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This is my 1993 International school bus. I am currently in the process of turning this into an RV. I bought this bus back in January for $2,000 from the Norman, Oklahoma school district. It has an international 7.3L diesel engine and automatic tranny. It runs and drives great. It's a lot of metal for $2,000. I haven't done a whole lot of welding on it yet, but I will be. I need to make frames for water tanks to hang under the bus. Also, frames for other tanks, brackets, trailer hitch etc. I was TDY for most of the spring and summer and haven't had a lot of time to work on it. But I did manage to strip all of the seats out and get the bus painted. I am going to paint some flames on it next weekend. In the back, I'm going to have a bedroom with a king size bed. I'll have some storage (closet) over the left wheel well. Over the right wheel well will be two bunks for my kids. Forward of the bunks will be an entertainment center with DVD, PS2, stereo, etc. The LCD TV will be over and behind the driver. Forward of the left wheel well will be the bathroom with toilet and shower. Forward of that will be the kitchen area with fridge, microwave, sink and a lot of cabinets. The bus is going to have heated floors and they will be wood from the front back to the bunk area. It will be carpeted behind that. I will have a propane furnace and two rooftop A/C units. The bus will have 110V A/C and 12V service. I will have two 95 gallon tanks mounted underneath the bus. One for fresh water, and one for black/grey water. At the drivers station, I'm going to have a DVD player with backup camera, CB radio, GPS navigation, and all of the controls for everything in my bus like fuel pumps and flame thrower switches. I am also converting my diesel engine to run off of used vegetable oil. On the outside of the bus, I am taking the flashing lights off the front and installing some offroad lights. I will also have my propane flame thrower mounted on the front of the roof that shoots 30' fireballs into the sky. This bus is a blast to drive. It cruises at 65mph. Not too fast, but what's the rush? So far, I have the bus painted minus the flames. I put some plastic teeth on the front grill. I also tinted all of the windows and painted the ones where a wall is going to be. It's fun to watch people in their cars point and scoot over in their seats when I make an extra wide turn! I've had a good time converting the bus so far. For $2,000, I figure I can't go wrong. My kids just LOVE the bus and can't wait to go camping in it. My wife is coming around. I had to convince her to sell our brand new travel trailer and let me buy an old school bus. She's a trooper. Anyways, here's the pics of my bus so far...Getting ready for paint. My wife loves to get those unexpected pictures of me. Almost doneTaken a week ago:An old couch and lazy boy I threw in for when people want rides. I plan to have the interior converted and ready to camp by May of 2008My very understanding and lovely wife of 9 years Lisa (She's the good looking one). She's a wonderful woman and we have a great relationship. She's a lot of fun and we have a lot of laughs. Last edited by KC10Chief; 09-22-2007 at 12:58 AM.Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:Awesome!! I always wanted to make a twinkie mobile!
Reply:Maybe add a dorsal fin?
Reply:I'm going to have a roof deck on top too. If you're interested in converting a bus, there is a forum like this one. It's www.skoolie.net. There's LOTS of info and pictures there. If you like fabricating stuff, then this is a great project. I like wrenching, welding, fabricating, camping and saving money. This is definitely the project for me. I'm having a blast, and my wife won't admit it, but she has fun when she helps me out with the bus. There's a ton of cheap school buses out there. I want to get a short bus next. One that's build on a van chassis. I can use it as a hunting vehicle/daily driver. Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:I've seen a school buss conversion or two over the years. I think they are pretty neat. Of course I'm not talking the "paint the windows and head for the protest" type conversions tho. I've always thought one of the small busses would make an excellent hunting rig. They are rock solid compared to most RV type vehicles.Looks like you're headed in the right direction.
Reply:Thats really cool. I had a friend once that did that and another friend that bought one and convereted it into a U-Haul truck to move his stuff back from Indiana.. When u gona invite us all over for a fish-fry ? Great job and the kids will love it and it will make a lots of good memories for them you and the misses...
