A School Bus is now a great RV

[Ian]

Just looking around the web and I lucked into this site where an old School Bus was slowly converted into a really cool RV for the owner and his family.

...it's a 1989 Thomas Saf-T-Liner MVP with a rear mounted CAT 3208 engine...It was originally built for 75 Passengers with a GVWR 30,000 lbs.  It's got about between 80 and 100K miles on it and originally came from Montrose, NY. The interior dimensions are 35' x 7.5' x 6.5'.  I bought it on eBay for $2031.00.

No, there is nothing in this project that interests me, I would love to be that good with welding and timber construction etc. I'm not and a 10 year bus conversion project - that's how long I would take - is simply not on the cards.

So here's the site, check it out, you might get some ideas for your own vehicle: http://www.vonslatt.com/bus-main.shtml

[Len and Jo]

They really did a good job.  Lots of interior work.  I wonder if they will do anything to the bus suspension in the future to improve the ride?

[Ian]

Although I have never had the 'pleasure' of a ride in one of those buses I would imagine that the ride standard would be more suited to around the town rather than across the state

[edjunior]

Dang, that man had gumption, no doubt!  You think he would have added a slide or something!!   

[Ian]

Ed, while it would not be anything that I would set out to do, for and initial eBay purchase of just over $2,000 plus a big load of remedial works and replacement parts, he has produced a vehicle that is a wonder and a joy to behold.

The workmanship is outstanding. Lets face it, the end result is still not comparable to a modern day RV, but then, what price satisfaction for a job well done?

If I had done work like that I know I'd never be able to find a shirt big enough to fit in my chest LOL

[edjunior]

That's a pretty good way to sum it all up Ian.  He did indeed do a fantastic job.  Like I said...Gumption!

[ArdraF]

Not my kind of thing, but he sure did a nice job.  What a lot of work to gut it and then put it back together and even better!

ArdraF

[Ian]

I'm wondering if he is still running around in it, last entry was July in '06. Anybody seen his RV in their travels?

BTW, if you want to see some quality craftsmanship check out the work of the housetrucker shown in this sample of the book, Rolling Homes by Jane Lidz, reviewed at  http://www.mrsharkey.com/busbarn/rhomes/rhomes.htm
You can find a bigger picture of the housetruck in this PDF file: http://www.mrsharkey.com/busbarn/tohouse.pdf. 14 years and $150,000, that is commitment!

[tn.jed]

poke around here

http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/SchoolBUSconversioNUTS/

interesting stuff