BCM Community

    I thought some of you might like to see a article in our local newspaper about our bus. You may get a laugh when you see the size of generator I have, she seems to have left off a "0". Not mentioned in the article is a good freind of mine who has givin a lot of time, help and knowledge to the project, Richard Harper whom some of you may have met at the  Rickreall Busn' USA. Go to TDN.com, click on "News", then on "This day", and scroll down.    Good Busin'    BUR

Link to newspaper article with pictures. (http://tdn.com/lifestyles/article_e34356e2-5a0f-11df-a59e-001cc4c002e0.html)

People and Their Wheels: Wilbur and Laura Bradbury's 1980 Prevost bus conversion
By Brenda Blevins McCorkle / The Daily News | Posted: Friday, May 7, 2010 10:15 pm |

   
Background: Wilbur and Laura have lived in Kelso for about 35 years. Wilbur is a native of Kansas. Laura hails from Colorado.
The couple have been married 40 years. They have two children and two grandchildren. Wilbur is retired after working as a truck driver. Before that, he worked at the Reynolds Cable Plant and then for his brother at Bradbury and Sons. Laura works at Cowlitz County Title. She plans to retire in July.

Their wheels: A 1980 Prevost passenger bus they converted into an RV.

Wilbur did most of the work himself, which involved a lot of heavy lifting.
"I took 1,800 pounds of seats to the dump, and I totally stripped it out," Wilbur said. "At one time you could go by our place and see clear through it, I had it stripped down that far."

The couple purchased the passenger bus in 1998 at an auction at the Clark County fairgrounds. They had been looking to do this project for years, as they enjoy RVing.

Wilbur said he chose the sturdy bus because it's "made for one reason - driving down the road."

Their project isn't unique, the couple said, adding there are thousands of converted buses across the nation.
The Prevost isn't the usual bus people convert, Wilbur said. They are kind of "top-of-the-line" buses," he said. "I just kind of fell into it, lucked out. With the engine in it, I also lucked out because it has a turbo charger in it so it's a little more powerful than the regular ones."
That's not all that makes their conversion one-of-a-kind.

A friend, George, Snodgrass, built Philippine mahogany cabinets for the interior.
They installed tile flooring and granite counter tops in the kitchen. They echoed the granite in the form of an eating bar where they sit for their meals and watch the world go by outside the bus windows.

They also put in a smooth surface cooktop, microwave, a full-size GE Profile refrigerator and a 32-inch flatscreen television.
"It's an all-electric coach, no gas, which is different than others," Wilbur said. "We have a 1,000 watt generator in it, and it backs us up for electricity, and we've got eight batteries in it for the backup of energy as well."

The bus is eight feet wide and 40 feet long. The exterior sports a paint job done by Willy's Custom Concepts in Springfield, Ore., and involves a combination of purple, brown and gray.

"I was going to paint it myself, but my body said, 'No you aren't' " Wilbur said, chuckling.
Although they've spent twice as much on the conversion as they thought they would, the couple said they still spent way less for it than they would for a new RV.

"And this is exactly what we want, not what some engineer wants," Wilbur said.
The most challenging part of the project was the time and the thinking, the couple agreed.
"I built our house in one year, working shift work," Wilbur said. "This thing has five years of steady labor in it."
For the project, "you throw the level away and throw the square away," he added.
"You just don't go down to Home Depot or Lowe's to get parts for it, because nothing is standard in it," Wilbur said. "The electrical system is completely different than it is in the house because you're mobile and you can't ground to the ground. We just love it."
Wilbur said he dreamed about this for a long time and was thrilled when his wife became interested in it too.

"This was always my thing, my thing," he said. "When I first bought this thing, she could not picture the final product."
Laura said her husband asked her to pick out colors and other details, but she refused until the project was further along.
"I said, 'Until you get to that stage, I have not a clue,' " she said, smiling.

Their retirement plans center around the bus. They plan to spend six months in Yuma, Ariz., and spend the rest of the year traveling to other parts of the country, including spending time in Washington, D.C., Philadephia and other locations on the East Coast.
While they're gone, their daughter will live in their area home so that it's not left empty, Laura said.

They plan to leave in the middle of August, not long after Laura's retirement from the title company.
From there, it's the open road.

"It's just a matter of wherever we want to go," Laura said. "Wherever the road takes us."

Pretty neat writeup. The real problem is we need pics!! I am always getting questions that wonder "Why would you get a bus" asked from other campers. I watch them walk back to their 24' fifth wheel stick box with their Power Choke truck and wonder "Why would you not get a bus". Don't forget the pics!!

I thought that was a really nice article, congratulations!

Brian

Going to derail this thread for a moment...  Kelso...haven't heard of that town in many moons.  My dad pastored a church in Rainier in the early 80s.  I remember school field trips to the nuclear power plant in Goble.  Good times...

Beautiful bus  :)

One more Hijack;
I have a son that is currently a Pastor of a church in Kelso. Valley Christian Church, I am going to call him and make sure he saves me a copy of your article in the paper. Great Looking Bus

Wilbur,

Now I know what she looks like! Nice job and a very nice article, even if they left off a zero!

Doug called me last night and warned about the aricle in the paper there.  ;D

Looking forward to meeting you guys at TBR 2010!

BTW, Our cooktop works great! ;)

Paul

     Thanks for all the comments we do appreciate them. Paul we are getting together with Doug & Lori for dinner tomorrow night to do a little bus talk.     Good Busin'     Wilbur

Quote from: BUR on May 10, 2010, 09:18:39 PM
     Thanks for all the comments we do appreciate them. Paul we are getting together with Doug & Lori for dinner tomorrow night to do a little bus talk.     Good Busin'     Wilbur

Doug finally got his genset to work, now he can move onto bigger and better things! I'm sure the bus talk will keep him motivated, as it's been quite an ordeal so far. As soon as he gets some paint slapped on it he'll be one happy camper! ;)

Y'all have a good dinner, wish we could join you guys! Maybe a before dinner drink, those lemon drops that Lori makes are to die for! ;D

Paul