NEW HERE and a question or two!

[mom28sofar]

Hello everyone!

I am Jamie and I am married to a great guy Doug. We have 8 children( thus far) and have just bought a GMC PD4106, its a 1962. We are driving down to Texas to pick it up on Wed. 

We are wanting to build bunkbeds in the back bedroom and ideally what we would like to do is build double bunks on sides of the room and then an additional small attaching bunk at the foot of the bus. Making a horseshoe shape. My question is what materials would you use to do such a project? plywood? Hardwood? Metal?   Next question is what would you attach it to?  Do you have to attach?

I guess thats it for now.

THanks and I look forward to meeting you all at some point!

God Bless you,
Jamie

[John316]

Jamie,

Welcome aboard.

I can't take much time to respond now, but are you going to travel with all of you children? If so that would mean ten bunks, right?

You can build them however you want. Others will chime in, I hope, but build them strong, and build them well. You can attach to the metal tube frame work, that the bus is made from. You can make them from wood, or metal. It just depends on what you want to do.

Later.

God bless,

John

[Dreamscape]

Hi Jamie,

Welcome!

You will find lots of help in answering your many questions.

What part of Texas are you picking up your bus?

I would take the time, after you have had a chance to get to know your new "Kid", and build a mock up of what you want to do. That way you get a feel for how it will work out and look when you build your bunks.

You can use plywood, lumber and anything else that you want for your design.

I'm sure others who have done what you are attempting to do will chime in.

It would also help for you to put more information in your profile so others who live close by can give you ideas and pointers.

Good Luck and Happy Trails,

Paul

[wvanative]

Hi Jamie, and welcome to the best bus board you will find. You might also think about using one of the cargo bays as a bedroom, you can put an opening to it under one of the bunks in the bus. Kids love them and in the case of an emergency you just pop open the bay door.
Here is a link to a video that show the cargo bay bedroom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsty4DrA6Is&feature=related

WVaNative
Dean

[Runcutter]

Jamie, we have a 4107, that was outfitted with bunks in the rear.  We're changing that, but haven't gone that far back yet.  We're just north of Dallas, right off Interstate 35E.  If you're coming through this area and want to take a look, you can call me on Wednesday 1/14.  The number is 972-four six six four six one one.

I'm in DC now, should be flying home tonight (Tuesday), so I should be around on Wednesday.

If no one has suggested it yet, one of your early moves should be getting copies of maintenance and parts manuals for the coach.  It'll be important to remember that these buses are monocoque construction, that is, there is no "frame and body" as such.  The outside skin, and the floor are part of the structure.  If you cut a hole in the roof, without doing it properly and reinforcing it, you lose some support for the engine.  I mention this because it's important to know what you can attach things to, and more important to know what you don't want to tamper with. 

Arthur

[mom28sofar]

WOW, thank you for all the great responses. We are heading to Princeton Tx. Then on to GoodFellow AFB in San Angelo to see our oldest graduate Tech school. We will be fulltime with 7 of the children. and the two oldest would have thier own top bunk and if we can do the horseshoe shape the next two would get the bottom bunks and the next 2 littles would get the back of the horseshoe  together. The baby will continue to sleep with us. We will have to find or build a pull out couch sleeper.  We are getting the manuels on CD.  We may call you and stop by, thank you for that offer. We will be in the Dallas area on Friday. We are coming from Southern Oregon.  Got to go for now but will check back later .. Thanks again and God Bless!

Jamie

[Ed Hackenbruch]

Jamie,  Are you buying your bus from Mr Oliver's Tractors in Princeton?  If so say hi to Paul for us. That is where we got our 5A back at the end of Sept. of 03. We stopped there in late 04 so my wife could meet them since i picked up the bus by myself.  They still send us a Christmas card each year....very nice folks to deal with.   Also since you are in Southern Oregon are you aware of the BusN USA rally each summer at Rickreall?  Also you have a great shop in Roseburg......Southern Oregon Diesel.  Dave is also the current President of BusN USA.  Enjoy your trip/bus.    Ed

[Tom Y]

Jamie, Welcome aboard. Try searching (Tims bus page)  He had some bunks on his MCI but it got wrecked. Not sure if he is back running.  Tom Y

[NJT 5573]

Jamie!

Hi,
The wife and I have 8 kids also. They range from 8 to 31 years old. My baby goes to school with his neice, they are in the same class this year and she calls him uncle Kenny. Anyway my point was about bunks. With all the kids and grandchildren, I have short bunks and long bunks. I had hoped to remove the short bunks as the little ones grew, for closet space, but now the grandkids have claimed the short bunks. We also sleep 2 of the little ones foot to foot above the engine area.

If I ever parted with the bus, I think the kids would kill me, I believe they enjoy it more than I do especially since it takes them all over the county. Two winters ago we had beds, hot showers, food etc. for 17 everyday and explored San Deigo and LA for 2 weeks until I burned them all out. Hope you enjoy your coach as much as we do ours, we will be watching for you to say hi someday.

[JohnEd]

Jammie,

I think there is an "engine access panel" in the back of that 06.  Better verify that and incorperate access thru the bunks if need be.

HTH,

John

[FloridaCliff]

Hi Jamie,

And Welcome!

Just a couple thoughts.  I have only two kids...   but I can tell you that everyone likes to have there own space in the Bus, with eight that may be impossible.

In your design you may want to consider making the upper bunks so that they can be secured in the up position.  This would turn the back U-shape into a lounge area.

If you can figure the space I would also try to keep the sleeping area all in the rear, in other words no couch or tables that convert to beds.  This will give those who get up early or stay up later a place to be without having to climb over someone or be extra quiet. 

Best of luck on your adventure,

Cliff

[RJ]

Jamie -

Welcome to the madness!!

On your way back from TX w/ your new baby, if you want the six bunks that are in my current coach, you are welcome to them - FREE!  You & Doug will just have to pull them out yourself, but I'll gladly snoopervise & provide the Pepsi. . .

I'm in Fresno, right on your way.  Contact me on my cell if you're interested: five five nine, two six zero, four one zero six.

FWIW & HTH. . .




PS:  What's the VIN on your coach?  PD4106-XXXX?

[mom28sofar]

RJ,

  Our VIN is PD4106-1035.  How very generous of you to offer us your bunks.  Can I call you and come and look at them to see if they will work for us on our way back (around the 24-25th of January)?  I would like to say absolutely we will take them, but I need to make sure they will fit first.  I will call you and we can talk about it, but for now, I say yes!  I'll take 'em.

Thanks and God Bless

Jamie and Doug

[RJ]

Jamie & Doug -

Sure, give me a call.  Number was in the previous post, plus my profile.

I can take photos of the bunks on Thursday and email them to you, so if you can pick up your email along the way, you'll be able to see them before stopping by.

I'm going to Quartzsite this weekend (16-18), but should be around the following weekend when you're headed back this way.

Oh, and FYI, PD4106-1035 was delivered new in May of 1962 as fleet number 7805 to Western Greyhound Lines, based out of San Francisco, CA.  Probably spent the first 10 years of it's life pounding the pavement up and down the west coast, and, during that time frame, had excellent maintenance.  (Greyhound's PM program was the envy of the transportation industry back then.  Today. . . well, let's not go there. . .)

FWIW & HTH. . .

[fraser8]

Welcome, when we traveled 30 years ago with four kids in our old bus the kids all had their own bunks, each with a window. I used to call them caves as sometimes they would disappear into their respective cave and we wouldn't see them until they smelled food. Good luck and I'm sure you will enjoy the adventures ahead. Fraser