The BUS build thread !!!

[SpeedyCorky]

yes, i have large airbags that surround the bus with a 40ft cushion in the event of an accident. they also administer immediate blowjob procedures as soon as the bus comes to rest :rolleyes best safety feature is to drive slow and not get in an accident. kinda counting on that with a 400+lb bike strapped a few feet behind me. i've heard cases of bikes strapped down super well inside of a van, van gets in an accident, and the ENGINE of the bike coming off the frame and flying forward and killing someone up front.... precaution is great and all, but if god or whoever wants to fuck you, a way will be found... do i feel safer in my 10,000lb bus surround by a large steel cage, or on my 400lb motorcycle and maybe 2mm thick of leather? ... hard to say actually :laughing


so summer is here, so lots of time off for me. trying to stay motivated and productive. so i gots some cool stuff done on the bus...


finally got the rear wheel humps painted. they look all nice now

made little hooks/holes/spots for my tie down straps. they used to be all thrown in a milk crate, and funny how tie downs have a way of self tangling - so annoying. done with those days! :banana

hanger for the skateboard and the air pump

if you need to carry a tire/wheel then the razor scooter really sucks cuz you need both hands to safely operate it, and you still end up having to carry the wheel = lame. but if you have a skateboard, you can rest the wheel on the board, freeing up your hands, and reducing effort.

this air pump is really nice. a buddy of my Rob introduced me to the brand. the quality just cant be beat. screws onto the valve stem, so no popping off mid fill.
at the track you usually need only a few PSI, so i figured this was a better option than the alternative which was to bring an air tank (PITA to refill, and large), or mount a small air compressor under the bus (much larger PITA, and you still gotta plug it in when you wanna use it and deal with a long hose). This was deemed the best option, considering that 99.999% of the time you are just trying to go from 30psi in the front to 32psi

 

[SpeedyCorky]

this post is really just an excuse to post pics of Bub the doggie

well i've always just tied up Bub to the wheel, or the Eazy-up, or whatever else was handy, but thats kinda a PITA, and she loses a few inches of leash when i do that. this way the full length of the leash can be used, its at a good level height-wise, and ties her to a spot that she can roam around the humans outside the bus, but can also go inside the bus and lay down too

pretty simple nothing fancy. loctite on the bolt, nut on the back - done.

Bub isnt so sure about my :cool sunglasses :laughing

 

[louemc]

Well its high time I upgraded the minivan, to a *semi* proper track dedicated vehicle! People of BARFz; I present to you "The Bus"
Its a converted school bus; 2002 Full Size Chevy Van (think 3500, but a big bigger) cutway, with a "Blue Bird" bus on the back!
Its 24 feet long, about 8000lbs, 80k miles, V8 6.6 LB7 Turbo Diesel motor, 4L80-E Auto tranny of course (cuz we live in the USA :flag)

Goal is to make a purpose built vehicle that wifey and I can use to go to trackdays. Idea is keep most/all the track crap in the bus, as to minimize loading when its time to do a trackday; Damned if i didnt spend over an hour loading up the van last time, and i've got a pretty good system down...! Those days are soon to be over! Bikes will go in the back (3), and a sofabed, table, sink, and swamp cooler in the front. Gonna install a ~32 inch TV as well, so that I can view and transfer GoPro footage directly after a session. Of course the bus will also double as a camper van; you, know, like for going camping :thumbup



THE BUS

So first off is to rip all the seats out...... hey baby, wanna do the nasty on that nasty floor? no? faaaack...

aaaaaand they're out! Had to rip up that floor too... ew

I got the carpet in, and got the edge pieces back in. obligatory shot of our new dog-aye, Chloe. She is my little garage helper now

got the sofa bed in there, gotta make a box to put it on. seems Chloe has already claimed her spot... the tv will go in upper center of this pic, right below the blue colored logo thingie

.... Stay tuned for more to come. This week the sofa bed goes in, this weekend hopefully the table

Looks fantastic,,, Sounds SO Right :wow :cool

 

