Ok, I decided that I am not going to buy an engine nor transmission until I can see/hear it run. It will cost me a descent amount more but once again, I am opting for security. I contacted a used bus sales company in Florida who is currently trying to find me a bus with the engine and transmission I want to put in the bus, an international DT466 and Allison MT643. They have other options of similar engines and transmissions but I am hesitant because I KNOW that these buses can fit a DT466, I am not so sure about other engines. So hopefully they can find me one soon. The main reason I could use one soon is because I was contacted by an individual who wants to purchase the Bristol BVW engine that I have in it now. I am completely willing to sale it to him but right now I cannot remove the engine without knowing it will be immediately replaced with another working engine. So I had to decline. However, if these guys come through with a bus with the engine and transmission I want, I will immediately sale the BVW to the gentleman and use the money to get the replacements. So this could end up working out but we will have to wait and see. The advantage I have to buying this bus is that for one, they will drive the bus to me to deliver it. Pretty awesome and saves me the grief because I don’t have a bus license to get it myself. Second, I will know the engine and transmission will run. That is really important to me as a bus with no working engine and transmission is scrap metal. I can’t risk being put in that position even if it does cost me a thousand more dollars. I will report if there is any more progress.

Today we officially have the back end of the bus reinforced. You might be asking yourself why? Basically the back end of this bus hand no real frame supporting it. The frame only reaches the back tires and then it stopped. So what we had was wood hanging off the back, with small support brackets underneath being held up by the side walls which are also made of wood. Not a very strong design but I am sure they were trying to keep the weight off. The problem it has for us is that we cannot tow a car behind our bus which is pretty much essential if we don’t want to be driving this bus everywhere we go. In addition to that, we it was in really bad shape because it had been busted up pretty bad when the bus was towed. So it needed to be fixed anyways. I figure, might as well do what we need to do to it since it is going to cost us either way.

On the downside of this, it raised the floor on the back end around 3 inches. Not sure exactly how much higher but it was certainly higher. I had a rough decision to either drop the floor 3 inches or raise the floor 3 inches. Considering that there was an issue with dragging the back end causing the damage in the back I opted for raising it. Hopefully this will prevent any future dragging and damage. It was a sacrifice but I wanted to play it safe which someday may pay off big time. A small inconvenience in the back but a huge sense of security.

Here are some pictures of when the back end floor got ripped out and post installation of the floor. Got much more to go but we should have the whole bus ready to drive in the next 4 months if all goes according to plan. Keep us in your prayers.

Starting toward the end of next week the whole backend of the bus is getting a much needed remodel. The frame only goes to where the rear tires are and the rest is made of wood and is supported, believe it or not, by the walls of the bus. The whole backend is getting ripped out, a steel frame welded into place, and walls/back door rebuilt.  Oh, and a towing hitch welded on. That should be done in about 3 weeks. I will post pictures of the process.

After this, we are going to get all the lights working, and put in some RV style windows. Then we can start to drive it home on weekends where I will insulate the walls, install the electronic components (a/c, generator, etc) and plumbing. then we can build it into a house. Not sure where paint will fit in yet, but if we can afford it, we will kick it out before we start to build it into a home.

I’ll keep you posted!