More work on the new bumper brackets
More work and welding on the rear bumper brackets.
Working on new brackets for the rear bumper. The original bumper hung way too low and dragged all the time. It looked nice for the original purpose as a Red Cross bus but not practical for our purposes.
Tonia working on cramming plumbing and the diesel heater duct work under the sink...
Pulling up in the bus at families house for Christmas is going to be epic. Good thing we have a Rottweiler too!!!
Prepping the trailer for our upcoming road trip, I found one wheel that was extremely loose feeling. I bought this trailer recently and after finding this, I also found one wheel that was 5-lug while the 3 others are 6-lug. I went to take this wheel off and multiple lugs spun because they had been welded to the brake drum. It`s time to go through and rebuild or replace all the hubs and wheels before the trip!
Tonia has been working on the water lines
After drilling a couple holes in the frame for my receiver hitch my arms felt like jello. I can`t believe I didn`t think of this sooner!!! 😀
Test fitting the receiver hitch. I lose too much ground clearance if it`s below the frame rails, but it looks like it fits inside of the frame rails and I can actually mount it upside down which will center it in the middle of the bumper!!!
Testing the diesel heater before installing it in the bus. It`s alive!!!
We finally found a window that was a pretty close fit for the missing one and got it installed tonight!!! This has been a headache since we started this project!!!
Tonight`s quick project. Cut in the induction cooktop stove!
We have put 1163 hours on this Harbor Freight 3500 generator with no maintenance needed and it finally quit running the other day while recharging the batteries on the bus. A $25 ignition coil and it started again. Changed the spark plug, oil, and cleaned the spark arrestor while I was at it and it`s back in action. When we first got our property it was used 24/7 until we got electric.
Tonia went looking for the dogs on the four wheeler and laid it on it`s side in a water hole that was deeper than she expected. I was still working on the bus and had to go rescue her. Luckily it didn`t pin her down and she didn`t get hurt too bad. She was a bit shook up after the adrenaline wore off but luckily she`s just going to be a bit sore tomorrow. It could have been allot worse!
Happy Birthday Marines!!!!
Made it thru the flood. Back to work on the bus!
Well crap. That`s not supposed to do that!
Flooding at the house... We are close to the river but normally you can`t even see it from the house. Last night it was carrying logs thru the yard!!!!
Halloween Party Time!
Every bus needs a Knight Rider light!!! 🤣😅🤣😂
Playing with layouts for the shower and toilet. Tonia started building a box to go over the wheel well as a platform for the toilet to sit on. We will be using a macerating marine toilet and that opens up lots of options for placement of the toilet and tank!
For some reason, when they built this bus for the red cross, they not only removed multiple leaf springs to lower it, but also used custom brackets to lower the rear bumper, below the frame rails. I scrape coming in and out of my property and many other places and I plan to haul my Jeep on a trail behind it so this needs resolved. Today I tore into it to see what I have to work with. I removed the bumper and started cutting back some of the fiberglass to see what I`m working with. I need to rethink the bumper and also add a receiver hitch for the trailer at the same time. I`ll also trim the skirt at an angle to give more clearance.
Has anyone ever seen this happen on a solar panel before? I went up to add my second panel and this is what I found on the one that I put on about 6 months ago
Testing some blue gear for the bus!!! Beginning of our solar install
More work on the square body "dump truck" (so I can haul gravel from the river and make nice parking spots and roads for buses)!
Adding sides to the Chevy Square Body dump bed. How is this bus related? I need to be able to haul gravel to start making camping spots for the bus, my buddies bus, and a few campers on our property. I also need to be able to smooth out the roads to make it easier to get the bus in and out of our long, rough road!
Fun side by side trip with a bunch of friends. Watch the video of the brother in law putting his on the side!!!
The work van also has a nice size comfy bed in it for when I need to travel a bit for work (or in this case to go to the VA hospital). It doesn`t suck waking up next to the Katy Trail and Missouri River! The van has it`s place compared to the bus at certain times and can be a bit more stealth if needed.
My wife is making fun of my welding and grinding gear!!! 😂
When you score a MT643 transmission for your bus for only $250 you go and get it, even if you happen to be in one of the company mini vans!!! 😀
Frustrating coolant temp issue. After driving for a while the temp gauge goes to zero and I start getting an alert. Replaced one sensor today and it didn`t solve the issue. More chasing wires and sensors tomorrow after it`s cool down enough to work on it again.
New tires and it passed inspection!!!! Time to head to the DMV and get plates!!!!
Jeep trip with friends to Disney, OK. The bus will become our Jeep hauler!
Falling out of my chair blooper caught on camera!!! ouch!!!
This post should catch us up to current day. We used the bus as a cabin at a campground over the summer as we continued to work on it. It`s far from being done, but at least we got to enjoy it a bit! Next we need to get it ready to hit the road this winter!!!
Tonia stripping and painting cabinets! We are lucky enough to have a ton of good cabinets that we can re-use from the original Red Cross bus
Daisy Duke Kee and ZJ both approve of the new bus!!! Daisy claimed her "bed" on the ride home!
Paint on the walls!!!
Tonia`s first time driving the bus!
My wife told me to deadbolt the door and I told her "it will be fine"... it wasn`t fine!!!! Doing 65 and the door flew open!!!
The fun things you find when tearing down a Red Cross vampire bus!!!
Murder scene? Red Cross Bus problems
PT2: Bus tear down and deep cleaning!
The tear down of the Red Cross "Blood Bus" and some of the surprises we found during the teardown!!! Yuck!!!
Had a stuck hydraulic jack and had to get creative and disconnect hoses and use ratchet straps to get it to retract... Always fun to be had and something new to learn on the big bus!!!
Newest adventure was a busted high pressure fuel line. We found a new Cummins OEM line and ordered a special socket to help change it without removing all the other lines. It`s always something!!!
We have been watching YouTube videos about Skoolies for a long time and have spent the last 6 months building one. It was neat to check out some in person and meet some great people! We had a great time at the music festival that @arbourseason put on today!!!! Great show!!!
Did we really buy a Red Cross bus? What have we done?!?!
