Original Doors? Keep or Scrap?

[FawnaFox]

Hi, Fawna here
I am wondering if I should keep my original doors on my bus, they are manual outward opening. I can lock them from the inside and outside, but the do need new glass, as there is moisture in between the glass. I really do like the look and feel of having real bus doors, I like the simple yet genius opening mechanism, but I do see a security risk. Is there a reason I should replace them? Or is it OK to keep them?

 

[nikitis]

My manual doors I'm keeping. There is a lock under the passenger window. It's a bolt, so my key is a wrench which most people aren't gonna have on them. For me it's secure enough. If I lived in it full time I'd probably want a better system though. I just vacation in mine. It's good enough for 1 week trips.

 

[FawnaFox]

My manual doors I'm keeping. There is a lock under the passenger window. It's a bolt, so my key is a wrench which most people aren't gonna have on them. For me it's secure enough. If I lived in it full time I'd probably want a better system though. I just vacation in mine. It's good enough for 1 week trips.

good ole bolt door. Mine I plan to full-time I'm gonna change the lock on the door so it is the same as the ignition key. I also plan to put a lock on the back door that can be locked from the outside

 

[Rock-N-Ruth]

Hi, Fawna here
I am wondering if I should keep my original doors on my bus, they are manual outward opening. I can lock them from the inside and outside, but the do need new glass, as there is moisture in between the glass. I really do like the look and feel of having real bus doors, I like the simple yet genius opening mechanism, but I do see a security risk. Is there a reason I should replace them? Or is it OK to keep them?

That's one of those personal choices.
Ruth and I chose to keep the doors. We like the school bus aesthetic, and we like how they open and close. If you are worried about security when you are gone there are numerous ways that you can secure your doors from the outside is that range from hillbilly, (that's the route we chose) to really elegant.

With bifold doors that open outward, here is a hillbilly method: you can put an eye hook on each door. You can take a rod of metal that fits through the eye hook, drill a hole at each end, and hang a padlock through it.

You can reinforce that security system by leaving your Pitbull in the bus when you go in to get groceries.

Ultimately when it comes to security, you have to realize if the thieves want in, they're going to get in. They can smash your windshield and pull it away from the rubber seal, they can break a window, and squeeze in.

Ruth and I have been living in this bus, since 2018. We drive it to the grocery store, we treat it like the car, and most of the time, we don't bother to lock the door when we leave it.
A lot of the time when we leave it unattended, our dogs are still in the house, and that probably is a deterrent to most.

We have a huge, lovely, sweet and smiley, Pitbull, and a truly vicious sounding, 16-year-old border collie who barks at everybody.

There are times however, like when we go to the dog park, and everybody in the family is out of the bus, and it's unattended. And I'm not sure we're the locking bar for the front door has gone, because we haven't used it in forever.

I suppose it is a good thing that we don't live in Los Angeles or Seattle, where breaking an entry is not against the law.

The last time we were at skoolipalooza we saw a number of really elegant methods of locking your bus type doors and a lot of buses that had residential type doors in them that were done very nicely. My opinion is not important to anyone else but me. I prefer the skoolie aesthetic.

I think one of the biggest cons to keeping your school bus doors isn't security, it's air intrusion. Our doors are old and one of my friends dogs chewed on one of the door seals a little bit, and I would say that 40% of all the dirt that gets into our house in a dust storm enters through the front door. Our solution is to hang curtain on the inside of the door. Heck it worked for the medievals.

In the end it all comes down to what do you like. It's your bus, your work, and it should Express the way you feel about the Life style that you have chosen.

Ruth and I like the school bus aesthetic so much, we put our insulation on the roof so that we could keep the steel ceiling inside the bus. We like the rivets and screws.

 

[Rock-N-Ruth]

My manual doors I'm keeping. There is a lock under the passenger window. It's a bolt, so my key is a wrench which most people aren't gonna have on them. For me it's secure enough. If I lived in it full time I'd probably want a better system though. I just vacation in mine. It's good enough for 1 week trips.

Digging the ole, "it ain't locked, but you ain't smart enough to open it, security system."

 

[WRS_Mark]

I kept the original doors, added a security hasp and puck style lock. But I also built an insulated wall with a cut down, insulated residential metal door one row of windows back of the driver's seat. Allowed me to have a mud room and keep my tool chest outside of the living area and made it a heck of a lot easier to keep the living area secure, cool in the summer and warm throughout the winters here in Alberta.

 

[FawnaFox]

That's one of those personal choices.
Ruth and I chose to keep the doors. We like the school bus aesthetic, and we like how they open and close. If you are worried about security when you are gone there are numerous ways that you can secure your doors from the outside is that range from hillbilly, (that's the route we chose) to really elegant.

With bifold doors that open outward, here is a hillbilly method: you can put an eye hook on each door. You can take a rod of metal that fits through the eye hook, drill a hole at each end, and hang a padlock through it.

You can reinforce that security system by leaving your Pitbull in the bus when you go in to get groceries.

Ultimately when it comes to security, you have to realize if the thieves want in, they're going to get in. They can smash your windshield and pull it away from the rubber seal, they can break a window, and squeeze in.

Ruth and I have been living in this bus, since 2018. We drive it to the grocery store, we treat it like the car, and most of the time, we don't bother to lock the door when we leave it.
A lot of the time when we leave it unattended, our dogs are still in the house, and that probably is a deterrent to most.

We have a huge, lovely, sweet and smiley, Pitbull, and a truly vicious sounding, 16-year-old border collie who barks at everybody.

There are times however, like when we go to the dog park, and everybody in the family is out of the bus, and it's unattended. And I'm not sure we're the locking bar for the front door has gone, because we haven't used it in forever.

I suppose it is a good thing that we don't live in Los Angeles or Seattle, where breaking an entry is not against the law.

The last time we were at skoolipalooza we saw a number of really elegant methods of locking your bus type doors and a lot of buses that had residential type doors in them that were done very nicely. My opinion is not important to anyone else but me. I prefer the skoolie aesthetic.

I think one of the biggest cons to keeping your school bus doors isn't security, it's air intrusion. Our doors are old and one of my friends dogs chewed on one of the door seals a little bit, and I would say that 40% of all the dirt that gets into our house in a dust storm enters through the front door. Our solution is to hang curtain on the inside of the door. Heck it worked for the medievals.

In the end it all comes down to what do you like. It's your bus, your work, and it should Express the way you feel about the Life style that you have chosen.

Ruth and I like the school bus aesthetic so much, we put our insulation on the roof so that we could keep the steel ceiling inside the bus. We like the rivets and screws.

Good, I'm glad someone else shares the love for the old school bus aesthetic, I woulda kept all including the original floors, but the rotten wood underneath decided that that wasn't a good idea.. My doors really don't seal well at all, driving it home, my dad in the seat right behind the door said it was like the AC was on. I think it is missing the seal on the rearmost door. It'll need some work, also considering that the glass is full of water and you can't see out of it. For security, I was considering taking the old lock and getting it remade to the ignition key, the previous owner gave me 7 copies of the original key, so if anyone I like needs to get in, I can give them a key.

 

[nikitis]

The floors are advisable to rip up simply because there is likely some rust. You could get lucky and not have rust under the floors. I was one of those lucky few who didn't have any rust, but majority of people do and it's good to clean it up and treat it before building out a whole bus on top of it.