What should I look for?

[Valkyrie_2]

I'm meeting a fellow tomorrow about a 1995 Carpenter bus. The advert says:
1995 converted carpenter bus with a international 3800 DT 466 engine
96,000 miles
Remodeled to include four beds, a working hot water heater, a bathtub, fridge, new brakes and fuel filters.
Tires in GREAT shape.
JUST SERVICED!

I'm pretty sure the engine will be OK - they're generally good for 500K miles.
What should I look for in terms of engine, transmission etc? I gather it's a diesel engine.

As long as the chassis, engine and transmission are good, the rest are easily and cheaply fixable if there's an issue. I plan to remodel the intereor anyway. Everything has to come out as there's no insulation.

 

[r_w]

look for RUST!!! And any weep lines under windows that show they have leaked. And soft spots in the floor, especially around wheel wells and the fuel filler.

Look at the sticky post on how to tell which transmission you have.

Otherwise, overall condition is usually a good indicator of care given.

 

[bansil]

How $$$$

consider it a metal tent with a few extras thrown in, you will probably strip it out and recycle what you want

I will safely say this: YOU WILL NOT LIKE THE LAYOUT AT ALL!!!!!!!!!!

you may like it tomorrow, and maybe Sunday, when it sets in or you use it the first time on saturday...it will suck and need to be redone, this is why SKOOLIES RULE

we make them our own, also why most have bad return on investment for anything over scrap price

good luck and don't get Wowed by the "shineys"


oh
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and pictures are nice :mrgreen:

 

[Valkyrie_2]

These are the owner supplied photos. I'm looking at it tomorrow.

I'm going to look at it not as a house-building project initially but initially as a security project - replace the excess windows and install a toilet.
After that I'll look into insulating the roof and the available portions of the walls and inside the cabinets as much as possible without ripping everything out. The bunk side I can pretty much say is empty space that needs to be filled as it'll just be me or me and my lady using it. Highly unlikely there will be any offspring to be accommodated.