Want to look at some conversions

[bronson]

Im near Mt Orab east of Cincinnati off 32. Youre welcome to check out mine.

[DominicM]

I researched RV vs Conversion / MCI vs GMC vs Provost / Shell vs Converted for a couple of years.  I had to realize that I was not going to find my dream coach at least not one that I could afford. Finally  I wanted to pay cash.  With this in mind I also figured if I bought one already converted, and mechanically sound then I could do what ever needs to be done to update/ make it my dream bus, while saving money by living in it.  By it already being converted it serves its purpose, and every couple of weeks I make a trip to HD to make an upgrade.

I looked on Craigslist nationwide, Ebay, bus bargain news, and every internet search I could think of.   I went and looked at a few before narrowing my search.  I payed a little more than what I wanted but I knew I would have to pay more for what I was wanting so I just SAVED.   

My bus may be a bit dated by appearance but with 200 gal fresh water, onboard generator, 3 A/C's, new engine, and 60% tires I can go where ever I want and not have to worry about much.  I couldn't have done the complete conversion for what I paid or even double of that.   

Good luck with your search.

[Jim Blackwood]

Thanks for your perspective. If we find a seller who can arrange financing for all but about $10K I think that's a great way to go and I'd happily get on board that wagon. Just don't believe it is going to happen. And we have to get this moving. Need some sort of action by the end of the summer at least. So the bus purchase seems the shortest line to achieve measurable results at this point. Of course that could change any time, but there seem to be plenty of buses out there, just a matter of picking the best option and making the deal. It's not like I'm looking for a perfect bus for five grand or something, based on the advertised prices and stated conditions I think my search preferences are reasonable. Not that I'm any kind of authority but unless the sellers at our price point are all lying there should be some pretty good deals.

Bronson, I'd like to take you up on that offer. Let me get in touch once I've talked to Dave and we've got some planning done, should be tomorrow evening or Tuesday sometime when we talk so a day or two after that should be possible. Any chance mid-afternoon would work?

Jim

[richard5933]

Our first coach was a 1964 GM 4106. It was a pretty nice runner and had a very workable conversion which was done in 1990. We paid $14K for it. Obviously we put quite a bit more into it during the time we had the coach, but it was a great starting point. By buying an already converted coach we had a usable and nearly fully functional motor home.

If you have your heart set on doing one from scratch then that's what you'll do. But, if the budget is as tight as you say you'll be MUCH better off buying one already converted. There are many coaches out there whose owners have already done a great deal of the mechanical work for you, got part way (or all the way) through a conversion and then ran out of steam. There are also many coaches out there with conversions that only need a slight bit of cosmetic work to drag them into the modern world.

If you look at the thread on our current coach you'll see that we left nearly all the original conversion in place, but we were still able to bring a 1974 conversion to 2018 without too much effort. Granted, we paid more than your budget allows, but I've seen a number of conversions for sale that would easily produce the same results.

A couple of weeks more looking might save you months (or years) of time until you can get the thing on the road and begin enjoying.

[bronson]

Jim, i sent you a private message.

[Jim Blackwood]

Thanks Gary, I'll call you as soon as I talk to Dave. He's catching up on sleep right now.

Richard, I have absolutely no problem with doing as you say. It's Dave's decision of course so we'll talk about it. In the end I suspect it'll come down to what we can find, and what he can afford to purchase.

Certainly we'd be willing to go a reasonable distance to look at any good prospects.

Jim

[Jim Blackwood]

Dave and I got out yesterday and visited Gary and looked his bus over pretty carefully. It's a 96A3 and is pretty nice. Dave could probably afford something like that if he could get financing. Gary also gave us some leads which we'll be looking up over the next week or so. On the way back we stopped at FMCA and talked to them, they gave us a couple complimentary magazines. There were a number of rigs there but it was the middle of the day and nobody was out so we didn't go knocking on doors. They were all towards the higher end anyway, apparently some built on a bus chassis but I really couldn't tell.

I contacted Sawyers, they had a 96A3 for about 10K but it went on contract. Next closest is a D4500 for 30K. It has 731K miles though, isn't that a little high for the engine and transmission? It's a 2002.

Not sure what we'll do next, Dave will be out until the 1st of the week.

