baadpuppy's schoolbus conversion... unleashed

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baadpuppy

Well-known member
Joined
Jul 22, 2007
Posts
307
Location
ESVA
Well, it has taken me some time, but I'm finally getting started on converting my old schoolbus.  I've also come up with a good name for my bus: 'unleashed'.  It has multiple levels of meaning for me.  :)

The vehicle is a 1985 Thomas Saf-T-Liner rear engine diesel pusher school bus.  The chassis is freightliner, and the body is Thomas.  The engine is a CAT 3208 naturally aspirated model, and the transmission is an Allison MT-643 4 speed automatic with lockup torque converter.  The bus is equipped with air brakes and air activated automatic chains.  It also has air controlled throttle and an air horn.  The bus is approximately 39' long with a flat nose and the driver forward of the front axle.  The GVWR is 33,280.  The bus is already titled as a motorhome in VA, and no special license endorsements are required.

It has taken me a while to get most of the tools I'll need together.  Also, there was a colder winter this year, which seemed to conspire to put the bad weather on the weekends.  This summer I plan to make up for it.

Right now the bus is being used as a temporary shed to hold some belongings from my uncle's estate (he passed away this march) while they get sold.  However, that hasn't stopped me from getting to work.

I initially thought that my roof raise was going to be the first major thing and would hold everything up.  However, I now realize I have to deal with the wiring before I can raise the roof.  Additionally, I have to allow time for my uninvited guests to raise their little ones before I evict them.

This bus had an interesting control panel above the driver's seat with a lot of switched and indicators.  There's a picture of that here.  This panel flips down revealing a bunch of wiring harness connectors as well as the controls for the 8-way warning flashers that school busses have.  There is also the main power cutoff solenoid for the body electrical system.

I found that one of the harnesses shows signs of overheating in the past.  It appears to be the one that ran all those flashing lights.  I'm still working on untangling the mess and cutting out the school bus specific circuits.  It appears as though I'll be able to relocate all those circuits to a different control panel, eliminating most of the wiring from consideration during the roof raising.

I already have 1 friend that is committed to coming and helping with the roof raise.  My dad will also be helping.  I suspect I can get an uncle and cousin to help as well.  The process has been well documented by others, and I intend to follow their plan quite closely.  After it is raised, there will be some fun welding work to do.  :D  Still, that is several months off.

Once the roof is raised, I intend to skin both sides of the bus eliminating the school bus windows.  I want to put in some RV windows, but I want to make sure that they are dual paned as well as being emergency egress capable.

Another part of my plan is to build a raised secondary floor in the main living area and put the tanks between that floor and the school bus floor.  I also am planning to have radiant hydronic heating.  I plan to have a split unit air conditioner with the air handler inside and the compressor in the basement area.  Batteries will also live in the basement area.  The space between the floors and the remaining basement space will be storage.

I'm also planning to put in a small loft bedroom above the cockpit if there ends up being enough space after the raise.  I can raise the roof about 3' without any legal issues.

Keeping the tanks and storage low will help me keep the center of gravity low, compensating for the raising of the roof.

I'll try to keep this thread updated at least once a week with some kind of progress.  Now that I've started the thread, I have motivation to keep working so I can keep it updated.  ;D

more to come later,
jim
 
Being someone who loves busses, I'd enjoy seeing some photos.

Steve
 
Thanks for the link to the photos.  Wow, what a project!  I bet you're having all kinds of fun!!!

Steve
 
I've just barely scratched the surface.  I just wish I had considered a skoolie before spending $5,500 on an old rusted motorhome and another $1,100 on tires for it, and another $1,000 building a "tent" to renovate the old RV within.  When I think what I could do with $7,600 on the skoolie conversion, it makes me sick.  On the other hand, I got a lot of experience from the first 2 projects.

The old RV was fine as a short term camping RV, and I now regret trying to renovate it.  If I had left it as it was, my parents could be enjoying it for camping.  What I want is a long term durable full timing rig, and that RV just wasn't it.  I rushed into the purchase not knowing anywhere near what I needed to know.  The ford 460 engine ate belts often.  The frame had a lot of rust from northern winters.  The electrical system was monkeyed beyond belief under the hood.  And the tv/vcr had hosted a family of chipmunks at some point in its life.  Still, it only leaked a little, the bed was comfy, and the accessories all worked aside from the vcr and tv.

