baipin
Active member
Being dismayed by rent prices, liking a bit of adventure, and a good project, I decided to buy a bus in the summer of 2020. I'm a guy in my late 20's, finishing up school, on the way to working as an elementary teacher and planning on living up in northern Ontario's more remote communities in this thing, and traveling in the warmer months.
I was initially planning on a Thomas C2 4x4 owned by Schlumberger as a wellhead maintenance crew transport... but that went for many times more than it was worth at auction, so I figured I'll just build my own 4x4 bus. How hard could that be for your first 4x4 build, right? ? So, I ended up with this guy from Saskatchewan:
![1668720552110.png 1668720552110.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655577-7312f52c9682b7d46a4aa15340b67895.jpg)
Basically rust free by Ontario standards... It's just surface rust, and way less than anything I could find over here that was only 10 years old.
![1668720563935.png 1668720563935.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655578-ba0edc287ea603d577fd2bb11403d305.jpg)
Got working on an interior buildout while I waited for the bus to get here. I'll be living in this thing full-time. Details have since changed but the overall layout remains the same.
![1668720610644.png 1668720610644.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655579-8dbb938d36fb42e79aef01ec34ee7b29.jpg)
![1668720666856.png 1668720666856.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655580-6cc4ba85620180122ab3b7e77d861f51.jpg)
![1668720677779.png 1668720677779.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655581-f755d10c5e646accb2969f0e9ad6ef57.jpg)
Took delivery of the bus in late August of last year. The curved glass was all intact, which was a nice surprise.
Found out it had a 283 small block, and it runs well, but, the plan has always been to swap to a mechanical diesel. I'm not looking for great fuel economy, but 4 MPG as it was, is terrible...
I began by removing the front axle and fabbing some offset shackles to fit new 47" Chevy springs (2.5" to the original 2" hanger). Yeah, the spring are kind of short, but this is budget build, and for a bunch of reasons that involved weird curves in frame, and a shackle hanger integral to the front crossmember, I could not put shackles at the rear and opted to keep them up front. The front will have air assist.
![1668720754488.png 1668720754488.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655582-18d797d19843f056097b7522fa0b941e.jpg)
Railroad track makes a great press punch ?
![1668720780891.png 1668720780891.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655583-b683821c4a2a6865e0e30101334eb563.jpg)
![1668720795952.png 1668720795952.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655584-2ca240b1d92316904cf649f73bc6351e.jpg)
![1668720875196.png 1668720875196.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655585-551f9ff033e59e3f943f54c99e024e61.jpg)
Got a Dana 60 for the front. Moving the spring mount 1.25" forward makes everything sit nicely.
![1668720951031.png 1668720951031.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655586-44dacd23e0ba1b42356925b30ca61598.jpg)
I was initially planning on a Thomas C2 4x4 owned by Schlumberger as a wellhead maintenance crew transport... but that went for many times more than it was worth at auction, so I figured I'll just build my own 4x4 bus. How hard could that be for your first 4x4 build, right? ? So, I ended up with this guy from Saskatchewan:
![1668720552110.png 1668720552110.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655577-7312f52c9682b7d46a4aa15340b67895.jpg)
Basically rust free by Ontario standards... It's just surface rust, and way less than anything I could find over here that was only 10 years old.
![1668720563935.png 1668720563935.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655578-ba0edc287ea603d577fd2bb11403d305.jpg)
Got working on an interior buildout while I waited for the bus to get here. I'll be living in this thing full-time. Details have since changed but the overall layout remains the same.
![1668720610644.png 1668720610644.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655579-8dbb938d36fb42e79aef01ec34ee7b29.jpg)
![1668720666856.png 1668720666856.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655580-6cc4ba85620180122ab3b7e77d861f51.jpg)
![1668720677779.png 1668720677779.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655581-f755d10c5e646accb2969f0e9ad6ef57.jpg)
Took delivery of the bus in late August of last year. The curved glass was all intact, which was a nice surprise.
Found out it had a 283 small block, and it runs well, but, the plan has always been to swap to a mechanical diesel. I'm not looking for great fuel economy, but 4 MPG as it was, is terrible...
I began by removing the front axle and fabbing some offset shackles to fit new 47" Chevy springs (2.5" to the original 2" hanger). Yeah, the spring are kind of short, but this is budget build, and for a bunch of reasons that involved weird curves in frame, and a shackle hanger integral to the front crossmember, I could not put shackles at the rear and opted to keep them up front. The front will have air assist.
![1668720754488.png 1668720754488.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655582-18d797d19843f056097b7522fa0b941e.jpg)
Railroad track makes a great press punch ?
![1668720780891.png 1668720780891.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655583-b683821c4a2a6865e0e30101334eb563.jpg)
![1668720795952.png 1668720795952.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655584-2ca240b1d92316904cf649f73bc6351e.jpg)
![1668720875196.png 1668720875196.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655585-551f9ff033e59e3f943f54c99e024e61.jpg)
Got a Dana 60 for the front. Moving the spring mount 1.25" forward makes everything sit nicely.
![1668720951031.png 1668720951031.png](https://expeditionportal.com/forum/data/attachments/655/655586-44dacd23e0ba1b42356925b30ca61598.jpg)
Last edited: