Saturday, January 16, 2016

Rustic School Bus Conversion



Hi! I'm Chelle and this is the 97' International 7.3 school bus I spent a year converting and getting to the point I could re-register it as a motorhome in Texas. When possible I reused what I already had or could find on craigslist. I salvaged wood and other materials myself when I came across them and purchased everything else a little at a time as I needed and/or could afford.  



The bus is wired to run off either campground hook-ups or gas generator. It's set-up for boondocking without a generator as well. For camping off-grid I have solar lights, solar hot water, a propane cook burner, propane Mr Buddy heater, woodstove, Coleman outdoor oven and a BBQ grill. At campgrounds I plug into shore power, and only need 30 amps to run the large roof mounted a/c unit. I use my dorm refrigerator, crock pot, toaster oven, electric hot plate, coffee maker, lamps, fans, heated blanket, electric heater, and Coleman roof top air conditioner. 


The peace sign I painted on the storage box is symbolic of how long I've wanted to do this. I've been dreaming about traveling the country in a converted school bus since I was a kid and a magnificent smoke belching, monstrosity of crazy colors and peace signs pulled into the gas station next to us. I was fascinated both by the bus and the young people inside. A girl with flowers in her hair saw me gawking at her. She hopped out smiling and handed me me the biggest most perfect peach I had ever seen. I questioned Dad for the next few miles as I ate my peach. He said they were "hippies". From what I gathered 'hippies' didn't have real jobs or houses, preferring instead to live in a bus, like they were camping all the time, just going wherever they want. I doubt it was his intention but the whole lifestyle sounded 'right on' to me! I decided I wanted to be a hippie and live in a school bus! 


I wanted my bus to feel like a tiny home. I kept all the windows. The cuttains hang on cables the length of the bus, and I've sewn magnets into the sheers to easily toss them up and move around. I use a vintage potty I picked up at an antique fair, for midnight 'emergencies'. 



I picked up a used cabinet, replaced the damaged top with plywood, and covered the stains on the doors with color, then covered the whole thing a dark walnut to get a look liked. 



My carpentry skills matched my budget - both 'light', so I was mindful to keep my design simple, and serious carpentry work minimal. I used 3/4 insulation board and 1/2" construction grade plywood for the floors. The walls were insulated and finished with pine plank wainscoting. 


Awesome deck right? Well it was illegal. With some help I cut it down. It's safe, legal, and there is still enough room to swing the back door open all the way, store a generator, etc. The rails can be removed for loading, and gate drops down to use as steps.
  

The electrical was already done, which was the part of the conversion I had the most concern about. It had low miles, a new Coleman rv air conditioner insalled, all but 4 seats had been removed, it had a large rear deck, new tires, and string lights. The ceiling was spray painted black and a brand new refrigerator which reeked of cinnamon schnapps! I'm sure she was destined to be a party bus before I got her.  

11 comments:

  1. Wow! You did a great job...you also gave me the inspiration to take on this challenge! I'm 62 can't imagine renting after owning homes but since I'm disabled don't want the maintenance of a home! I know there will be challenges, bus maintenance and repairs but not all the costs of a home! Still a little intimidated by the process but I think I'm gonna take the plunge! Any and all pointers or things to do and lol for will be helpful. Good luck and God bless

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    1. Thank you so much Dorca! I couldn't have completed my build without the wealth of information to be found on the internet. I would suggest you join skoolies.net and also a Facebook group I belong to called Skoolie Converters. Both excellent resources to help you decide what type of bus will suit you best, as well as help guide you thru the actual conversion process. Good luck to you!
      BTW I will be leaving Texas and living full-time on my bus before summer is out!!!

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    2. Thank you so much Dorca! I couldn't have completed my build without the wealth of information to be found on the internet. I would suggest you join skoolies.net and also a Facebook group I belong to called Skoolie Converters. Both excellent resources to help you decide what type of bus will suit you best, as well as help guide you thru the actual conversion process. Good luck to you!
      BTW I will be leaving Texas and living full-time on my bus before summer is out!!!

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  3. Just saw your blog, great bus, we just got ours, it's a 5 year plan for retirement. We live N. of ATL stop by if you're in the area.I saw a sketch up of your build, what program is that? Happy trails!!

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    1. Thanks! And welcome to the skoolie club! No regrets here.
      I used a free program from Sketchup.com to plan and design my bus in 3D and virtually walk thru it to see how the space feels.
      If you haven't found the skoolie.net forums check it out too, tons of info there.

      Here's a link to some more sketchup pictures.
      http://sweatsville.blogspot.com/2014/07/skoolie-sketchup-lay-out-and-video.html?m=1

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  4. Hey there I love your skoolie conversion. I can't wait to get a bus and get started on mine. I was curious though, how did you insulate your walls and ceiling? And how did you get air conditioning?? I'd like to have both heating and cooling in my bus. Plus a toilet that is both camp hookup and compostable

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  5. Teri Jackson04 April, 2017

    I am so glad I stumbled across this! I am a single 45 y/o woman who has been wanting to do this bus conversion for a long while. I keep looking/reading different articles, blogs, websites to get the most information I can so I'm not diving in without knowing the pitfalls. Thank you so much for the info on registering a bus as a motorhome in TX. Something I definitely need to know ;) Take care!

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  6. Are you still in the bus? Haven't found any recent comments.

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