The old RV has made an excellent donor of accessories for the summer kitchen we started building last summer and plan to finish this spring.  We'll be able to keep the cooking heat outdoors and out of the house, making it more bearable to be inside without A/C.

On the bus, I will be insulating hopefully good enough to winter in Alaska or Canada.  :eek:

If anyone wants to stop by and have some "fun" of their own working on the bus I doubt I'll say no.  ;)

jim
 
baadpuppy said:
If anyone wants to stop by and have some "fun" of their own working on the bus I doubt I'll say no.   ;)

Thank you Tom Sawyer!

Steve
 
Well, today I finished getting the overhead control panel removed. I labeled each wire that I pulled from a switch, and I labeled all the connectors with a letter so I would make sure A went to A etc, even though they were all keyed differently. I just wanted to be absolutely sure I got them back correctly.

I disconnected the heavy gauge wire from the main fuse panel that fed the solenoid for the body circuits. It makes me less uncomfortable working in the tight space knowing I won't accidentally short that sucker to ground.

The entire wiring harness is now removed from the overhead forward section, and is currently hanging down behind the driver's seat. There is only 1 hot wire in the whole bundle, and I haven't tracked down what is feeding it yet.

I removed the wiring chase cover down the drivers side and some of it on the passenger side. Unfortunately, there is a lot of "stuff" being stored in the bus, so I can't get to all of them yet.

I discovered little birds are living in the empty space above the door. Do all school buses have a dead space there? I've been surprised at how much dead space I keep finding.

It is nice to finally be seeing some progress.

Some pics of the roof raising prep work can be found at: http://gallery.giffords.net/v/thomas/raiseprep/. I'll be updating that gallery as I go along with the prep work.

jim
 
I haven't decided yet whether I'm the laziest and most pessimistic person in the world (and that you are the most energetic and optimistic) - or - that we both have some serious problems ahead.

I am absolutely blown away by the scope of your project.  I wish you luck and Godspeed.
 
today was at least as hot as yesterday. ugh.

Yesterday evening I decided to not risk having birds flying around the interior of the bus, so I taped off 2 of the 4 flasher holes in the front and but a piece of pink foam insulation in the sign window area to block the other two from the interior of the vehicle. The mother bird can still get in and out to feed her chicks. And listening to them cheeping, I think she needs to get hustling.

I worked on the wiring harnesses some more today. I cut the wires for the radio and speakers out completely. When I finish my conversion, that old crappy radio won't be there nor will those old crappy speakers. So, one thing off the list. Additionally, I removed one harness that was only associated with the 8-way flashers. I cut the electrical tape off of all 30+ feet of the wiring running thru the wire chase above the driver side windows. The ones associated with the 8-ways have been pulled to the back. I identified the rest of them, and cleaned them up. Turns out that harness has the following 6 wires: tail, stop, left, right, reverse, clearance. Someone must not have realized how to turn on the clearance lights because they had tied tail to clearance so the clearance lights came on with the running lights.

I took out most of the speakers and overhead interior lights today. Left a few because I couldn't get to them for the stuff being stored in my bus.  :-\  I pulled off the rest of the passenger side wire chase cover except for one bit which has two screws with stripped heads. My T-20 torx bit is also getting a bit stripped. I'll have to pick some up this week.

I pulled the front panel off to get access to additional radio wiring and pulled and cut out all of that as well. Just have about 6 feet worth of speaker wire left in an area that is currently not accessible.

Even with all the circuit butchery that I've done, the bus still cranks up and moves. All the normal lights work too except the clearance lights, which are currently completely disconnected.

I took more pictures today and added them to the ones from yesterday. They can be found at http://gallery.giffords.net/v/thomas/raiseprep/ starting on page 2.

I'm running out of things to do for roof raise prep while stuff is stored inside the bus. So, I have to figure out other things I can do to the bus without disturbing the contents or the birds and without interfering with the future roof raising.

jim
 
Lou (onaquest) said:
I haven't decided yet whether I'm the laziest and most pessimistic person in the world (and that you are the most energetic and optimistic) - or - that we both have some serious problems ahead.

I am absolutely blown away by the scope of your project.  I wish you luck and Godspeed.

I can't speak to your laziness and pessimism.  My own laziness on the other hand is almost legendary.  :D  I can say categorically that I'm far from the most energetic and optimistic person in the world.

