The Conversion of Hannah (A School Bus)

[ainley53]

Well it's been a while since I last posted; so I guess it's time for an update.  First, a small aside, RTR 2016 was a BLAST!!!  I can not stress enough to those who have never attended RTR; ATTENDING AT LEAST ONE RTR IS A MUST.  The people I met were wonderful and the information gained was priceless.  Thank you Bob Wells for organizing this yearly event.  

When I got Hannah, she was missing all the mirrors and most of the lights. But she did have a new paint job, almost new tires and only 36,000 miles. I paid $1,750 for her at auction.

 

[ainley53]

I removed all the seats, the stop sign, the rubber floor mat and plywood floor.  I did not remove the ceiling or the side panels below the windows as these are mounted with rivets, not screws.  The seat mounting bolts that went through the floor were severely rusted.  A lot of them sheared off and had to be driven out of the floor with a hammer and a punch.  It takes two people to remove these bolts as they have nuts on the bottom.  I held a wrench on the nuts while my Uncle used a cordless ratchet drive to undo the bolts.  Lots of dirt in my face.  Once the plywood floor was out, the nails that had not rusted off had to be cut off with a side grinder.  I then used a heavy industrial side grinder with a new rock to grind the rust off the metal floor.  That alone took an entire day.  Very nasty work.  A coating of Krud Kutter rust converter and then a coat of POR15 black frame paint.

 

[Matlock]

Great platform and great price. How does she drive and ride? Are all the mechanicals decent or are there know issues? Regardless, it's a hell of a good buy with so few miles. Your gonna have a ball with all that open space.

 

[highdesertranger]

very cool, keep the updates coming. highdesertranger

 

[ainley53]

I removed the rear air conditioning unit from the interior roof (over the rear door).  Another ROYAL PITA as one of the mounting bolts was so rusted I had to use a side grinder with a cutting wheel to cut off the nut.  A special "Thank you" to Dustin Parks at Tennessee Metals Recycling in Puryear, TN. for the extra fuel tank, fuel door and cradle ($70) and some lighting parts (brake, turn, clearance light mounting plates and lenses for $20) and to Jimmie Anderson at McKnight Salvage in Midway, Ky. for all the mirrors, more lighting parts, pull handles and side steps, etc (less than $100).  These two guys alone saved me over a $1000 in parts.

So with all these goodies, I installed new mirrors, mounting plates and lenses for all the missing lights on the outside of Hannah, as well as pull handles and steps.  I had the fuel tank and cradle mounted and plumbed in so I now have two 65 gallon fuel tanks.  They're hooked up so I draw fuel from both tanks at the same time.  I cut an access hole in the floor of the bus so I can wire up a separate fuel gauge for the second tank.  I also cut a hole in the driver side of Hannah and installed a fuel door for the second tank.

I removed the "School Bus" decals front and rear with the aid of a heat gun.  A hair dryer would have also worked but would have taken longer.  Warming the decal makes it much easier to remove and it comes off much cleaner.  NO adhesive residue left on the bus.

 

[rvwandering]

Thanks for the update David! We're looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

 

[cyndi]

Yay!!! Can't wait to see Hannah transformed. And it's really good to hear from you!

 

[Suanne]

Nice progress. Love the pics. Great to hear from you!

 

[ainley53]

While I was replacing/repairing the lights, I decided to make some changes.  Normally the emergency flasher lights at the top of the bus are:  red on the outboard side, yellow on the inboard side.  But the turn and brake lights are reversed, with the red brake light on the inboard side and the turn lights on the outboard side.  So I reversed the upper lights and wired them as additional turn and brake lights.  I installed fog lights in the front bumper and changed the red lense on the upper front emergency flasher lights to clear lenses.  At some point I'll install driving lights or spotlights in there.  See previous pics.  Now the turn and brake lights all line up, top to bottom.

I removed the exhaust pipe from near the rear end of the fuel tank to the rear of the bus.  I installed a 90 degree elbow and ran the exhaust pipe out the side of the bus in front of the rear tires.  I used part of the exhaust pipe I removed to fab a turn down tip for the end of the exhaust pipe at the side of the bus.  Turn down tips start at about $135.  Mine was free.  I also repurposed the old hanging brackets with a little fab work to make a new one.