Reply:I dig it!I drove a school bus for about 11 years. I put myself through college with that gig (Yes, it took me that long to get my degree- no thanks to some other serious obligations). I have great memories of that job. When I retire from my current career, I may drive again. As for the bus, they are tanks, because they are not "sold" for fuel economy, but for safety. If cared for, they should last for 2 lifetimes. Replacing tires will be expensive, since Walmart won't be able to help much. And, of course, become very familiar with air-brake systems, if you are not already.I would remove about 75% of the side windows and replace them with sheet metal. It will add to the safety and security, and make it easier to utilize interior walls. Plus, they will start to leak and they let a lot of heat and cold pass between the interior and exterior.I didn't notice, but if you painted over the white roof, you might consider going back to white. It will make a huge difference when it comes to keeping the interior cool in the summer. The district I worked for started painting our bus roofs white in the late 1980s, and now you can't find a bus without a factory white top! Keep the pictures coming,cricman
Reply:I was surprised after I painted the bus black that it still doesn't get all that hot inside. As for the windows, I thought about removing them and sheet metaling over them. But I have seen others that did that and I don't like the way it looks. So for my bus, where there is going to be a wall, I fixed those windows up permanently and sealed them up so they don't leak. I also painted them black from the inside so you won't be able to see the back side of some wall. When you look at the bus from the outside, it's hard to tell which windows are painted and which ones are tinted. I used some 20% tint. I may lose some insulation, but that's no big deal. I am going to have heated floors in my bus, a propane furnace and two 13,500BTU A/C units. I should be comfortable all year! Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:any idea on the MPG of your bus ???
Reply:That's a big project! You have a lot of gear planned to put into that bus. We work on R.V.'s where I am employed and I think you will have it much easier down the road because you will know every inch of that coach. I bet you could insulate the painted windows with spray in foam or even fiberglass! That would help a lot. Do yourself a favor and plan for future wire runs along the length of the coach, whether in the ceiling, walls, floor or subfloor, because you WILL need to run wire again! Looking great! City of L.A. Structural; Manual & Semi-Automatic;"Surely there is a mine for silver, and a place where gold is refined. Iron is taken from the earth, and copper is smelted from ore."Job 28:1,2Lincoln, Miller, Victor & ISV BibleDanny
Reply:Originally Posted by cricman As for the bus, they are tanks, because they are not "sold" for fuel economy, but for safety. If cared for, they should last for 2 lifetimes.
Reply:The bus gets about 10 mpg cruising at 55mph. I'm going to convert the engine to run off of used vegetable oil. I am also installing wire runs on each side, top and bottom using some of that gray PVC electrical pipe. Hopefully, it will all be easy to get to when the conversion is done! Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:I wonder if you could improve mileage any by changing the rearend gearing...I have a ford 350 van that gets not much better mileage than that (probably 12-13 mpg highway running 55 mph), but it's an old 16-passenger van with pretty low rear gearing. A neighbor of my dad has the same exact van, engine and everything, but the rear gearing a good bit higher. Mine tops out at probably 75 mph...his runs pretty comfortably at that speed...he gets about 17 mpg on the highway running in the 60-65 mph range and could probably get a little better at 55 mph.Smithboy...if it ain't broke, you ain't tryin'.
Reply:It's about $1,500 to change the rear end gears. I could get a bit better mileage and top end speed, but then I'll need more engine power! A turbo is about $2,500. Ouch! I'll worry about all of that stuff later. In about 5 years, I might upgrade to a bigger, better, faster bus!Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:I saw a few busses converted to haul rigs around in the back half, the front is either a mini repair shop or a sleeping area.Our local junkyard has a bus chopped in half so it has a flat bed for hauling parts and cars around, and the front half for hauling people around.Have we all gone mad?
Reply:Originally Posted by Joe H I spent a few years building those buses, 1 year doing the final inspections/certifications. I cannot express how funny that statement is, really cracked me up. I guess what you don't know won't hurt you (maybe).
Reply:I've been dragging my feet in dealing with a guy who has a nice straight PD4104 for sale.Four valve 6-71, aluminum rims with tubeless radials, power steering, rest room, AC and an alternator.He called today, says it's my last chance to come to the window. Or else he's gonna pull the rubber and cut a hole in the roof to vent a wood stove!I'm thinking that welding up the hole in the aluminum roof will make for a nice weldingweb thread, and the rubber has probably been sitting too long anyway. Other buyers will become leery, the township will go wild, and I'll buy it cheaper in the spring!What do you think; Hold out - or ante up?
