Newbies looking at a '75 GMC 8v71 bus conversion.. help!! - RV-Dreams Community Forum

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

Newbies looking at a '75 GMC 8v71 bus conversion.. help!!

thebeagletraveler · RV-Dreams Community Member

Longtime lurker, first time poster here. Long story short we are planning to be on the road FT sometime next year. We were in a position where we were going to have to wait until we sold the house until I happened across a local listing for this bus at a reasonable price. We saw her in person today and really liked what we saw. She is an automatic with very few rust spots but a few small cracks in the skin. The inside is in great shape and we saw no sign of leaks; she just needs a little updating. The issue is that we are RV, bus, and diesel virgins so we do not really know what we are doing and are afraid of making a foolish mistake. Does anyone know anything abbout this particular model? We know that we need to see her again with a mechanic and that we need to ensure the AC, heat, generator,and plumbing is all functional. What else should we be looking at? Thanks in advance!

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Tracie,

Welcome to the RV Dreams forums. Since you've been lurking for some time, I suspect that you already have a good idea of what to look at. Obviously, a mechanic to look at the entire power train to include engine, transmission, differentials, suspension and tires. Depending on the maintenance performed on the coach, it may be necessary to at least replace the tires, based on their age.

Then perhaps an RV technician to also look at all of the appliances and other features of the coach. While a mechanic can understand a lot of the mechanical drive items, the RV "living quarters" electrical systems and generator may require an actual RV tech. That person will better understand the power converter that will recharge the batteries for the house, while the mechanic may better understand the charging system for the engine battery system.

I'm sure that you will receive a lot better information from some of the motorhome owners here than I am giving you. All I've done is touch the major items.

Good luck with all the planning and research.

Terry

Millie · RV-Dreams Family Member

I lived in a converted bus for many years.

It didn't cost much money to outfit it with shower, small bathtub, propane stove, 3 way fridge, cupboards, kitchen sink and bathroom sink, toilet, propane furnace (that doesn't work very good in really cold weather.) hot water, pressurized water, sewer holding tank, water holding tank, electric light stuff, fan exhaust range thing for over the propane cooking stove.

All the fixtures were got (new) from an RV parts store.

After 7 years, the hot water tank had to be replaced because it had holes in it, and had got all rotted.

Nothing ever went wrong with it. (except for the hot water tank.)

One thing you should be aware of, is that, if it's a 'school bus', it won't go very fast. (45 mph)

I think the reason that it wouldn't go very fast is because it was a city school bus.

And, don't forget, a school bus has a low ceiling height. So, if you're really tall, don't get it, or everybody will be calling you 'Egor' the hunchback.

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

check out "Technomadia's" web site, they have a converted bus and have a lot of info that could help you. Hopefully Cherie or Chris will see your post here and can give you some first hand experience.

www.technomadia.com

Phil

thebeagletraveler · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for all the responses! We are going to call around tomorrow and look for an RV tech to go over it with us as well as a mechanic. I'm going to Technomadia right now to read up!

Trabuco · RV-Dreams Family Member

Welcome Tracie,

We have a diesel motorhome but can't be much help with your vintage bus. Like Phil said Technomadia might have some good input for you.

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Join the Wanderlodge Owners' Group, wanderlodgeownersgroup.com and you will be able to talk to some real experts on the Detroits. You don't have to own a 'Bird to be on the forum and there are people who have done just about everything possible with those engines. The 53 and 71 series engines are noted for leaking/using oil. The 92 series is much better in that respect.

Is this a home conversion, or was it done by a reputable company? If it is an amateur job I'd stay away from it. You might check with Randy at http://www.buybyebluebird.com/ and talk to him about your budget and needs.

Another alternative is a Foretravel. Again, you don't have to own one to join the forum, and there is a classified page. Go to foreforums.com and take a look at the 93 U300 that Lee Weatherred has for sale.

Edit by moderator: Activated link. Terry

-- Edited by Terry and Jo on Friday 21st of December 2012 11:38:05 PM

thebeagletraveler · RV-Dreams Community Member

Wow! Thanks for giving us some resources we didn't know about. The coach was done by Texas Custom Coach in '95. We are taking a diesel mechanic with us to see it next week and have made an appointment with a local RV dealer to check out all of the interior systems. Thanks again everyone for your help. :)

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

Most FMCA areas have a "Bus Nuts" chapter. Also there is http://www.busconversions.com/ .

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sorry that I didn't chime in earlier, we were out at sea on a cruise last week when this thread was active. But I see someone has already pointed you to our website.