[SpeedyCorky]

welp folks, i havent updated this thread in awhile; ended up putting an A/C unit in the bus, but not much changed since the last update.
I have since sold the bus, and I thought it would be good to let you guys know what happened to it and why i sold it.

first off:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/7416682-181/after-most-relief-groups-left?artslide=8

A non profit organization bought the bus for use for hurricane Harvy in Huston. plan is to drive it there and give kids a classroom and fun place to hang out while parents got everyones lives back together :thumbup

I ended up selling it for $11k, which is almost exactly what I had in it, minus my time to do the conversion. I thought I got reasonable money for it, and the buyer walked away happy. it wasnt mechanically perfect, but it was 'good'. had 93k miles at the time of sale.

so why did I sell it? good question.

1) interest in motorcycles and trackdays is a lot less now than it was 3 years ago, and need for it has diminished considerably. but thats not the real reason I sold it.

2) main reason: it is such a big ass liability, in terms of towing and fixing it.
you see, when you own a 9000pound vehicle, you are now in a totally different category when it comes to fixing it ($250/hr+ shop rate). things are bigger, heavier, harder to deal with. It was getting to an age where things were starting to go wrong, and i totally dont have the ability to get it off the ground, or replace a differential or tranny or motor or whatever if/when it goes wrong. even suspension pieces are bigger and strong and held together with more torque etc. its a big thing, and you gotta be a big guy with proper big tools to work on it; and even then you are limited in what you can do. If something major went wrong, towing it is $600 to $1000, plus whatever the $X,XXX repair bill will be... i cant do that. I came to the conclusion I wanted something I could work on and fix myself, and wouldnt cost me several thousand dollars if something major went wrong


3) storage. its big, its fairly ugly if you arnt the owner. its always full of fairly valuable track stuff. so you have to own s safe place that you can put it; and get it out of there fairly easily when you need to use it. you cant (well i guess you *could*) just park it on the street and forget about it like you can a truck or a van.

4) 55 to 60mph gets old. its not too bad as i'm used to hypermiling in my Honda Insight; but still, damn i want to mash to the track at 75mph or 80mph. totally not an option in this thing. i did get about 16mpg with it, but that was at 55mph, so yea it eats fuel substantially more than a medium truck or van - and its slow. if you are using the brakes with this kinda rig, you are likely driving too fast - so yeah, again, its super slow.

5) its really kinda, well, honestly - overkill for doing trackdays. for a single guy it was justifyable i guess, but if you are going with your girl, better to use a smaller vehicle and just get a hotel. you dont NEED that much space, or that much 'vehicle' to get a trackday done. Best choice is a Merc sprinter van, or Dodge promaster 2500, or Ford transit 250 - but then you are $25k deep for a good specimen..


My plans now for a track hauler are shifting towards a smaller to medium sized vans; i'm looking at mid 1990's Toyota Previa, and Ford Aerostar. both have almost 100% flat, all metal based floors (no stow away seat bullshit) so they work great for putting a motorcycle into. I've done the van thing before, and packing/unpacking can really suck - but I really think that with the right setup and organization (easy to remove/store/stack milk crates to hold everything that doesnt stay in the van), that it could be made to be tolerably quick and painless. Pitbull bike mount will make getting the bike in and out of the van a lot easier too, as using straps inside a minivan interior is HELL as I know from previous experience.

so thats what it is folks - the BUS saga!

feel free to post up with any questions



BudMan if you still wanna put this on "best of BARF"; now would be the time :thumbup

 

[GPzPop]

That really is a worthy outcome to go to an excellent non-proffit.

... and off of you, as you stated, the burden of ones possesions can be tiresome.

Thanks for the closure

 

[Junkie]

I wish I got 16mpg at 55mph in my truck...

 

[seadog]

Awesome Speedy. I was inspired by your conversion but decided to stick with my trailer. Couldn't justify the cost vs. how many times I would use it. And I hadn't even thought about the maintenance costs. But you really did a bang up job on that project. It's all good as long as you have room for doggo.