David & Linda's Bus

David & Linda's School Bus Conversion Project

Here are some Pictures & Info from a nice couple out in Colorado who's starting their 3rd School bus conversion....They've been sending me pics of their progress...
Click-On the pics for a larger view ( a new window will open )

Here are some photos of the work in progress.

These first two are bus pics. Again, this is a 71-passenger, 1995 International with the Bluebird body, DT408 Diesel engine.

This pic shows a cutaway of the floor. I ran 1x3 furring strips lengthwise over the existing floor, 16 inches on center as in standard home floor joists. Between these I installed Reflectix for insulation, which is about R11 with a 1/2 inch air gap. The Reflectix is 5/16 inch thick and comes in 4x25 foot rolls. Over this I screwed down 3/4 inch T&G OSB flooring, same as in a home.

This photo is a close-up of the floor - a better representation of what was done. You can see the Reflectix insulation between the furring strips. When the OSB was installed I used 2 1/4 inch screws and screwed through the furring strips into the original bus floor plywood.

This photo is a shot of the floor installed from the rear door. All in all, 30 feet of inside working space from rear door to behind the driver seat. The wheel wells start at 10' 4" from rear door and run to 14' 2".

This pic shows the framing, which I finished yesterday for the most part (some minor adjustments for mounting the hot water heater and furnace). The studs are run horizontally along the side walls, glued and screwed. This worked fine on the last conversion - didn't go anywhere. The vertical wall studs are riveted to the ceiling (four rivets per stud). I screwed 2x4 hangers to the tops of those, drilled, and riveted for strength.

Here's David & Linda's Plans/Layout on how they want their Bus's living space to work out.

This is a Suburban 34,000 btu LP furnace (NT-34SP). It is direct vented to the outside, and has four 4-inch air ducts. It also comes with its own thermostat. I'll route two heat ducts into the bedroom, and two heat ducts forward to the kitchen and living area. I cut two circular holes through the bus side wall to accommodate the intake and exhaust tubes (see Photo 2). Insulation was removed allowing sufficient clearances.

PHOTO 2 (Exterior shot of Furnace Vents )

We installed cabinets we picked up from Home Depot - Mill's Pride brand. They were affordable and were easy to assemble for us. Instead of installing the thin back panels inside the cabinets, we left those out. We used four angle brackets (corner brackets) inside each cabinet to screw the cabinets to the side walls.

(image is rotated counterclockwise 90 degrees) AC electrical wiring is 12-2 Romex run inside 1/2 inch metal flex conduit. All receptacle and junction boxes are metal. The flex conduit is clamped (secured) as needed to prevent any movement or friction. The black wire in the photo is a DC line (12-Volt).

This photo shows the 34,000 BTU LP furnace with four heat ducts connected; two to the bedroom, one to the hallway (blowing hot air into the bathroom), and one forward to the kitchen and living area.

This photo shows the kitchen counter tops installed (and already cluttered), and the ocean blue wall paint which came out really nice. We'll trim the top of the curved walls with nautical rope. The counter tops were purchased at Home Depot. I cut them to length, then added the end pieces. To do this I added two sections of backing (included with the end pieces), held each end piece in place, and heated it with an iron to activate the glue. This took about five minutes or so per end piece. Then I sanded the end piece down to fit the counter and create a nice bevel edge.

This photo is a better view of cabinets, counter top, and range all together. The range is a GE 30-inch gas unit adapted to LP with electronic ignition. Linda and I wanted something large enough to handle large meals for friends and family.

This photo shows the water hookups, with the city water connection on the left and the freshwater tank fill hatch on the right. The city water connection has a regulator built into it.

This photo shows the electrical, TV and phone hookups, as well as the vent for the solar battery box.

This is the forward kitchen, looking down the hall toward the rear of the bus.

