1940's design

So what is the vision?
To put it in the easiest way, classic outside modern inside. Not a real earth shattering revelation I know. That basically encompasses almost everyone's wishes when restoring and converting a classic Flxible. Below is a picture from the movie RV. The paint job is a fairly typical paint design from the 40's for flxible buses. The roof "patio" is a cool idea. We are in consultation around our house in regards to colours for the bus.....as well as a name. So far Jeff likes orange&green, Anna is blue(powder blue: don't kid yourself) and Michelle is a firm "not rust". Me?....I'm partial to red and white....I mean we are in Stampeder/Flames country.



As for a name?......Well I was always thinking a rebirth of the Sinclair camper from the 70's
The "SINBIN"
Then put a 1940's era pin up girl image on the back of the bus.......
......Michelle put her 'VETO' on that one



Hmphf! I kinda liked it!

Empty....kind of.

I've lost track or actually what day this was taken on, but I suppose it doesn't really matter. Point is that we are pretty much down to the bare flooring. I have left the dinette and the bench in place for now. Just to have a place to put my tools and the coffee, and...

I then moved to the front. The blower for the front heater was screaming at me when I would start it up, and no air was coming out the front, just up top(defrost)

Further investigation revealed that there are in fact two motors. The top one was working...kind of, but the bottom one is long since seized. So off to try and find a replacement(this should be fun)

Next on the list was windows. Taking them off the bus was surprisingly easy....given that someone else did it previously and then decide to place them back on with hinges....don't ask.

After a full day in the bus things tend to get a little weird.....we all get a little punchy.

Lady in waiting

OK so I'm having some"uploading" issues...maybe it's too little sleep and I'm getting a little punchy. Anyway, this is one of my favorite shots, I call it "Lady in Waiting".
Relax, it's not my bus but rather a rig in rough shape in Nelson BC. For a long time Michelle thought that this was the bus I was buying.....she was a little nervous about the moss.....

Tear down

Might as well dive right in. This is after day 1. We pulled out the overhead cabinets, then took out the fridge,stove freezer and counter. As sad as it was we decided that the green shag carpet had to go too....not sure if green was the original color...didn't want to know.
After putting the kids to bed....and Michelle. I couldn't sleep so I snuck out and tore out the sink and cabinets at about 11pm...I know,I know,......I have issues
Next was the furnace,bathroom,storage closet and the hot water tank!
Finally I was able to pull parts of the floor. The bus was originally manufactured to have a dropped center isle. But whomever did the original reno decided to build the floor up 6" so it was flat....which was fine if you were under 5'10"
Oh... the other beauty of the tear down is a reminder that the original reno was done many moons ago and done in the USA... which means no robertson, very few phillips.....and a whole lot of flatheads....damn that slows things down!

Let the fun begin

So this is what we had to start with. You get a good idea of what was there from the video. Oddly enough the pictures and video make it look allot cleaner than it really is. After consideration I decided I want to start new. So the plan is to gut it down as far as we dare and start a new.
That's all the encouragement Jeffrey needed, we had music, we had a cooler of drinks, we had power tools with little rules.....it's all good.
60 years, a few different owners with different ideas about how things should be done leaves a rats nest of bad wiring. Chris Kruse took on the daunting task of a general re wiring

The tour.

A tour! This will give you a taste of what she looks like inside!

Alberta Bound

After a lovely lunch, although we stayed away from the biscuits and gravy, it was time to hit the road. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous pulling out into traffic for the first time!

Once we hit the open road it was smooth sailing, at about a blistering 90KMH...not bad really if you think of what we're pushing down the road.

The trip seemed to fly by, there is something magical about the prairies. Big Sky, big dreams.

This is Randy with his turn behind the wheel of the big rig.(In your head play the song "Born to be wild")

It was a dark and stormy night.......no it wasn't but I just liked the running lights. (like a kid in a candy store)

Here we are back home safe and sound. Jeff was up at 6am waiting for me to awake the next morning so we could go have our morning coffee and hot chocolate in the bus!!

Shelby Montana

We arrived in Shelby MT and pulled into the local truck stop. There she was! Chris and his co-worker John were already there. They had left Missoula the night before, going through the pass at midnight(less traffic) but ALLOT colder.....you guessed it the heat isn't quite working in the bus.
As you can see, she needs a little work but over all the exterior is in great shape minimal rust but there are some bangs and bruises.
The interior was converted into a motorhome at some point in the past. Based on the color scheme of orange seats,green carpet,white speckled counters and dark brown simulated wood paneling....I'm guessing in the 70's (been there done that).

This is Chris and I sharing a laugh of all the "unique" things he found while working on the beast just before I hit the open road.

In the begining...

Well here we go folks! For those who don't know what the heck this is all about. I turned 40 last year and immediately felt the burning desire to get a vehicle that reflected who I really am! A mid life crisis you might say. But my vehicle, like me, doesn't scream small and sexy, but rather it has a low repetitive chant "I'm big, I'm comfy and I need a lot of body work!"

Seriously, I have had a secret love affair with this style of bus for many years, ever since crossing paths with one on the way out to the mountains one summer. I found the ol' girl in a barn in Missoula MT. And with the help of a local mobile mechanic, Chris Kruse from Krusers mobile repair, the wheels were set in motion.....literally.

So October 16th was D day, my good buddy Randy and I set out in my Jetta, with a tow dolly bouncing behind, down to Shelby Montana to meet up with Chris and the bus....