Our mountain bus

[c_hasbeen]

After quite a lot of looking at different bus conversions and types of school buses we finally decided we would get a bus and do the conversion our selves.  This will allow us to put insulation in and floor layout we like best.

Ths bus has a diesel fuel operated auxiliary heater made by wabasto, it is attached to the cooling system of the bus so it will preheat the engine in the winter and it will also heat the bus without the engine running.  I am not sure if it works or not, but before winter I will get that figured out.


I found a bus for sale that was near where my daughter lived, it was in colorado and came from a church, I rented a car, spent the weekend visiting my daughter, then inspected the bus and bought it, my daughter was able to help me get the rental back and me on my way.

The 575 mile trip home went good, the bus had 1/2 tank of fuel so I hit the road, I was able to travel at 70 mph with room still on the governor, however the bus really seems to run very good at about 62 or 64 mph, I believe the fuel economy will be much better there also.

the bus is 38 ft long from front to rear bumper

I have removed all of the passenger seats and gave them away.
removed the luggage rack from inside and stored the material for later use
removed the 2 way radio and gave it to a ham radio guy.
removed the stop arm and sign.
removed the ignition interlock and buzzers that were attached to all of the doors to keep the engine from starting if the door was locked.
rewired the flashing yellow lights to make the turn signals flash.  (I did this because the top yellow and red lights have to be disabled to be on the road by a private person)
removed the vinyl letters that were still on the bus and painted over the school bus on the front and rear.

here are a few pictures

I am really happy and excited about this bus.

 

[wagoneer]

You should expect decent milage a fairly efficient setup keeping her at 65 and below, a blank canvas is a great beginning, have some fun.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

Not to bum you out with a lot of negative energy, but have you found insurance for this project?

I considered doing a bus conversion, but when I was researching the idea, I kept coming across information that most insurance companies wouldn' t insure a bus conversion, and the few specialty companies that would only wanted to insure commercial conversions, not diy homebuilts.

I also found a few references that claimed they only want to insure converted transit busses, not school busses.  Something about the track on transit busses being wider, and the school busses therefor not being as stable, I think.

Anyway, I didn't want to blow 20 grand on a nice conversion only to discover that no one would insure it and I could't put it on the road.  I've decided to convert a cargo trailer just the way I want it.  Liability insurance is automatic on any trailer you pull.

I'm not saying you CAN'T do this, I'm just saying make sure you've got your insurance ducks in a row before you start.

Regards
John

 

[compassrose]

You need to have the conversion "finished" for insurance. It's the non-converted that seems to be the problem. Otherwise you will have to get insurance for a commercial vehicle... which costs more. If you aren't going to move it until it's mostly finished, then just get your title done and wait on registering it. If it's parked and untagged, then you shouldn't need insurance. Things vary by state.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

So if you don't mind me asking, who did you insure with?

As one example of the places I looked, Blue Sky Insurance is one of the companies Escapees recomends for their full timing members, and they're one of the ones saying commercial conversions only, no school buses.

Regards
John

 

[c_hasbeen]

I appreciate the insurance thoughts, and no worries about me being bummed out!




Before I bought the bus I went to my insurance agent (state Farm) and asked them what it was going to cost, then I wnet to the court house to see what I needed to do to get it converted to rv and then change the title.

My insurance said they would insure it as a bus, my rates is about 400 bucks a year based on high mileage, but once it is converted to rv they will insure it for low mileage and the cost will drop substantially.

The temp tag is for 60 days, so i hope to get it ready in that time frame to qualify as an RV.
I just finished up removing all of the school bus lights, so I think I have all of the school bus parts disabled, removed, or painted over, so that much is completed.

 

[cyndi]

Wow, C! You are going right to town. I can't wait to see what you do!

Do you plan on painting the exterior? I remeber hearing, somewhere, that only school buses could be yellow with the black stripes. Not sure where I was when I heard that, so maybe it's a state to state thing. Kind of makes sense, though.

 

[c_hasbeen]

Wow, C! You are going right to town. I can't wait to see what you do!

Do you plan on painting the exterior? I remeber hearing, somewhere, that only school buses could be yellow with the black stripes. Not sure where I was when I heard that, so maybe it's a state to state thing. Kind of makes sense, though.