We love our 1961 GM Bus Conversion - however, we specifically sought ours out and did a lot of research beforehand to try and understand what we were getting ourselves into. Bus conversions in general are great - very sturdy foundations. And some fantastic deals to be had out there right now. However, they are also heavy commercial machines, and can have some pretty high maintenance and repair costs associated with them. For instance, if you need to replace the engine - it's easily a $10-20k repair bill. And we set a budget of about $2500/year to keep on top of preventative maintenance and minor repairs.

Sean Welsh's excellent OurOdyssey blog was linked to above as well - but they're a bit of a special case. Their bus is very unique (only about 6 of them in the US), so a lot of their mechanical issues are associated with lack of parts in the US. Many of the issues he writes about won't necessarily apply to a GM, which were built with still available truck parts and designed to be serviced on the side of the road by the driver. Also, don't be intimidated... Sean is not actually a mechanic, but he is *very* mechanically adept. He does take his bus to a lot of repair centers for the bigger stuff (as do we).

Some further resources to explore:

www.busconversions.com - they have great bus forums, and a magazine (Mention 'Technomadia' and you can save 10% off a new 1-year subscription)
www.busnuts.com - another great forum

Also, if there's a bus rally going on nearby you, highly recommend attending. There's a huge one in Florida this coming weekend that we're heading to ourselves: www.arcadiarally.com . You just can't beat the experience of hanging out with dozens of others bus nuts and touring other buses to get up to speed. There's a lot of experience there to tap into, and in general we've found fellow bus nuts to be some of the most giving and friendly people we've encountered. We have learned so much.

You can read more about our bus and experience at http://www.technomadia.com/zephyr

Best wishes,

- Cherie

thebeagletraveler · RV-Dreams Community Member

Thanks for your input Cherie. :) My husband and I feel like we already owe you many a meal for all the infromation we have gotten from your site.

We are seeing the bus again later this week and have put together a pretty good check list to go over with the current owner. We are also bringing a diesel mechanic with us just to give things a once over. If all things go well we are pretty sure we are going to make an offer. We've always flown by the seat of our pants and figured out things as we went along and so far things have worked out okay... why should this be any different?

thebeagletraveler · RV-Dreams Community Member

Well we went ahead and bought it. We will get it on Wednesday and will go from there. Thanks to everyone for the great advice, we really appreciate it! I guess I should go and make an introduction thread now... as well as sign up for Elephant Butte! :)

kb0zke · RV-Dreams Family Member

Congratulations on your new home! Once you get it you need to post some pictures. Without pictures it didn't happen!

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

congrats! Let us know how things go.

Like David, we want to see some PICTURES! biggrin biggrin biggrin

Phil

thebeagletraveler · RV-Dreams Community Member

All I have so far is this exterior pic from it's ad. When I get more I will add them as well! We think it is very pretty! I can't wait to research it's VIN and learn it's history! :)

The Bus

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

nice! I really like the graphics and color scheme. Looking forward to the interior pics.

Have you thought about starting a blog? We use blogger.com through google and it is free. We post about our travels and work camping. We love to read others and it gives us all a way to "get to know" each other. smile

Phil

Lucky Mike · RV-Dreams Family Member

Yes Sir.......good looking coach!!!

thebeagletraveler · RV-Dreams Community Member

One interior pic:

$T2eC16RHJGwE9n)yTU2pBQzlFliN8!~~60_3.JPG

Thanks for the compliments! We have started a blog.. it has a whopping two entries so far, but you are welcome to check it out..

http://www.thebeagletraveler.blogspot.com/

Terry and Jo · RV-Dreams Family Member

Looks good, Tracie and Shad.

All of us nosey folks here will be watching to see what all you do or decide to leave alone. I will say that it looks like a very clean unit.

Oh, you might check out the thread in the category of "Forum Tips" that refers to inserting links in to forum posts to see how to create "active" links. That same process can be used to make your blog link in the signature active as well. Or, if that seems daunting, let me know, and as one of the moderators, I can "activate" it for you.

Terry

Technomadia · RV-Dreams Family Member

Fantastic.. and congrats!! Welcome to both busnut-hood and preparing for your full timing lifestyle.

If there's anything we can help with in the process, please be in touch. You're joining a most awesome tribe of us working on the road in buses folks :)

- Cherie

Workinrvers · RV-Dreams Family Member

I thought something looked familiar when I saw the exterior photo of your "new" bus. I had looked at the ad the seller had on ebay! I went back to the ad and checked out the rest of the pics he had for the ad. Really nice bus!

Phil