Beautiful 1959 short bus RV

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Really nice conversion. I am helping a buddy do his bus and it gives me ideas. Great post. Thanks
 
Boy have I got a deal for you T and K...my old 1963 Dodge shorty is awaiting it's new owners....
 
There isn't a link Cherie...I am not really advertising it. It will be hard to even get a fraction of what I have in it so I have been just letting it sit and every once in a while I put up a CL ad for trade for some things I could use....<br><br>I have $5K in the engine alone.....<br><br>The trouble with my bus is that along with the coolness of it being old...is the problem of it being old...lol!&nbsp; There is nothing power on it....the steering is manual, the clutch is hydraulic but tough to push, the shifting lever is a long throw and the brakes are vacuum assist but still not power. Exhausting to drive and I am too old to enjoy that any more....If I was 20 I would love it....<br><br>Don't you have a perfectly awesome bus already????? Wanna trade?????<br>Bri
 
I'd love to &nbsp;have that Dodge.<img src="/images/boards/smilies/cool.gif" class="emoticon bbc_img">
 
That bus is gorgeous, Tony/Karen!<br><br>I love yours, too, Bri. I have 2 sisters looking for their dream home-on-wheels. If that bus had power steering and a few more modern driving conveniences I'd talk one of them into it so I could enjoy it!
 
Wow wow wow even has a back porch! This&nbsp;definitely&nbsp;has this saying all&nbsp;over&nbsp;it...."They don't make things like they use to."
 
I do have a perfectly awesome bus and I also keep my eyes open for others :) &nbsp;I don't know that I've done enough bear wrestling to have the upper body strength needed to shift/steer yours though! lol
 
The thing that interests me about the OP bus is that the article talks only about the interior and paint job, nothing about the mechanics and what they did to make it something you would want to drive. That is critical.<br><br>I get 6 mpg in mine...my first bus with a 270ci industrial inline 6 cyl got 7 mpg. That was in the early 80's when gas was a lot cheaper than it is now and every time I saw a gas station on the Alcan it was a $100 bill to fill up the 40 gal tank....this bus now is a 20 gal tank and it still costs a $100 bill to fill up.<br><br>My bus has only 2k miles on the rebuild and it will get a tad better with use as it loosens up a bit and the rings seat and wear in a little more.<br><br>Not to say that any large gas engined RV isn't the same.&nbsp; A large class A with a 454 in it is going to maybe in one's wildest dreams get about 9 mpg.<br><br>I think the best idea on this forum is the mid-size diesel truck with whatever you want on the back....like Geoff the Aussie stone-mason's rig.<br><br>There is almost no limit to the cool things you could mount either on the back rails or a flat bed...what they call a tray down under. That is a great way to make use of a sweet vintage travel trailer or a cool Airstream or Avion cab-over camper...awesome and cheap....like this:<br><br>http://www.airforums.com/forums/f417/1968-avion-c11-truck-camper-restoration-73739.html<br><br>Bri<br><br>
 
those are both very cool.&nbsp; the owner of the property i prospect on in oregon has a '51 gmc or chevy shortie it was converted but has sat for many years.&nbsp; she wants to sell it but like you say its old no ps, pb, old parts that are expensive.&nbsp; my '78 one ton is old enough for me.&nbsp; btw bk what kind of wood burner is that or did you make it yourself.&nbsp; looks pretty cool.&nbsp;&nbsp;highdesertranger
 
Hi Ranger....I bought it at a stove store in Oregon on a trip out there one year. In OR you can't sell something as a wood stove unless it meets certain emissions standards...that means an airtight, double burning type stove so it is very efficient and the solids stay out of the air, etc. If you have ever been in a place where there is a weather inversion and everyone is burning wood or coal, you can see why....OR has always been a wood burning state and in places like Eugene and many others, houses had sawdust burning furnaces due to the tons of free sawdust from the mills.<br><br> The mills are long gone as is much of the wood so it is only the back-to-the-landers who use wood but there are tons of those, even in towns and cities. In Eugene you see entire neighborhoods where there are no lawns, just yards full of heirloom seeded food gardens.<br><br>So this was in the back of the shop being sold as a "decorator" piece for $100....LOL. It is homemade out of about 3/8" thick steel....it will last literally forever. <br><br>Bri
 
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