Thanks Cindy, I am getting busy for sure!

I do plan on painting the bus, that is my wife's job to pick that out though.

I read that the spray on truck bed liners made by line-x also makes a rv roof product that is supposed to be tough and reduce the temperature inside by 20*, I think it is silver or white, I am going to do some reading up on that.

I took some tin and made some round blanks to fill in the spots where the school bus lights used to be, I used some of the screws from some of the other unnecessary things I have removed to fasten them in place and primed and then gave them a blast of rustolium black.
I used tin snips to cut the tin and MAN was that kind of a bummer.

 

[flying kurbmaster]

great project good luck

 

[c_hasbeen]

I have been busy at it, I want to get the floor insulated more than just plywood and rubber mat, I know a lot of people strip out the rubber mat and the existing 1 inch plywood to make sure no rust is on the floor pan, but I felt this was not necessary since all of the bolts that held in the seats did not have any rust at all on them.
The bus had three auxiliary heaters under some of the seats, I did not know for sure exactly where they need to be once the conversion is completed so I removed them, reconnecting the heater hose so the front heater would work while driving.  I did this last night after work.

This gave me a wide open floor to start with my insulation.
I had today off of work so   I went to Menards and got some 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 8 ft furring strips  some 7/8 OSB ply wood material and a bundle of recycled denim 3 inch insulation that is rated at R13.  This is not enough to do the entire floor but it is a start.

I was going to go with the pink foam, but it was rated at R6 or something, but I saw the recycled product that is harmless does not bug you like fiberglass so I decided to go with it.

I am very very happy with it, it is thicker than what I have room for but I laied it in and screwed my plywood over it starting at one end and working my way across, using my weight to compact the insulation down.

Anyway, I am going to have to box in my heater hoses so i can access them in the event of a leak or I decide to add back in one of the heaters.

here is what I have gotten done today.

once it kind of drys up a bit I plan on doing some painting on the outside!

 

[highdesertranger]

way cool, keep up the pics. highdesertranger

 

[c_hasbeen]

I did find out that the R value is reduced from R13 to R6.5 by compressing it like I am doing.

the combined R value of the plywood below and above the insulation is about R1.25 

R7.75 will keep the road heat at bay and help hold in the cool 
thanks

 

[ZoNiE]

Denim works really well. I used it to insulate my GMC motorhome. I worry that when the world runs out of used blue jeans, how will they continue to make it? :dodgy:

 

[pmekdahl01]

I can't wait to see what it looks like when its done, good luck.

 

[Optimistic Paranoid]

As far as using recycled denim on the floor, does anyone know what happens if the plumbing springs a leak and it winds up getting wet?

Regards
John

 

[c_hasbeen]

As far as using recycled denim on the floor, does anyone know what happens if the plumbing springs a leak and it winds up getting wet?

Regards
John

that is a good question John and I am very thankful you asked that!

Now I can plan for that problem ahead of time.
I will have to think on how to make sure that:
1) plumbing does not leak
2) if plumbing does it is located in an area that will not allow the insulation to get wet.

Thanks!

 

[masterplumber]

I read a build report one time, where the guy put all his plumbing basically in one area, before final installation he boxed the area in, put a drain to the outside, and then painted the whole box with a rubber coating. That way if there was a leak the water went outside instead of on the wood interior. He also built the bathroom floor basically the same way so water on the floor wouldn't damage anything.

 

[c_hasbeen]

yea! that sounds like a good idea to box it in and drain it to the outside like that.

I read a build once that they had their fresh water inside under the bed but they put in a water proof container of some type under the tank and a couple of wires that if water got in it would make a connection and the buzzer would go off.

Great ideas I am so happy everyone is helping me with these great ideas!
THANK YOU!

 

[c_hasbeen]

Denim works really well. I used it to insulate my GMC motorhome. I worry that when the world runs out of used blue jeans, how will they continue to make it? :dodgy:

ZoNiE...what if?

bear with me a minute...
but.
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.what if denim is a natural renewing resource that the powers the be...
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do 
not know we know about !
and in the end 

WE WIN!

 

[4GNomad]

Cool build concept. You have lots of space. Look forward to the progress...