Our First Bus... family Skoolie

[vwdude]

We talked about getting a school bus for 2 or 3 days, then we went out & bought one.... 1985 Wayne International 7.3 Desiel 71 passenger... got it from a church that got it from Plano ISD TX.... Great condition... the first thing we did was take turns driving it around our friends dirt track, then we got down to business taking out the seats that night which we have made into yard seats with some -works great till they get hot this summer in the Texas sun...

we are done with the flooring and nearly done with the interior painting, have plans to paint the body, but waiting for the wind to calm down and weather to work with us... we're not agreeing on the floor plans much, but we have to have plenty of sleeping places with our huge family ( we have 6 kids between us ranging from 19 to 3, only 4 at home full time)... I was always told I would need a school bus when i was done having kids!!! and now I do!!! i figured out how to attach our photos....
http://www.skoolie.net/gallery2/v/Skoolies/bus_005/

 

[vwdude]

thank you, bout the congrats and our little one, Rancer. Everyone loves that pic of him so his daddy said we had to post it... we are talking it out bout the floor plans, but i am having a pot!! Women need one, lol. We drove to Fort Worth today and bought the tiles for the floor, I say we need roll lano but he wanted tiles. We are working our butts off on it. plan on going full A/C got big deseil generator, need input regarding elecrical, breaker boxes, wiring, etc...
got good idea for stop sign actuators !!!! If anyone else has any let us know. We are learning as we go!!

 

[vwdude]

LOL, your toilet reminds me of a childhood friends outhouse back home in Arkansas!! Ol
man bought a used rv toilet from coworker, we’re gonna paint it chrome!!!
I see your point on the tiles, thanks.. The guys do like to take breaks .

We have read so much on this site, so glad its out here!! I have seen some awesome ideas that we have plans to incorporate into our bus. Building is no problem, we have several friends helping that we drag out camping and stuff… Im the one that’s particular …

We’re going to try to have the main things done to get it legal and all for NASCAR weekend in 3 weeks, just worried bout the DMV, but my brother went thru title change with his VW camper bus so we have some idea plus what we have read here… we will post more pics as she comes to her 2nd life!!

 

[BassnTruck]

I might have rode on that bus as a kid. lol

 

[vwdude]

ok, we got some touch ups left on the interior paint, not alot though.... and we got the tile floor in, looks better then i thought they could do ( the 3 amigos, is what it looked like). Didn't get good pics with that light so I'll take them today an put up soon. I am enjoying every minute of doing this, but it does take me away form the house duties.
we even talked to a friend yesterday that can get us more wood for our interior design!!!

 

[vwdude]

went out to finish the paint.... problem! the tiles are bubbled up in places & kinda folding in other places... oh is this normal? ol man said that it will be ok and that the sticky will work the more we walk on it and put furniture & cabinets in... so we finished the paint job, just putting a 2nd coat on tomorrow to insure its fully covered... so interior is done...
he brought home tank for underneath, he had 2 but one blew out and someone stopped & got it before he could turn around, what the luck....

 

[vwdude]

yes they were the self adhesive but we also used contact cement ... oh it smelled awful!!! we got done with the floor last night bout 55 or so, when we woke this morning it was bout 33 ( we had frozen frost on the car windows) and it got to a high bout 75 or so today.... yes spring is in the air..... the weather is a mess here in texas this time of year, its nearly all 4 seasons in a 24 hour period!!!!!!!! after we walked around the bus they looked ok, we will do that daily, and he said they were cheap tiles, we're on a tight budget, income tax is nearly gone!

 

[lornaschinske]

yes they were the self adhesive but we also used contact cement ...

The contact cement messed with the self-adhesive glue on the tiles. That's why they lifted. you should have used either one or the other, not both. Hopefully the glues are somewhat compatible and the solvents in the contact cement won't destroy the self-adhesive glue.

