Progress

Yes, we are still alive. We've been getting flack about not posting, so here's a biggin for ya. (And I'm getting flack right now about "biggin" ... just so you Mainers know, it means "a big one" ... hahahaha). The pictures are in the order they were taken, so they're a little all over the place :)

Zach's incredible kitchen table

Our friend from Maine, Mike, came to visit and we made him
help us put the stove pipe through the roof

Partial framing

Stove and table installed

Kitchen appliances and bench seats (which we stripped down to the frame
and cut to the size we wanted)

Mmmm ... Fat Tire

Lovely custom kitchen with our salvaged RV appliances

Artsy shot :)

Bane of Zach's existence: leaky antifreeze pipe

MUD

MORE MUD

Zach hard at work

That frame we were talking about ...

He only keeps me around 'cause I'm funny

Bus art (airplane courtesy of Mike)

Tracing the sink

Tah-dah!

Homemade composting toilet (aka shit-in-a-bucket)

Already putting the fridge to good use

Chair frame cut in half

We never got a finished picture of our modified frame, but we'll take one and include it in our next posting. It's flush with the table and flows with the couch (which we also forgot to take a picture of). We're making a lot of progress, but still have a lot of work to do! Framing the closet, sewing room, and bedroom will come next.

Until next time,

Kelly, Zach, and Black Dog

Wires

This is what Zach did yesterday ...

Deconstruction and Reconstruction

We've already put in many an hour on our newly beloved bus-o-la. We had to rip out the seats and overhead storage bins, take out the heaters (which involved WAY more anti-freeze than we wanted to deal with), sweep, and rip up the plywood and linoleum. So with a floor of sheet metal, we cleaned the crap out of it and removed any leftover nails, screws, rubber matting, and grime. Fun. But THEN! Today we got our 100 feet of insulation (which is a three layer system of two sheets of "bubble wrap" and a layer of reflective material; commonly used in floors in houses) and our grade C mahogany plywood. We laid down the insulation and Gorilla taped the seams (hey, it works as a weather barrier, too! and what would a house bus be without duct tape?!). Then we cut our plywood with our circular saw and fit them into place (with only a little convincing). It looks GREAT and tomorrows project is to cut out a piece of plywood to fit in the last spot in the front and screw everything down. We now have an insulated floor!

Zach and a Harlow's Bus Sales mechanic ripping out stuff

Dirty

Pile of trash

Our bus was parked in the empty spot on the left

Our first truck stop ... aw

Our parking spot

Doesn't get much better than this!

Bitch work (ripping out the floor)

I need a beer ...

Will it ever be over with?

Insulatin'

Sunroof

First hardware installation

Make-shift workbench

Out of duct tape! Better get more ... LOTS more!

Poor man's caulking

Which way did he go?

Theme of the day

Almost ... there ...

TAH-DAH!

Tomorrow's project

More to come ...

Kelly and Zach


Next: framing!

bus, Bus, BUS!!!

Wow! We've got our bus! Went to a used bus yard in Whitehall, MT today just to *look*, and was offered such a good deal on what we wanted that we couldn't pass it up! She's a 1992 Bluebird with an Allison transmission and Cummins diesel ... and she's turbo-charged! With five external undercarriage storage compartments on each side and roughly an 80 passenger capacity, we've got PLENTY of room to add our fresh water tank, batteries to store solar power, and all the gear we can carry (which can be a LOT!). This will be her second conversion: she was originally a regular ol' school bus and was painted and converted into a transit bus for the Three Forks school system. We plan on re-painting the red stripe (we like green better), but other than that are really satisfied with the external physical appearance. She was the biggest and prettiest on the lot!

Harlow Bus Sales, the company we bought it from, is going to rip out the seats, over head bins, and television cubbies for us. This deal actually helped make the price of the bus a lot cheaper! No telling how long it will take us to convert her, but the first few things we need to do are rip up the floor and put in the floor that we want, lay out insulation, and map out our wiring system. Since it was converted into a transit bus, the whole she-bang is wired for overhead and floor lighting ... which equals a lot less work on the wiring part!

We'll keep y'all posted ... for now she's parked in Whitehall waiting for us to find a place to park her for the spring/summer. We hope to begin the conversion soon!

YAHOOOOOO!!!!

Kelly and Zach