 

[ainley53]

I've removed ALL the old caulking from the top cap (where the roof meets the front of the bus) and from all the windows.  This cured a major leak in the top cap on the driver's side as well as several small leaks at the bottom of several windows.  Another HUGE PITA.  Unfortunately the gaskets for the emergency exit windows are no longer available.  Thankfully the new caulking seems to be working.  I replaced the gasket around the rear door.  I replaced the slider/stop at the top of the rear door with the spring and chain from a storm door as this allows the rear door to be fully opened.  The chain was cut to length so the rear door does not hit the lower brake light and break the lens.  Rear door is held open with a bungee cord.

I've also done a LOT of cleaning.  Marine Clean at a solution of 1 part Marine Clean to 5 parts water works REALLY well.  Notice the uncleaned spot on the emergency hatch compared to the rest of the hatch.  Then entire ceiling of the bus looked like that dirty spot on the hatch.

 

[ainley53]

I've almost completely rewired the control panel.  It had a lot of poorly crimped connections and I didn't like the push/pull type switches.  I installed L.E.D. lighted toggle switches where possible.  The red switches (left to right) are clearance lights, dome lights, fog lights, driving/spotlights.  I still need to label them.  The blue switches are for fans.  The small black switch (left side, center) is a 3 position switch for the heater fan; center is off, down is low, up is high.  I'll be adding air horns which my Uncle took off a train.  Want to make sure I can be seen and heard should the need arise.  LOL.

 

[ainley53]

Matlock,

I never owned/drove a bus or a big truck so I'm not sure how they're supposed to ride. Pretty stiff I would guess from the suspension. I guess she rides pretty good. She runs good. Handles good, no play in the steering. Brakes good. Transmission shifts smoothly. She's a 1996 International Bluebird 3800, T44E. She's a mid sized bus, not a mini and not full sized. She had 14 seats. She's got a 7.3 liter V8, turbo diesel with electronic ignition and a four speed Allison 545 automatic transmission. She's got a 4.44 rear gear. I disconnected the air conditioner clutch. According to the markings on the filters, she was last service one year ago. I took her to a local International dealership and had her checked out. They also removed the codes from the computer which made a slight but noticeable improvement in her top end performance. She originally topped out at 65 MPH, 2700 RPM and lost speed on any uphill grade. Now she tops out at 68 MPH, 2800 RPM and does not lose any speed on an uphill grade. I'm sure she will lose something on a BIGGER hill though.

David

 

[rvpopeye]

Fine looking job so far David!
Sounds like you found some good sources for pieces and parts.
That info should come in handy for other bus converters !
Now the fun part begins...........Make it your home on wheels !!!!!

 

[cyndi]

No wonder we haven't heard from you. You've been hard at it!!!

 

[highdesertranger]

looking good. a label maker would make short work of labeling the switches. I use a Brother P-Touch. highdesertranger

 

[Gary68]

yea,looking at the pics it didnt look full size,how long is it?

 

[masterplumber]

Wow, you've been busy since you got back home! Looks great, I can't wait to see how you build it out. It looks like a really good size.

 

[Every Road Leads Home]

Cant beat the price and mileage. Looks like you've been busy and you now have a nice clean slate to work from. Can't wait to see the progress.

 

[ainley53]

yea,looking at the pics it didnt look full size,how long is it?

28 feet, bumper to bumper. Inside is 17 feet rear door to back of driver's seat and 7'6" wall to wall

 

[ainley53]

Friday April 08, 2016. Yippee-Ki-Yah!!! Hannah is now officially titled and licensed in the state of Tennessee and insured through State Farm. This turned out to be SO SIMPLE. Went to the county clerk's office at the court house. Told them I bought this old school bus at an auction and needed to get it licensed. They said "No problem." I gave them my NEW Tennessee Driver's license and the title. They filled out a couple of forms. Said "Sign here and here." I paid the taxes and fees and walked out with my license plate. Proof of insurance is not currently required in Tennessee; but it will be soon. State Farm wanted 3 pictures, 2 of the outside from opposite corners so they can see both sides, the front and the rear; and one pic of the inside. Agent said the pics are so the underwriters can establish the current condition and value of the vehicle. PIECE OF CAKE!!!

I thought it was a little weird when I got my Tennessee driver license and discovered that 4 of the numbers on it were in the same sequence as on my Texas license. But it was even weirder when the county clerk pulled the next license plate off the stack and placed it on the counter "53753". TOO WEIRD!! I was born in '53 and I consider "7" a lucky number. Maybe I'm nuts but I believe this was God's way of reassuring me He's still watching out for me.

Tomorrow I start putting in the new floor.