Brand new... and scared!

[tomhamrick]

Hi Marc,

What part of NC are you from? I live in Forest City between Charlotte and Asheville. There are serveral of us here locally with Eagles and GMCs and we will be glad to help.

Tom Hamrick
1984 Eagle 10S

[brando4905]

Marc,

Welcome to the board! I'm from NC as well, Marion. Good time to purchase, lots of deals out there!

Brandon

[thejumpsuitman]

Hi Marc,

What part of NC are you from? I live in Forest City between Charlotte and Asheville. There are serveral of us here locally with Eagles and GMCs and we will be glad to help.

Tom Hamrick
1984 Eagle 10S

Hi Tom,

Forest city is a great town!  I always make a point to take the bypass through town when I'm on 74 in that area.  I am in Matthews, outside Charlotte.  Thanks for the generous offer.  I will certainly seek wise counsel when the time comes.

Marc

[tomhamrick]

Sounds good Marc. Send me a Private Message from this board if you are coming through and want to stop.

Hi Brandon. I actually work in Marion, small world. Hope you can plan to come to Kyles Non-Rally in a couple of weeks. It is not far from you and you can meet a lot of nice folks.

Marc, This rally is not too far from you either. Get to see lots of buses cause we all like to show them off!!

Tom Hamrick

[brando4905]

Tom and Marc,
We are all sorta close neighbors, good to know!

Wish I could make the non-rally, just got back from California 2 weeks ago and gotta head back next Sat. Have fun down there!

Brandon

[NewbeeMC9]

NJT5047  is in your neck of the woods and will gladly talk bus with you.  He is coming to the Non-rally at Palmetto Cove,  you should come in your sacrificial motor home.   You would learn a lot and be much more confident(and full) when you leave.   Send him an IM.

Also subscribe to the mag, it will be the highlight of your month.


Good luck and welcome to the madness

[NJT5047]

NJT5047  is in your neck of the woods and will gladly talk bus with you.  He is coming to the Non-rally at Palmetto Cove,  you should come in your sacrificial motor home.   You would learn a lot and be much more confident(and full) when you leave.   Send him an IM.

Also subscribe to the mag, it will be the highlight of your month.

Good luck and welcome to the madness

YO! Jon! This is like deja-vu all over again!   
Marc, I just did a rant on the 'skils' thread on this subject?   Same? 
Marc, you are less than 15 minutes from me.   Feel free to call me about any time.   I'm near the Monroe airport.  Southern Indian Trail.
704 650 0235
If you are serious about a bus conversion, you really oughta find a way to get over to Palmetto Cove next weekend.   Looks like a really good turnout for Kyle's Palmetto Cove Non-Rally.   
Another option for wannabees is Jack Conrad's  'Mother of All Bus Rallies' in Arcadia, Fla, the week between Christmas and New Year's.   Hundreds of buses to look at.   Pretty good drive from here. 
We enjoyed Arcadia a couple of years ago....spousal component usually has that week full up.  Hard to get away at that time.  Whatta change in weather!       Left here in the low 20s...arrived in Arcadia and the temp was low 70s...sunset...Very nice! 
Look forward to hearing from you!  We're leaving next Wed AM for Palmetto Cove.   I'll be in and out in the meantime.

JR


 

[thejumpsuitman]

Hi JR,

Yeah, practically neighbors.  I may just give you a call.  Thanks for the offer.  I may try to get to Palmetto Cove.  Maybe I can make a day trip out of it, or borrow Dad's motorhome... but my old Sportscoach is in need of repairs at this time, so it won't be going anywhere too soon.  

Arcadia sounds intriguing.  I love that town, was there this spring.  We had a great time going to all the antique stores.  Of all things, I bought a working Coca-Cola vending machine there at the Habitat for Humanity thrift store for $75.  Couldn't turn down that deal!  I have a very close friend who lives in Wauchula about 25 miles north of Arcadia.  He still has the Coke machine and thought I was nuts for buying it, LOL.  What a beautiful area that is, especially in the springtime.  The wife and I are actually seriously considering moving to central Florida, particularly the Winter-Haven Lakeland area.  Whenever I go to Florida I never want to leave.

Marc

[robertglines1]

 just another opion---- if you build it yourself you know the guy to see if something goes wrong. Set a budget. Now add twenty percent for the unexpected. A time back in the magazine there was a worksheet that listed the parts of a conversion and you could plug in the cost to help you make the decision. I have done three and have sold each for more than I had invested. You know the basics from your past camping experience,trust in yourself.    I have recently put slides in my 89 prevost was not that hard.  Set back digest and make the decision to fit yourself...  welcome..... good luck!!!

[travelingfools]

We also came from a stick and staple life. We have had our bus 2 years this thanksgiving and have no regrets about making the jump. I agree with everyone here. Just make sure your  getting a bus that is mechanically sound. When we first started looking for a bus, there were none locally. I had never even seen a bus up close, let alone have any idea what I was looking for before I bought. After looking for a few months, I found an early 90's Prevost just 6 miles from my home. It was a seated coach and was still on the road. They were asking $7000 for it and were eager to get it out of their lot as they were having issues with the city. When I first saw it fell in love. It was the first bus I had seen up closes and I was blinded. The fact that it needed all new tires, new batteries, a radiator and many air leaks repaired didn't even matter to me. As I said i was blinded. I was going to own a Prevost ! After a few more trips to see it and getting a halfhearted nod from the wife, we got our cash and were ready to make an offer. I happened to mention it to a mechanic friend and he offered to go for a ride with me. When we got there, the owner grabbed a can of either, opened a door and sprayed it into the air cleaner "to save the batteries and make it start easier". He explained that he hasn't had an air cleaner in the canister for a few years 'cause its easier to start this way. My buddy then slid under the back to look things over and hopped up as quick as he had layed down and said he was ready to leave. He dragged me out of there kicking and screaming. When we got in the car, he told me that all the rubber bushings on the suspension were GONE and there was so much rust, he couldn't believe it hadn't fallen apart. Talk about dodging the bullet. We eventually hooked up with busforsale.com. They turned out to be good honest folks and after spending time both on the phone and at their shop, got us into a real nice ex-NJT MC9. It has been great except for the things Ive broken due to my hard head, but with help from here, I was able to make the repairs. Our bus is about 1/4 converted and we try to use it all the time. We jumped into this bus thing way over our heads and would do it again in a heartbeat. We've been to Jack"s rally and lived out of our minivan for a weekend amongst the busses and got and eduction I couldn't have paid for. Its a great group of folks here with years of knowledge and its been a great addiction for us so far.

[Charles Seaton]

Marc,

That 4103 would have been a great starter coach.  It is simple even by GM standards, no airbags, radius rods, etc.  And, it was evidently very well cared for.  However, 03s are rare as there were only about 1500 built.  You should have little problem finding a nice 4104, '06 or even one of the 4107/08s.

== Seaton

[gene lewis]

Marc,
Pay JR a visit - he's serious.  I lived within 3 miles of him for +/- 25 years and did not know him until I passed by his barn and saw the nose of his MCI and stopped in.  We have helped each other a lot since then and attend rallies together.

We lived on Gold Mine Rd in Wesley Chapel for 27 years and 3 years ago because of grand childern moved to Buies Creek, NC.

There is LOTS of good advice here on this board and lots of folk who R willing to help.

Looking forward to meeting U.

gene