newbie gets skooled

[jocelynjerry]

I'm new to this site and a new bus owner. I bought a 1993 AmTran Genesis 72 passenger schoolbus with a International DT466/Alison auto transmission two months ago. I moved into the bus the day I bought it, and have been living in it while doing the conversion. The first night we removed 6 seats, just enough to fit a mattress in the back of the bus thru the emergency door. It has been an upward learning curve from the beginning, nothing like immediate need to inspire an inquisitive mind, from how to operate a grinder to how to bleed and prime a diesel engine that ran out of gas in a busy intersection! I've never been so challenged, inspired or fulfilled by any project I've faced, and its probably a good thing that I entered this so naively, or I doubt I would have taken it on - but each experience increases my enthusiasm and confidence and the future has never been so enticing!

 

[Cliff & Wendy]

Way to jump in and get it done!
that is how I try and do my life, I assume I already know how to do it, then figure out as I go.

 

[Scooternj]

I've got an '03 Amtran with T444E under the rear deck. One thing that I found that works really well is tractor/implement paint (I've been using Ace's Rust Stop in the rattle can). As you may have found out, the seats can be a royal pain, but press on. I'd also check under the interior steel for any potential crud in the insulation or leaks. (Personally, I'd gut everything in the interior, and start fresh)

 

[bansil]

welcome to the madness

 

[jocelynjerry]

Thanks all! I did get the seats all out, and the spaciousness of the emptied bus felt palatial at first! haha I appreciate the paint advice, and i have gutted the interior at this point, as well. The one thing i've been struggling with is whether to strip the flooring or build up from what's already there. I read today, on another forum, that the "school bus smell" disappears with the rubber flooring, so I guess I'm leaning toward taking it out. bansil - this madness far exceeds any I've experienced so far, and I thought I was a pretty far out chick already! I guess that's the part that is keeping me motivated, a desire to operate outside of the parameters of "normal". The community I am finding i've joined is quite the merry band of misfits, it seems!

 

[Scooternj]

Definitely strip the flooring, and plywood below it- get to the bare steel. Again, for corrosion, whatever nastiness may be under there, and so you can fill in the holes from the seat brackets.

 

[EastCoastCB]

I love the Genesis...
My Ward is the same bus as yours just a year older. Drives pretty nice!
I hate the smell of rubber flooring in these too. Check out my build thread since we have the same bus!

Mines stripped down fairly well slowly getting around to a roof raise.