Reply:[QUOTE=KC10Chief]I will have two 95 gallon tanks mounted underneath the bus. One for fresh water, and one for black/grey water. I am also converting my diesel engine to run off of used vegetable oil.i think that is awesome let me know if you need tanks built for your water and fuel
Reply:Well, after months of waiting, I finally had a chance to paint flames on my bus! I was either at work or the weather wasn't cooperating. Oklahoma is a windy place and I don't have access to a paint booth big enough for a bus. Finally this weekend, there were light winds and no chance of rain! Masking the flames was pretty easy. It only took me about 20 minutes to do the outline of the flames. I used some blue vinyl tape that I bought at O'reillys auto parts. I had to use two rolls at $9 each! Ouch! But it was worth it. This stuff bends around curves really easily. Then I filled in the areas around the flames with regular masking tape. After that, I drove it out to my dads house where he has 15 acres. I didn't have to worry about over spraying my neighbors cars. I'm sure I wouldn't have been very popular then! Once there, I removed the mirrors and headlights and used a giant roll of red paper to mask the big areas and the front tires. The roll of paper was only $5 at Home Depot. I could mask the whole bus a couple times easily. Here's some pics...All masked up ready for paint! Mixing the DuPont Imron paint. This stuff is NICE! But it can kill you if you breathe any of it in. Make sure you use a good respirator if you're spraying. I race dirt bikes with a guy who works for DuPont. He provided all of the paint for free! He's a sales rep and has a ton of it around his house. He says that the yellow sells for $700 a gallon! I only used a quart and a half or so. I used three gallons of black when I painted that on. Spraying the yellow.Glad I didn't do this at home! Look at the yellow fog. My neighbors would have been super pissed I'll bet. Adding red highlights on the flames. All finished and masking tape removed! It took almost as long to remove the tape as it did you put it on! I am also going to add a thin gold colored pin stripe around the outline of the flames. Should give them some more depth! There's only a couple areas to touch up. One of my dads cats walked across the left wheel well, but it's not too bad. I can touch it up with my airbrush. My teeth are falling out! A couple had fallen off already. They were white plastic and I epoxied them on. But the sun breaks down that epoxy glue I guess. A lot more came off when I pulled the masking tape. I am going to replace them with some chrome diamond plate teeth and screw them on! They'll stay put then I'm guessing. I'm also going to add some red LED lights behind the grille so the "mouth" glows red at night! I'll get some better pictures in a few days when the bus isn't sitting in a shadow. I'll also have the pin stripe put on and hopefully my diamond plate teeth! Matt in OKCLincoln 175HD
Reply:way cool ChuckASME Pressure Vessel welder
Reply:Originally Posted by KC10ChiefMy teeth are falling out!
Reply:Looks awesome.....I'd leave the teeth like that though.....I'll send you my address, you can send as much of that paint right on over for me!!!!!!Miller blue star 2eLincoln 175
Reply:pimpin!
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Reply:that looks awesome! "Ask not for whom the bone bones, it bones for thee" - BenderI WANT ONE!!!!!My wife will hate YOU for this. Because I will be a pain to live with.reber
Reply:ive been thinking about doing this for a while! What MPG does that get?
Reply:Careful putting red lights on the front of the bus. It may be illegal in your state. Red lights facing forward are usually reserved for emergency response vehicles.Be the river, Baby!
Reply:I am usually not a fan of these conversions. This one is looking pretty cool though. Nicely done so far.
Reply:Where do you guys learn to do all this stuff??I am by no means a dummy, but daaaaammmnnn! It just makes my jaw drop lookin at what you've done so far and what you still have planned.I am interested in how you are gonna heat the floors too. I've heard of the veggie oil conversions, but never seen one up close.If you don't mind, what do you estimate you will have dollar wise *total* in the entire project?This would be an awesome retirement project for my S.O. & myself. We look at all these high dollar campers rolling down the hi-way and drool.Thanks & keep the pics coming!Õzá®kÇÑÇ
Reply:Would it be hard to paint the teeth on? You seem to be handy with that paint gun. |
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发表于 2021-9-1 00:27:02