... and I know for a fact that I have some serious problems ahead.  ;D

I've always been a more do-it-yourself kind of guy, and this is one of the ultimate do-it-yourself types of projects.  I know that it will end up costing a lot of money, even doing things economy minded.  On the other hand, I look to be living full time in the finished product for 10+ years, assuming the chassis doesn't rot out from under me.  lol  Even if the driveline croaks, the design of a rear engine bus is such that it is relatively easy to swap out the driveline.  That's not to say it would be cheap.

I've had the bus since June.  I kept having reasons not to work on it.  "It's too blasted hot this summer", "it's too cold this winter", "it's too windy", "I don't have the tools I need", "I don't have the parts I need", etc etc.  I don't want to get to June of this year and have no progress being made.  So, with good weather finally gracing us a bit, I've been pushing myself to do *something*.

I'm not looking forward to paying the bill for the steel I'm going to have to purchase within the next month or so.  I still need a good rivet tool and some good steel rivets of various sizes.  I need more T-20 torx bits.  I need an angle grinder to deal with the screws with stripped heads.  I have to wait for little birdies to get old enough to fly so I can evict them.  The ones in the rear might not notice a roof raise, but the ones over the door definitely would notice when I cut thru their compartment.  But, I intend to keep on making progress.

Posting here (and at the skoolie.net forum and in my blog) helps keep my progress more public, which helps motivate me to show more progress instead of slacking off watching TV.

This spring we also have to get the pool opened back up, finish the summer kitchen we started last year, finish disassembly of the old RV that I started in august of 2007, and build some decks near the pool.

Oh well, I just have to keep on keeping on.  I really appreciate the encouragement and support I get from the kind folks here on the rv forum.

jim
 
baadpuppy, I followed your previous adventure, start to finish. Glad to see you back. I expect many exciting posts as this project develops.  ;D

I am wishing you luck, energy, and a mind full of ideas as you go along. Can't help, as I have no experience or knowledge that would be useful to you. But, I can sit on the sidelines, enjoy your dream, and be awed at the scope of your project. I'd love to see it, when it is done!  :eek:

Keep up the good work!  ;D

Ray D  ;D
 
Baadpuppy,

Like Ray D I followed your previous project and wish you success.

ArdraF
 
Well, this weekend's progress has been minimal.

Dad and I rearranged some of the stuff stored in the bus so that I can more easily get to the back, making an aisle down the drivers side.

I moved the 6 deep cycle UPS batteries into the storage bay underneath the passenger side. That was not fun.

I removed all the removable screws from 1 roof panel, and it just about killed my arms. That's going to take a while. There are a few screws left, and they'll have to be ground off with a grinder.

I checked on the little cheepers, and they seem to be thriving. Hopefully in about 2 to 3 weeks I'll be able to evict them all.

I also removed the service panel above the engine from the interior, and looked at the air throttle assembly. It appears to be a professional installation, and is fully functional where it is. Without any real incentive, I don't think I'll relocate it to the more normal location on the front of the engine block. Reminder: make sure it is easy to access that service panel after the conversion is finished. 

I also checked, and my gear selector lever is a cable type, not air type. This might make relocating it to the dash a bit more work.

Today it is raining, so there isn't much to be done.

Sorry, no new pictures this time.
 
The conversion has been on hold for a while for a variety of reasons.  These include the infestation of the bus with birds and mites as well as the use of the bus for storage.

This weekend I dealt with 2 of those 3 issues.

I bought a second bus to deal with the storage issue.  This second bus is about 35' long, conventional style, 366 ci tall block chevy gas engine, 5 speed manual transmission, 25,500 pound GVWR.

I plan to remove all but 3 rows of seats, the 2 behind the driver and one somewhere near the middle.  This will divide the bus into two main storage areas and also allow me to carry a few passengers if need be.

I will then move all of my belongings and conversion stuff into the forward most storage area in this bus.  I want to keep the rearward storage area clear for going to the store to buy materials for the conversion.

Once all of my stuff is out of the sheds on the property, I'll then have room to move the stuff that is in my conversion bus into the sheds, freeing the conversion bus for being converted.

The second problem, that of mites, was dealt with with pesticides.  The new "shed" bus as I'm calling it had some weird looking creepy crawlies in it, so I bought some foggers and set one off in each bus.  Each fogger is rated for 7000 square feet, so should be more than enough for a bus.

As for the new bus, I do plan to title it, however I'm considering going the "farm use only" route with it, as I should only need it on the road for going to get materials for the conversion.