Jim

[bronson]

Mines a mci 9, 1984. My first bus was a 96a3

[windtrader]

Hi Jim,

I new to all this too, just about 18 months now. If dollars, budget, value, and time are considerations then get your son to cool down the enthusiasm a few degrees.

Unless you have very specific, very minimal, motorhome features in mind, then I assure you that buying an already conversion is going to save you money, time, and offer far greater value. As to the financing aspect, no commercial finance company is going to lend using a 20 year plus commercial coach as collateral. You can get funds via a line of credit but it is secured by other assets, not the bus.

As to a commercial bus coming out of service, the reality is every fleet manager is going to squeeze the most miles out of the coach before dumping it. And all maintenance is deferred and all needed major repairs are deferred. Why on earth would a new $20k motor be installed then the coach be retired?

Not trying to be harsh or critical, just being short and to the point. Save up about 20-25k and get a nice running already converted coach. Will be an older 2 stroke, pre-1990 or so but if in good condition, it'll run fine.

[Jim Blackwood]

I appreciate all the comments. For the most part I agree. But as always there are additional factors that are pushing the timeline and if we don't have something lined up by the end of summer suffice it to say that is going to push up the domestic discord factor around here. So not a terrible rush but he can't sit on his hands waiting for something to appear, we've got to go out and find it.

Anyone dealt with Carscoms.com? I'm seeing some affordable rigs on there. Also found a couple of interesting buses on ebay and A Goff limited bus co.

Been in communication with Sawyers but they don't have much inventory in our price range. There's no practical way we can go over 15 without financing so if the above comments are true that's our upper limit, making the number of converted bus choices very few and far between.

Also ran searchtempest, still looking at that but the prices do not seem to reflect the typical craigslist spread.

Jim

[Fred Mc]

There was a recent thread on here dicussing coaches fro sale in California that HAD to be sold due to govt. regs. They looked to be recently pulled out of service and were going for cheap(I think)

[windtrader]

Get onto the bus conversions for sale FB group. Also PM me as I know personally of a coach that might work for you

[richard5933]

There are a number of of sites listing completed used conversions for sale, including the bus sites like this one. I could make a list of two dozen in your price range. Could not tell you anything about the condition of them without an in person look, but they're out there.

Search for 'bus conversion for sale' and you'll find them too.

[solardude]

I will add my 50 cents to this as I feel the pain daily, I don't regret buying a blank slate bus, but sometimes the knowing how much further ahead I would be aggravates me. Ultimately I am having a lot of fun working on the bus, but most of the time I could be just as happy remolding a vintage coach for a lot less cash. I don't track exactly how much I spend, but I have a rough estimate. I spent 14k on my shell, inverters and power (rough in) cost me in parts alone ~$4500, A/C $3000, insulation, $3000, windows $5000, used generator $1500. I'm sure there is another 5K somewhere in miscellaneous. As I am actually getting to the point of being able to use the bus for vacations, I have started on the mechanicals, next month is tires $3000. And that is not even got plumbing yet. So - for 40K, I'm sure I could find something that would be useable tomorrow. My advise would be to forget the adventure of "converting" and save it for making memories traveling and using the bus by spending twice what you want to, beg, borrow, steal, you/ your son will not regret it if you actually finish a conversion before fire selling a half finished project.

PS; I have spent 3 years getting to this point, now imagine spending thousands of hours in addition to the cash. I feel like sometimes I'm married to the bus project. So - now when you move ahead and start out with a blank canvas, you will know ahead that the $60K-80K in cash does not include your TIME which no matter how much money you have, you can never recover.

Example: https://www.busconversionmagazine.com/1974-mci-8-bus-conversion-completed-2014/
SD

[TomC]

I bought my 1977 AMGeneral 10240B for $4,000 with the seats already removed. With stripping down to the bones, spray foaming, installing all plumbing and electrical, building all cabinets myself. Then having everything in the engine compartment rebuilt and even turbocharging the 8V-71, installing Jake brakes, replacing all air bags, converting to hydraulic power steering, etc, etc, since 1993, I've spent just north of $100k on it. Still a lot cheaper then a newer motorhome. But-just an idea what it takes from scratch-and that was over 6 years.
My truck, I've been working on it for 10 years. Still have close to a year to get it done. Good Luck, TomC