. We have busses in Preston County that get the engine overhauled and 6 months later sold. lol. Many end up in Mexico or the islands it seems.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk

 

[mhobryan]

Oh I get all that.

I took the gf on the trip to VA. It was about 3 1/2 hrs. Only problem with that is she's usually asleep by the end of my street. My daughter is usually asleep by the end of my driveway. My driveway is a parking pad, a sidewalk, and 2 feet of grade to the road.

If the snoring gets too loud, I'll do a sudden lane change or brake check. SQUIRREL!!! Didn't you see it? Big fat fluffy guy. I just saved his life.

My daughter came back from band camp one year and was pretty exhausted, so we let her hang out on the couch that first day. Day after she wanted to do it again, we said nope, gotta get your @ss off the couch and go with us to Home Depot...being a petulant 14 or 15 year old at the time (she's in college now) she came with us grudgingly, and with a bit of 'tude. We had taken my VW bus, and she was dosing in the rear seat with her feet propped up on the stool. Took a look in my rear view mirror, and there was no one behind me, so I slammed on the brakes and yelled 'SQUIRREL!! She came flying off the rear seat and slid feet first right between the two front seats. Needless to say, she wasn't happy, but my wife and I had a good laugh.

 

[New2Skool]

I was impulsive.
I started researching doing a tiny home.
Then, my eyes fell upon a skoolie.
What is better than a tiny home that is self propelled?
So, I started looking for a bus last Feb.
The first bus, I found was on craigslist.
I set up an appointment for a week later.
I did more research on what to look for, brought my mechanic with me.
Test drove the bus, crawled under, crawled into the engine compartment, etc.
Lot of rust but, mechanically it was excellent.
The next day, I was driving it home.
It was a rust bucket, I had to replace a rear wheel well, sections of the floor and reskin the entire bus other than the roof and cab end.
The rear section was a challenge but, turned out great and it gave me a chance to rip it down to bare ribs and floor and start fresh.
A lot of extra work but, well worth it overall in my mind.

My big bus had 64,000 miles on it.
It needed an oil change, tranny flush, new filters and small stuff only.
The only current mechanical issue is the floater in the gas tank doesnt work.
So, I have no accurate way to determine how much liquid dino go juice I have in the tank and I may need a new passenger side windshield due to careless grinding and what appears to be spark burn marks on the glass...

So, in short. I bought the first bus I found without hesitation.

 

[cadillackid]

heck ill drive far just to drive far... I couldve easily been a trucker if the software gig hadnt worked out...

I look for reasons to make 1000 mile road trips... esp when i get to drive something cool like a BUS!!!

-Christopher

 

[Brewerbob]

My daughter came back from band camp one year and was pretty exhausted, so we let her hang out on the couch that first day. Day after she wanted to do it again, we said nope, gotta get your @ss off the couch and go with us to Home Depot...being a petulant 14 or 15 year old at the time (she's in college now) she came with us grudgingly, and with a bit of 'tude. We had taken my VW bus, and she was dosing in the rear seat with her feet propped up on the stool. Took a look in my rear view mirror, and there was no one behind me, so I slammed on the brakes and yelled 'SQUIRREL!! She came flying off the rear seat and slid feet first right between the two front seats. Needless to say, she wasn't happy, but my wife and I had a good laugh.

I don't know you but I likes you!!

heck ill drive far just to drive far... I couldve easily been a trucker if the software gig hadnt worked out...

I look for reasons to make 1000 mile road trips... esp when i get to drive something cool like a BUS!!!

-Christopher

I don't mind driving. I too have thought of being an OTR driver. Too many regulations and PITA these days.

It's the deadlines I have a problem with. Driving 10 hrs one way and having to be back for work on Mon is the problem. Getting rid of that work thing would be a major step in the right direction!!

 

[TobinHagler]

Bought first bus, in a week

I thought on Sunday, maybe I should do the Skoolie travel thing....

3 days goofing off online, and on Friday i went and bought the first/only bus I looked at.

$3900 for an International/Blue Bird shortie with a chair lift. WONDER shape, no rust

 

[Robin97396]

Congratulations. It happens just like that for many of us. We're fooling around on line and poof, we've got a bus.

Is yours going to be a camper type or a full build?

 

[TobinHagler]

camper mainly

It's a 1991 International Blue Bird, short bus, with chair lift. 135,000 miles, Detroit diesel, Allison automatic, WELL maintained by Cobb Co and just retired. Only $3900!

The fella I bought it from is gonna add an RV AC in the roof hatch, remove 4 seats ( of 6) and replace the original seat with an air ride one from a big rig. All for $650.

In 3 weeks I'm going back to pick it up ( it's less than an hour from Atlanta where I live) and bring it home to start the conversion, and my goal is to be done in 6 weeks.

General thoughts

Im thinking to keep it simple, make it more for camping than living, so no toilet/shower, simple sink, LED strip lighting, insulate floor, I should have a bunch of Brazilian hardwood decking ( free) to kit it out with. For flooring, bunk, etc. I want to add the magnetic curtains, a table using bus seats, and I'm thinking to use the chair hoist to pick up a Vespa and bring it with me.

 

[Robin97396]

Sure, you can do it however it fits your needs. If you're going to be done in three weeks I sure hope you document it so we can follow along. Taking pics eats some time but that's what makes reading threads here interesting.

I did the full insulation in mine but the rest is mostly like a camper.

 

[Brewerbob]

Im thinking to keep it simple, make it more for camping than living, so no toilet/shower, simple sink, LED strip lighting, insulate floor, I should have a bunch of Brazilian hardwood decking ( free) to kit it out with. For flooring, bunk, etc. I want to add the magnetic curtains, a table using bus seats, and I'm thinking to use the chair hoist to pick up a Vespa and bring it with me.

Let me know if you need help getting rid of any extra Brazilian wood.:biggrin:

 

[Tall Grass]

Jan-late Sept. Only physically looked at two. Read enough on this forum as what i needed to learn( former experience with farm diesels and farm semi's). Negotiated for about a month and by talking i developed trust in the guy by what he said ,his actions and his job and where he grew up. He wouldn't come down a bit and everything he said was true.