Buses aren't just for rednecks anymore !!!

[HotRodPC]

So I've done a thing recently. Has anyone seen some of these school bus builds? The Nomadic lifestyle went full blown nuts during the pandemic. Many people are living in Promaster, Transit and Sprinter vans by choice. Many are living in school busses and these busses have all the amenties of a home with off grid solar systems etc. So I ended up homeless and probably a good thing. A few knew my bad living conditions living with a handicapped drunk and I was trapped and had no choice to stay due to my disabilities and scared as hell to get into a long term commitment again as far a house purchase or lease agreement. I may be walking today but I might not be tomorrow. So I did this deal. Only thing I'm not thrilled about is the Cat C7 engine but it's low mileage at 131,000 and 4990 engine hours. I drove it 160 miles from where I bought it. It ran 70-80mph on the turnpike and didn't break a sweat. He had just put 2 big ass 1400 cranking amp batteries in it for $500. So he was asking $5700 and NOOOOOOO, not me. He finally said I just need it gone and I can get $2100 driving it over the scale which I think might be a lie, but nonetheless, he said give me $2000 and my $500 for the batteries and I'll give you the keys and title. I told him I'll have some travel expenses to get it back to OKC, he said not on the but, it has over 50 gallons of diesel in it. He was right. I've driving it here and drove it around a few days and still haven't put fuel in it. So yeah $2500 and it just might be my next home on wheels. Rust Free and has the Allison 2000 OD with converter lock up trans.

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[HotRodPC]

Anyone who knows me, when I got in, I go in. 1 wasn't enough. This one I actually bought locally first about 3 weeks before the that one up there. $2000 for a 2003 Freightliner FS65 with Thomas Coach, Cummins 5.9 24 Valve with the $hitty Allison AT545. No OD and NO converter lock up so they tend to run hot and self destruct on long drives especially if hills and long grades are involved. I may be buying another bus for parts that has the OD Allision since this one needs a hood and I want to convert the transmission. I'll be getting that bus for $1200 with a Mercedes engine in it. Those are great engines but noone will work on them and parts are outrageous when they do go out. So I want the Cummins Allsion 2000 or MD3060 powertrain. So I'm actually not sure which one of these I'll build yet. I got this one for $2000.

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[HotRodPC]

I can post these here right? I mean, they are kinda SQUARE. Maybe more rectangular but...

 

[HotRodPC]

It amazing what people are doing with these things.

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[SquareRoot]

I guess an LS swap is out of the question?

 

[dvdswan]

I guess an LS swap is out of the question?

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school bus conversion - Google Search

 

[89Suburban]

Holy fak. Got room for me to move in?

 

[SquareRoot]

The googly eyes on the battery charger is kinda freaky.

 

[animal]

I am pretty sure that Cob will be wanting to check out the shaggin waggin

 

[DoubleDingo]

Nice scores! Definitely different, but lots of potential for sure.

 

[SDJunkMan]

A couple of great deals! I had a skoolie years ago, before they were cool. Got rid of it after the kids grew up and moved out on their own.

Been looking for a deal on a rear engined one, need a backwards rear end and possibly the rest of tne driveline for my 1947 F!xible Clipper pusher bus. I currently have a 3208T Cat with an Allison to put in it, but the rear axle in the bus is geared for a gasser.

Skoolie.net has a lot of good info.

Plan on painting your busses, it's illegal in most states to leave them skool bus yellow.

 

[waterpirate]

For that real throw back vibe to the original you need to graft a VW bus on the roof, lol. Now that would be the $hit!
Eric

 

[AZ Highlander]

Skoolies & Squares. Nice

 

[SquareRoot]

@waterpirate

 

[Frankenchevy]

Those look to be in good shape. The OD in #1 mated to the Cummins would be cool, but not sure how involved that would be. Is there a reason you don’t like the CAT?

I’ve been gathering parts for a much smaller home on wheels. My wife and I bought a towable a couple years ago because I needed it for a project immediately. I worked out of town for about 8 months.

We’ve been camping in it many times since then, but we feel limited in the sense that we can’t go off-road much. Sooo, we are converting the older Cummins truck we have (2004 QCLB) into an off-road camper. We have 400watts of solar, a dc to dc charger, 2000 watt inverter/charger, two 200ah (400ah total) lifepo batteries, a 12v A/C system and a diesel coolant heater.

The diesel coolant heaters are cool because they heat glycol super efficiently. That glycol gets pumped to a coolant-to-air exchanger and a stacked plate coolant-to-water exchanger. So the same compact unit heats water and air. They sip diesel at a very conservative rate. It’s a similar system to what you’d find on a sail boat or any small water vessel for traveling. This one is made by a company called Eberspacher.

Anyway, all in the camper will weigh a bit under 1500 wet. I’ve got all the goodies lined up for my build. The only thing I haven’t decided is if I should stick to the 35s and 2” lift I installed last year or go 37s and a 3” lift.

I’ve researched the hell out of RV solar and utilities. I may be able to help somewhat if you are trying to figure something out. You have a large canvas, which is good if you are full-timing in it.