Will it ever be the same? I tore it up! Wal said in another thread it was a "sweet lookin ride" but that's cuz he hasnt seen what I have done to it. I should be shot :'( :'( :'(
Outside:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi495.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Frr315%2Fhappycamperbrat%2FLittle%2520GTO%2F001.jpg&hash=22fe215fb04cb0e0c4d1cdcbfcabe708805a3953)
Inside:
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fi495.photobucket.com%2Falbums%2Frr315%2Fhappycamperbrat%2FLittle%2520GTO%2F002-2.jpg&hash=2db0b1978729d0aa4904daea3083c611018920c7)
Girl...when you get done it will be the best ever!
And so many of us are so proud of what you are doing and the reasons you are doing it!
Agape
Jack
Holy smokes! Do you ever sleep? Take care of family, re-wire your house, work, and completely strip a bus. All in what seems like about a week.
I'm movin kinda slow on my bus, how's your schedule next week?!
John M.
When you get to going back together it will be lots of fun
Melbo
Tip of the iceburg you have to de construct be for you can reconstruct Keep the faith and press on. What every you end up with will be milestones further than what you started with.
my shore power is a 100 ft. extension cord too!
I'll bet a lot of the conversions on the road now looked like that at one time or another. Keep it up kiddo.. It'll be worth it in the end. Be looking forward to seeing it at the rally in Rickreall. ;)...Cable
You will be fine ;D Have a plan and work the plan I look forward to seeing the finished product 8)
All diamonds are stones in the beginning. I still say it is a sweet ride. ;D In the middle of completely gutting and refurbishing a 100 year old house I sat down on the rotted porch. I never felt more alone as I did on that very day. I was quitting in the middle of too big a project. I sat there for about 10 minutes and told myself to go put in one more screw. Just one got me back on track. You will get her done before you know it.
You know I looked at the pics again. Here is the fortunate thing. You have an absolutely blank canvass. You can do anyhting you want to do to it now.
You got one of the best shells you can get that is made in the 80s or later. As far as a transit goes. All stainless steel. The worse feeling I ever had was rwice first time was when I had catastrophic engine failure and the second was losing an RTS like yours to a storage company. Long story but I lost three buses and it still hurts. I have two and I want more. you'll get it done.. I agree with everyone here.. You will see the best built motorhome in town... Mike.
Quote from: jackhartjr on April 22, 2011, 05:49:18 PM
Girl...when you get done it will be the best ever!
And so many of us are so proud of what you are doing and the reasons you are doing it!
Agape
Jack
I soooo hope you are right! I do want it nice and not embarrassing...... my son and I have just put sooooo much into it already. It took a LOT of hard work to make it look soooo bad lol It's this group that keeps me motivated and it's me that keeps my son motivated lol
Quote from: challenger440 on April 22, 2011, 05:55:11 PM
Holy smokes! Do you ever sleep? Take care of family, re-wire your house, work, and completely strip a bus. All in what seems like about a week.
I'm movin kinda slow on my bus, how's your schedule next week?!
John M.
haha!! Little do you know..... this has been a work in progress for about 2 years with MANY set backs of months at a time that couldnt be helped. Lately Ive been able to do something on it everyday, but it hasnt always been that way. I guess it helps to be able to tackle a project like this if you got no life lol
Quote from: Melbo on April 22, 2011, 06:18:17 PM
When you get to going back together it will be lots of fun
Melbo
Putting it back together will be interesting for sure! Im really looking forward to that part. But it just seems eons away as the more Ive gotten into this, the more I want to do and my list grows longer all the time :o
Quote from: babell2 on April 22, 2011, 06:23:49 PM
Tip of the iceburg you have to de construct be for you can reconstruct Keep the faith and press on. What every you end up with will be milestones further than what you started with.
True! But I think Im not at the tip yet, at least not until I pressure wash the whole thing, change my 24v alternator and add a 12v alternator, do the rust work, put in the fuel stuff I want, close off the current doors, put in one door where I want (cut a hole in the side of the bus OUCHIE), pull the OEM air cond, put in a new wheelchair lift and build the bays. LOL, then I will be at the tip and can do the fun stuff :o YIKES!!!
Quote from: Pete359EX on April 22, 2011, 06:29:08 PM
my shore power is a 100 ft. extension cord too!
haha!! It works!!
Quote from: fe2_o3 on April 22, 2011, 06:35:56 PM
I'll bet a lot of the conversions on the road now looked like that at one time or another. Keep it up kiddo.. It'll be worth it in the end. Be looking forward to seeing it at the rally in Rickreall. ;)...Cable
Gulp! Rickreall? Did you see the photos? You give me waaaayyyy too much credit. I think Im parked for awhile :'(
Quote from: Eagle Andy on April 22, 2011, 07:09:05 PM
You will be fine ;D Have a plan and work the plan I look forward to seeing the finished product 8)
Plan? Am I supposed to have a PLAN too? I will have to add that to my list of todos lol
Quote from: wal1809 on April 22, 2011, 08:10:06 PM
All diamonds are stones in the beginning. I still say it is a sweet ride. ;D In the middle of completely gutting and refurbishing a 100 year old house I sat down on the rotted porch. I never felt more alone as I did on that very day. I was quitting in the middle of too big a project. I sat there for about 10 minutes and told myself to go put in one more screw. Just one got me back on track. You will get her done before you know it.