 

[vwdude]

he has done this before... we found the problem with the tiles, the tile was only lifting in the area's that the seams are in and a couple that there wasn't enough contact cement..... so we pulled those tiles up, filled in the seams with joint puddy (some of the seams were pretty big, so with the temp not as steady from day to night as most other areas it was expanding and shrinking ....) And tomorrow we will go back out and redo the cement (make sure theres enough) and apply the tiles back... this better work... the only seam we did from the start did just fine (didnt have to pull those tiles up). more stinky bus tomorrow...
we are also working on the generator box & placement of it under the body of bus. he's got a good idea to lower the noise from the generator and attach a line so the generator will feed from the tanks on the bus , both diesel being a good thing....

 

[vwdude]

and we started working on it again when we got some money... the windows werent covered and the tiles changed color also... bad!! so we will end up changing it to something else, not sure what right now....
we are getting it ready to take to the races in few weeks... so getting it legal and all this week... got the outside painted and done, inside still needs work (LOTS)

 

[vwdude]

got out stuff loaded last year, and we add stuff every now and then, but we camp in it like it is... on the inside looks nothing like what the rest of ya'lls look like... i cant wait to unload everything in the bus and start putting walls, bedrooms, bathrooms and kitchen in it!!!! But it is campable!!!! and its AWESOME just to drive it,,, the looks, the cameras, and the cops crack me up!!!! lol

 

[vwdude]

ok... i have a question... does the bug guard on the grill (the tennessee battle flag) offend anyone?

i got a lot of crap from people i actually knew in high school about it, but to me and we have told others of all races, it is a heritage not hate thing... i am from arkansas and hubby from texas.... i was raised that what you wear does not tell people who you are..... rebel to me does not mean race, to me it means i am from the south, i am proud to be from the south, and .... im just upset about this and want input from people that dont know me......
thank you

 

[Crazy]

ok... i have a question... does the bug guard on the grill (the tennessee battle flag) offend anyone?

i got a lot of crap from people i actually knew in high school about it, but to me and we have told others of all races, it is a heritage not hate thing... i am from arkansas and hubby from texas.... i was raised that what you wear does not tell people who you are..... rebel to me does not mean race, to me it means i am from the south, i am proud to be from the south, and .... im just upset about this and want input from people that dont know me......
thank you

Stars and bars don't bother me but I'm only one person. If you're going to do a lot of traveling, you might want to rethink having it on the bus. How much energy do you want to invest over the flag. That is the question. I know there have been lawsuits over it flying in some places. It brings up bad feelings for some people. My two cents. Not making any judgements one way or another.

 

[somewhereinusa]

People need to get a life, how can you possibly be offended by something that has been part of the American culture for years? I was born,raised and still live in the north. My only thought when I see someone flying the confederate flag is "They must be from the south" I'm sure that most people who fly it don't want to go to war, or secede from the union. (the way things are going I might consider that one)
I am also not intimidated or scared by the teeth grill covers popular on semis a few years ago. Heck I didn't even know what they were supposed to be until people started complaining that they were "scary".
At least southerners speak the same language. (well,kinda )

I think we should be more concerned about the people who come to our country, don't learn,or even want to learn our language, want us to learn their language. Complain about us flying OUR flag. Want us to change our laws just for them, and generally just try to get everything for nothing. If they don't like it here, go back where they came from. Why did they leave?

Rant over.

vwdude Your bus looks very nice
By the way mine is going to have those nasty things like stars and stripes and eagles all over it.

 

[atcc77]

I too am from the South, both sides of my family have been here for 300yrs.
My opinion is this; While most southerners are not stupid, hate filled bigots, we have let a few IDIOTS hijack symbols of our heritage to represent their hate and ignorance. Unfortunately, now when people see the stars and bars, the hate and ignorance is what they see, similar what you think when you see a swastica, which, before Hitler got hold of it, was an ancient symbol of good luck, peace and love, now when I see one, it scares the poop out of me.
I had considered flying the battle flag myself,but had to spend way too much time trying to explain "heritage, not hate".