From school bus to “cabin style” RV – in progress conversion

[Little Red]

So a couple weeks ago I picked up a school bus that I won at an auction
When I bought it I did not intend on keeping it, (I only paid $1100 dollars for it) and intended to part it out and then scrap it and make a few hundred dollars of it.
However the more I read about school bus conversions the more I came to realize that I had just bought the almost perfect bus to do an RV conversion with.
I have always wanted to do a project like this too, so I thought why not keep it, right? You sure can't beat the price I paid for it.

It's a 1995 GMC / Blue Bird CV200, it is build very stout and has great ground clearance.
It was recently retired from service as a school bus and has been well maintained.
Everything works great and I even got a full tank of gas with it to make the drive home.
The length of the bus is medium size with is perfect for what I have planned for it.
The only thing I would have liked better is if it had a diesel engine and manual transmission.

Here are some pictures I took after I drove the bus home

My plans are to turn it in to a “cabin style” RV with a wood stove and built it to be self sufficient for 2 people to survive for about a month without needing any additional supplies.
When completed it will have sleeping quarters, living room, kitchen, bathroom and room for storage.

Power: it will have a plug in to 110v and for off the grid camping I am thinking solar panels and large auxiliary batteries

Heat: Primary heat source will be a wood stove, secondary will be a propane heather.

Cooking: I want to find a wood stove that I can use for cooking also but will install a propane stove too.

Food storage: currently looking in to different options for a fridge that will be able to run on just solar power when camping off the grid.

Bathroom: still looking at options for a shower and toilet.


The challenge will be to build all this with a very limited budget. I have seen some very nice looking RV conversions, but most of them are either way above my skill level or would be much too expensive.

References: skoolie.net has been a great inspiration for me to start the project and I will most likely start a blog there too when I get further along with the project.  

 

[Little Red]

Finance tab

Here I will post the itemized cost of the project so that others will have an idea of what to expect and it will hopefully prove at the end that even with a low budget you can still build a nice RV.
This post will be updated as I get along with the project.

Purchase price for bus $1100
Auction fee $66
Cost to transfer title $103

Total cost so far: $1269

 

[Little Red]

I updated the tread with pictures

 

[Little Red]

Update

I have started to remove the seats and pressure washed the outside.

the first seats are out

When I pressure washed the bus it took the black lettering right off, including where the school dist had painted over it to cover up their dist name and #
I am going to just paint this whole section black to cover up everything, until I will eventually repaint the whole bus.

took out some more seats.

 

[sandalscout]

Can't wait to see this one. I love Skoolies and find my way back to Skoolies.net about once a year. I have always wanted to build a cabin style one also. MY wife..... not so much.

The prices on used ones right now are crazy cheap too! What were you planning on using the parts for prior to deciding to keep it?

 

[BorntoVenture]

Subscribed and can't wait to see more! I've been interested in Skoolies for as long as I can remember but have never had the chance to build one or the place to put it. Several years ago I used to travel the US competing in ATV races and wanted to build one into a camper/hauler but the payouts went down and the gas prices went up so I had to quit.

Can't wait to see more of your build!

 

[Yellowkayak]

Here you go, start with this:

http://www.wholesalesolar.com/products.folder/appliance-folder/SunFrostRF19DC.html

JJ

 

[ihatemybike]

I've been thinking of a Skoolie for quite some time. I'd start with a International DT466 base though, tough engines and pretty much anyplace that repairs semis/dump trucks can fix it, if you can't fix it yourself.

Subscribed

 

[Little Red]

I updated my previous post with some more pictures, I have removed all but 4 off the seats. Waiting for it to stop raining now so I can take out the last seats and start stripping down the floor.

Here you go, start with this:

http://www.wholesalesolar.com/products.folder/appliance-folder/SunFrostRF19DC.html

JJ

You must have missed the part where I said that this will be a budget build, I hope to finish the whole project for the price of that fridge. Thanks for the suggestion though.

The challenge will be to build all this with a very limited budget. I have seen some very nice looking RV conversions, but most of them are either way above my skill level or would be much too expensive.

 

[Little Red]

Anyone on here have an account on skoolie.net?
I tried to sign up but got the following error message:

The e-mail address you entered is not allowed to be used.
Please note that you will need to enter a valid e-mail address before your account is activated. You will receive an e-mail at the address you provide that contains an account activation link.

I tried several times and with 2 different email addresses that I use but I kept getting this error message. And there is no way to contact an administrator on the site unless you already have an account.

 

[sandalscout]

I thought I might, but apparently do not. I found this email address as the registrar of the domain though: smyers@mac.com
belonging to Steve Myers.

 

[dwh]

Anyone on here have an account on skoolie.net?
I tried to sign up but got the following error message:



I tried several times and with 2 different email addresses that I use but I kept getting this error message. And there is no way to contact an administrator on the site unless you already have an account.

Yes, I have an account on skoolie.net. Send me a PM with whatever you want to say to the admin, Steve, and I'll paste it into the "E-mail Steve" window on the site.

 

[Mark Harley]

This is going to be a fun build, Keep us posted with pictures.
I road to school on the SHORT BUS Just me and the driver!

Sell the seats and other parts as you go to fund the build.

 

[Little Red]

Sell the seats and other parts as you go to fund the build.

That's my plan, I just finished taking out all the seats yesterday and stripped them.
The metal will go to the scrap yard for recycling (I think I will get between $60 to $100 for it) and the foam I am going to use to make my own seats and mattress

I also found a nice wood stove that I think will work well. Link HERE

All the seats are out but one

the seats stripped down to bare metal

 

[Little Red]

Bought a can of Rust Oleum semi gloss black paint and spray painted over the school dist writing on the sides and the “unlawful to pass when red lights flash” sign.

Before

After