Im glad you understand, the house job I can really relate to. When you posted about the "sweet ride" I was on my way out to work in the bus and just wanted to cry lol What I saw was kinda discouraging. I havent really experienced that before, normally I just look at it and cant wait to have it done while Im working on it.... all the time invisioning a beautiful finished conversion. But today was different, and you guys Once Again, are picking my spirits up!
Quote from: wal1809 on April 22, 2011, 08:12:15 PM
You know I looked at the pics again. Here is the fortunate thing. You have an absolutely blank canvass. You can do anyhting you want to do to it now.
Ive just been following the advice of the people here and at BNO and the RTS groups all along. All of them said to tear it apart down to the metal and build it up again, so that's what Im trying to do. It's not often one gets to experience tearing apart a 40' bus! For sure this is a once in a lifetime project and my son & I will NEVER forget it!
Quote from: mikewarmblood on April 22, 2011, 08:23:16 PM
You got one of the best shells you can get that is made in the 80s or later. As far as a transit goes. All stainless steel. The worse feeling I ever had was rwice first time was when I had catastrophic engine failure and the second was losing an RTS like yours to a storage company. Long story but I lost three buses and it still hurts. I have two and I want more. you'll get it done.. I agree with everyone here.. You will see the best built motorhome in town... Mike.
Thank you Mike for the encouragement just when I needed it! I agree it is one of the best transits ever made. But although yours is all stainless, in the early 80's they made the bulkheads with mild steel instead of stainless >:( I got rust to prove it too.
I've said it before, but the body construction of those RTSs is amazing - light years ahead of any other bus I've seen
Jeremy
Happy camper :::::: From some one who has been there before . Do an electrial lawout first plan all appliance , plug ins, lights both 110 and 12V tag each,run all wiring first making sure when going thru structure all are insulated well. If you have a friend with electrical exp. call for a favor, let them advise you . Henry Ford told congress he didn't have to know every thing he just had to know how to find those who do. Papatony
Great Job keep up the pace :) you'll be done before you know it :):)
Hard to add anything meaningful to the many comments. The only thing that comes to mind is to say that once you get rid of all the junk thats going away, and sweep the floor, it wont look nearly so overwhelming. Keep going until everything leaving is gone, and youll be able to relax. Im sure right now it just looks like a big mess.
Yeah I can understand the feeling. My RTS is just missing the back cover that covers the A/C unit and it is a slant back. Just that piece missing I feel it is incomplete and it bugs the living you know what out of me. I can't emagine what i would feel if I gutted it I would be depressed. Just the back cover broken gets me depressed. I know I am the type of guy that if I has two buses and one was being stripped for a conversion I would not be so crazy!!! but if it my only bus I don't think I could do it. But if you stick with it don't get depressed you'll will start the feel the excitement when thinking of where this or that goes and before you know it, it will look like a motorhome. My opinion. But I share your feelings.
haha!! What a bunch of nutz!! You guys have proven it and we are all certifiable! When a person can see beauty or hope in those photos, you know youre a gonner ;) ;D ;D
I bought my bus back in early April 2006. I had barely started stripping the interior five years ago today. You appear to be further along than I was at that point.
I worked on the bus probably 5 or 6 days a week after work and weekends for the whole summer until about mid September 2006. If I was home I was working on the bus or sleeping. The bus was nearly usable by mid September. A friend was helping me at the end, but he had a family emergency about 5 days before the planned first trip. I really had more work than I could finish by myself in those five days. Another friend convinced me to cancel the trip as he felt the bus wasn't going to be ready. I was really bummed, but I canceled the trip.
It was probably a good thing we didn't end up going as the radiator was bad and it would have overheated on every grade in the Rockies. I replaced the radiator during summer 2007 and no more issues with overheating.
The moral of the story is you can get a lot done in five months if you want to dedicate most of your non-working time to the bus. There are some guys who claim to have done a conversion in two weeks full time, but it probably wasn't their first bus and they probably have a bit more skill than I do.
I read these stories about the super fast conversions too! Argh! A lot of my problem is that I have such a HUGE learning curve to overcome! When I started out on this, I didnt even know how to get a rivot out of something lol Additionally, my family has had a LOT of health problems that have set me back while I took care of them. And too, the weather here makes it often unbearable to be out there working on it for any length of time. But I just got those hookups done and a new portable personal space swamp cooler, so hopefully I will be able to work on the inside of this summer in fair comfort.
Quote from: happycamperbrat on April 24, 2011, 09:13:55 PM
I read these stories about the super fast conversions too! Argh! A lot of my problem is that I have such a HUGE learning curve to overcome! When I started out on this, I didnt even know how to get a rivot out of something lol Additionally, my family has had a LOT of health problems that have set me back while I took care of them. And too, the weather here makes it often unbearable to be out there working on it for any length of time. But I just got those hookups done and a new portable personal space swamp cooler, so hopefully I will be able to work on the inside of this summer in fair comfort.
Teresa.. is there anyway you could build a portable greenhouse frame from PVC pipe and throw a shade cloth over it like they use at the plant nurseries?? The PVC pipe and fittings would be fairly cheap but not sure about the cost of shade cloth. That would at least keep the direct sunlight off of you and the bus but still allow the air to circulate.
Jimmy
The only problem with that is the wind....... we regularly get very high winds out here, sometimes up to 100 mph. Also the sun is soooo strong out here and the air soooo dry, that plastic/pvc anything very rapidly becomes brittle and just doesnt hold up. What I want to do is install some galvanised poles in cement and build a frame with them, then wrap that with heavy shade clothe coated in cement :D Seriously!