too much rust?

[alannabirch]

Please give me an opinion on this! The last picture might look more red than it actually is because of lighting.

 

[cadillackid]

thatsd pretty rusty... if it was a bus i already owned and converted id probably keep driving it.. but if its a bus you havent bought yet, I wouldnt..

 

[musigenesis]

Check out this gallery to see how bad my rust was and what I had to go through to repair the worst of it. Your bus here is probably not quite that bad, but it certainly isn't good. It would be best if you kept looking for a bus with much less (ideally no) rust and spare yourself all the extra work this one would entail.

FWIW the bus is probably structurally sound - i.e. the chassis is not going to suddenly collapse on you in the middle of a drive. Most of the extra work you'd have to do would be on the bus body, the part that is sitting on top of the chassis rails. The body is made from sheet metal which being thinner than the steel of the chassis is affected by rust more quickly, and is likely completely eaten through in all the usual areas (wheel wells, rear door and corners, step well etc.). You're also showing severe corrosion on the exhaust pipes and replacing that stuff can get pretty expensive.

 

[magnakansas]

yup, what he said

If you own it already... work with what you have. The body is the work, the chassis is okay. Rust like that means check the metal brake lines and parts. Rust makes for extra work and expense when working on brakes. Like when the bleeder screws are rusted so bad they break off... then it is caliper replacement time.

anyways, If you dont own it.... I see lots of busses for sale with much much less rust.

william

 

[alannabirch]

thank you all for the feedback. this is not my bus, but one I am looking to purchase, already converted.

 

[Albatross]

thank you all for the feedback. this is not my bus, but one I am looking to purchase, already converted.

Then I would politely skip it, and keep looking, honestly.



It's not going to break in half or anything, but rust is a cancer that is pretty much impossible to stop once it starts to take hold. The bus those pics are from has a much more finite lifespan than something else.

 

[Rucker]

thank you all for the feedback. this is not my bus, but one I am looking to purchase, already converted.

Ask yourself: how much have I researched skoolies, and how many buses have I looked at so far?

Unless the interior is the skoolie of your dreams and you have a metal fabrication shop, turn tail, and run like the wind. Better deals await, regardless of the offered price.

Although I admire the bravery of my friend MagnaKansas, most newbie skoolie owners have the desire, but not necessarily the money, tenacity, determination, stubbornness, grit and gumption to tackle structural work like that.

Spend time looking at his album and contemplate the many hours you will spend in soul-sucking work underneath that vehicle to render it mechanically sound before leaping.

 

[Ronnie-SKO]

Considering I have pulled two buses now out of the woods to rebuild and make skoolies out of, that much rust would even make me say no.

 

[musigenesis]

thank you all for the feedback. this is not my bus, but one I am looking to purchase, already converted.

That's kind of even worse than buying an unconverted bus with that much rust. Unless they have a detailed build thread somewhere, you really have no way of knowing whether they dealt with the body rust properly or not.

 

[tguy1241]

If it was my choice, I’d say No Thanks. There are MANY other buses available for sale and without this level of rust. Try contacting Tony at AAA Buses in Phoenix and tell him what you want. He seems to have a huge selection of just about every type bus. They all probably need to have seats removed, the interior gutted and redone—depending on your preference, and insurance and registration. He has several years experience in this business. There are also government vehicle auctions which you can find on Google where you can pick up a nice bus for cheap if you first go look over their vehicles and bring someone along who knows engines & transmissions.

 

[EastCoastCB]

Too much rust. Post it on Reddit and those clowns on the Skoolie sub will tell you its pristine.