This week I hope I can get out there with some help to get the seats out.  And of course, I'll need help shuffling all the "stuff" around between sheds and busses.

Some basic pics of the new "shed" bus can be found here.

jim
 
Wow. I bought a motorhome about 2 years ago and I am still fixing things like the rubber roof and other stuff. I never heard of a bus to rv conversion. If I had known about this, I would have bought a school bus in a heartbeat. Buses are built like tanks. What a cool and fun project. I will never buy another motorhome again. They are not made to last like a bus. Good luck. ;D
 
yay, some progress today!

I bought a new battery for the shed bus (I really need a better name for that one), to the tune of $117 and change.  But, she cranks right up now, so I'm happy about that.

Moved the busses around in the yard a bit, so that the two emergency doors were aligned mostly. Put the headboard from an old waterbed between the two busses as a ramp/drawbridge. Then dad and I moved a lot of the stuff from 'unleashed' into the shed bus.

Originally I planned to store my conversion stuff in the shed bus, but it turns out the volume of the conversion stuff is less than the volume of the stuff currently being stored in 'unleashed', so we changed the plan.

The next clear evening that we get, I plan to move more of the stuff out of 'unleashed' into the shed bus. Hrm, perhaps 'shedbus' should be its name.

Anyway, once all that stuff is out, I get to have fun cleaning up the mess from the birds and the poisoning with sevin dust. After that, it'll be time to take up the floor and start pulling out the windows in preparation for the roof raise. Raising the roof won't happen before the last part of july though. Still haven't lined up a supplier for steel. 

so... progress is progress as they say. 

jim
 
pineknot4657 said:
Wow. I bought a motorhome about 2 years ago and I am still fixing things like the rubber roof and other stuff. I never heard of a bus to rv conversion. If I had known about this, I would have bought a school bus in a heartbeat. Buses are built like tanks. What a cool and fun project. I will never buy another motorhome again. They are not made to last like a bus. Good luck. ;D

I agree that busses are built like tanks.  School busses seem to be some of the toughest built vehicles ever made (not counting military vehicles).  They are designed to withstand abuse from the single most destructive force on this planet: kids.  They're also designed to keep those little terrors alive as much as possible in the case of an accident.

I agree that many motorhomes and rvs are built to poor standards.  However, I believe there are a lot built to high standards as well.  The sad fact is that a motorhome built to last for 20+ years of full time living is way outside my budget, but a school bus conversion won't be.

When you add the fact that I'm never content with a stock design of anything, a conversion makes a lot of sense for me.

Another thing to consider if your pockets are deep enough is the medium duty and heavy duty truck conversions that are becoming increasingly popular.  There are also transit busses (like city busses), as well as long haul busses (such as greyhounds), ambulances, fire trucks, box trucks, refrigerated trucks, etc.  Basically, if it has wheels, chances are someone somewhere has thought about how to convert it.

Thanks again,
jim
 
Hi Jim!

I congratulate your efforts and fortify your will to complete this project successfully.

FTR, what is the interior height from floor to ceiling in your stock bus prior to the roof-raising?

Regards,
Jack
 
Thanks.

The interior height in my bus is 6'0" at the center.  The sides are considerably less.

Thomas basically makes 3 interior heights.  If you look at one in profile, you'll see at the front that the roof might be different than it is over the passenger area.  That roof height is 6'3".  Mine is one where the roofline drops over the passenger area.  Another design is no rise or fall, giving 6'3" front to back.  The 3rd option has a rise giving 6'6" headroom in the passenger area.  Those are rather rare though.

Thomas also built a lot of transit busses on the same basic chassis.  Typically, those are a 6'3" or 6'6" interior height, and also the floor is above the wheels so no wheel humps to deal with.  That makes them higher outside as well.  My bus is almost exactly 10' tall (minus a bit) at the tallest point, leaving me plenty of room for growth.  ;D

jim
 
still slow progress.  It alternates between hot and wet, with lots of hot and muggy in between.

The shed bus was christened "The StowAway" by a member of the skoolie forum.  Perfect name.

Although, vampire would've been a good name, as it likes to suck all the juice out of the battery in about 18 hours.  yikes!  One day I'll have to track that down.  In the mean time, disconnecting the cable is easy enough.

This weekend in between bouts of rain, we managed to move all the vehicles and busses (except the old rv) to get the grass cut.  I also got some more things moved from unleashed into the stowaway.

Slow progress is still progress... barely.  :-\

more later,
jim
 
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