Hallway Pic

This is the hallway, looking forward from the rear. The walls are 11/32 plywood - sanded, patched, corners caulked, and painted. I ran 1x4 finish wood through the table saw to 2.5 inch width, and framed each compartment. Doors will be made to cover these - I'm working that part out still ...

finished kitchen counters

This pic shows how I'm installing the Reflectix insulation in the walls. Notice the horizontal wall studs

For the LP tank compartment I used a 60 x 18.5 x 19 inch heavy-duty steel underbody box. A carriage was welded together using angle iron which fit all corners of the box. The carriage was then welded up under the bus to the frame cross members. Then the box was slid in and welded in place.
Where the steel propane line passes into the LP compartment, I used a double grommet. First, I cut a round hole and installed an electrical pvc fitting designed to terminate pvc inside an electrical panel - slightly larger than the steel propane pipe. Then I cut a slice of 1-inch radiator hose I had saved and inserted that in the hole. Then the Propane pipe was fed through that and caulked with silicon.

Inside view of LP Compartment.

Lower refrigerator vent for Norcold propane/AC refrigerator.

RV-500 demand water heater shown mounted on floor. A hole was cut through the side of the bus and the unit was slid in from the outside. This unit has an optional wind and cold weather package which is designed to protect elements inside from freezing. A cabinet will be built around it with counter top.

Vent/door for the RV-500.

View of the hallway from the front kitchen area, Norcold n841 refrigerator installed in its own sealed compartment with floor and roof vents for proper ventilation and operation

The RV-500 on demand water heater with cabinet being built around it, access door in front, TV table on top. A GFIC receptacle was installed in the cabinet above the RV-500 for the cold weather package heating element.

The AC and DC are run cross-bus via the bed frame. Note the AC run in metal conduit. We wanted these lines well off the floor as a precaution against electrical shock should there be a water leak on the floor for any reason at any time. Note the location of the freshwater tank.

The bedframe with the 40-gallon freshwater tank installed and bracketed underneath.

The propane lines run under the bus chassis. Two brackets will be added supporting these lines underneath.

The RV-500 shown before cabinet is built, GFIC outlet to the left and above it for the heating element which is part of the optional Cold Weather Package/Wind

The propane line coming into the underbody steel box (LP Compartment). Note the electrical pvc termination on the right, coupled with 1-inch radiator hose wrapped around steel propane line as grommet.

Final revised floor plan of the motorhome, all changes and corrections added

The Mess! My work spot (16-foot trailer), lots of stuff all over the place, and my fire truck in the background ready to jump on anything that gets out of hand! Cutting that angle iron with the grinder/cutting wheel was a hot job!

This shows the steel underbody box (the LP tank compartment) in its angle iron cage welded to the underside of the bus chassis

Holding tanks - I used two H502 tanks from PPL Motorhome which measure 27 x 31 inches. I liked Michael's suggestion on how to hang these and it worked fine. I first created a support bracket using old bedframe - great angle iron. It was really hard to drill but I could cut it with the grinder. I ran four pieces of all-thread up through the floor and secured it from inside. There are two holes (one 3-inch and one 2-inch) in the top of this tank. The trick was in getting measurements correct so that it all lined up when I installed the tank. I'm putting a touch of JB Weld on the nuts.

LP hookups in the LP compartment. A "T" was added with shutoffs enabling us to use the LP tanks or hookup to an external 200 gal tank

Getting started on the shower pan 32 x 32.

Water pump hookup - Shurflo 2088 (2.8 gpm) - all water lines are PEX - thanks to my good friends Steve and David! They were here three days running the plumbing and propane.

The RV-500 - again, PEX lines.

Well...I hate to report this ...but because of unforeseen problems , that have nothing to do with their Bus , David & Linda are selling their beautiful Bus Conversion.
They're going to send me more pics of what it looks like...but as a bus converter myself , I can tell anyone looking for a very nice & well-built rolling home ...this is a very good Bus.
They used all New & top-of-the line RV parts in their Bus...So You'd have a lovely and strong Rolling Home that could safely take you anywhere in complete comfort.
So, if you're interested ...give David a call at
719-588-3062
In Crestone Colorado

January 24, 2005
David just sent me some more pics of their very nice School bus conversion...
Here they are...

Nice shot of the bus as she is - body in great shape - you can see from left to right, vented LP Compartment, refrigerator floor & roof vents, RV hookups, furnace vent, RV-500 vent.