Beschrijving
Words can hardly explain the great sadness and impending sense of loss as I have to sell my bus.
It's available purely because the landowner is redeveloping his site and wants it gone after many years.
Countless days and weeks stretching long into the early hours were spent converting her all of which I thoroughly enjoyed about 10 years ago.
I have also enjoyed every minute on board her realising that to live a comfortable and simple life you really can leave bricks and mortar to those that like virtually life-long mortgage debt,
heavy repair and fuel bills, insurance, quarterly charges and so much more. During very windy weather there's nothing like being gently rocked to sleep at night in a bus!
This bus has been my first and second home and a small storage base for many years and I thought I'd be retiring into her [I'll not see 60 again] and
I'd began designing a simple lift in my head that would replace the stairs when the time came when I couldn't manage them.
Alas that's not to be so it's time for someone else to enjoy the sense of freedom living in an 'alternative' environment.
One of the most important things to do and spend conversion time and money on is insulation, it's unseen and expensive but omit it and you'll live to regret it!
Please see the image of this being done. All of the multitude of cavities in the roof were drilled, foam filled and sealed. Likewise the side walls of the top deck. Not only that she has a 'warm' side and a 'cold' side. The cold side has had most of the glass covered inside by 25mm polystyrene and plywood for more insulation, the 'warm' side has the glass letting in the sun so she's best parked facing south which of course is a must for maximum benefit from the solar panels. It would be a good idea to also do the lower deck sides which you can do with your feet firmly on the ground so a much safer easier job, I'll be happy to show you how.
I chose this example with Eastern Counties bodywork for it's 'hopper' type windows. These you can leave open for long periods as they don't let in the rain or birds or cats and also attenuate strong winds, -
all important considerations.
Upstairs there is a large double bedroom with two wooden chests of drawers, 2 seater settee and clothes storage area, an office with desk and filing cabinets, a bathroom with it's walk in / sit down shower and cassette toilet.
Downstairs there's the rear kitchen, fridge freezer, full size cooker and microwave, full width stainless steel worktop with inset sink unit with storage underneath, one 4 seater table,
one 2 seater table, settee with full storage under, Ikea wall units, under stairs storage area, further storage cupboard, second sink fully plumbed in with more storage under.
Plenty of curtains everywhere and I have fitted Swish or similar rails all round, however [just call me lazy] some curatins are simply tucked over and behind the rail.
Sadly the hope of an interested and talented lady with a sewing machine never materialised so I was left to my own devices... I do have plenty of the strips of
material that takes the curtain hooks that of course you're welcome to.
When I purchased the bus she had a class 6 test and was only just out of service, she drove some 70 miles back to her first base without fault.
Here's what I can remember what I installed and the cost:
Batteries, terminals, cables etc £1500, the huge leisure batteries are tired now but recently I bought about 10 ex electric vehicle gel batteries and have temporarily
installed them, they seem OK
12 volt Fridge Freezer, it's not one of those tiny Mickey Mouse things, this is a good size and works very well indeed £600
LPG Cooker little used, works perfectly £270
The best there is, a Swiss made Studer 12v UPS inverter / charger, 3KW pure sine wave, an excellent unit £1800
3 x Kyocera 130w PV Solar Panels that sit in a custom made aluminium roof frame that's adjustable so you can angle the panels according
to the season, charge controller £2200
The PV roof frame has withstood some severe storms without incident.
A custom made full width stainless steel sink top unit with inset sink £400
Bog standard Microwave £40
55 litre Calorifier [immersion tank] with 1 kw immersion element, this has two coils to accept further heat inputs and one is connected to the 'furnace' £350
Furnace, made from a 47kg gas bottle that burns anything from coal to oil and wood and is plumbed to upstairs radiators. £400.
The highest recorded temperature in winter was 36 degrees!
Walk-in bath / shower £ 200, see image of the installation via fork lift
1600 spin speed washing machine, I've just fitted a new water inlet valve... must put the top back on..
.. that fast a spin speed means that clothes come out almost dry.. £290
Double Bed & mattress £100
2 seater Settee £50
2 x 2 drawer Filing Cabinets, desk materials, £130
Top of the range cassette karsey £300
Ikea wall units £300
The Bus itself £2000
Insulation inc scaffold hire £1500
MDF, plywood, adhesives, paint £600
Wiring, sockets, LED light strips, plumbing, mains trip unit, water pressure regular valve & misc bits £300
All in all I guess around £11K and if my labour is worth anything a fair bit on that.
I am an untidy person so she'll need a good cleaning day inside, a feminine touch will transform her inside. Outside a good few days spent scrubbing and
repainting with a roller or a brush will do the same for the outside.
As it was never intended to take her out on the road I have no idea where the V5 is and as I guess she probably won't be driven on the road again it's irrelevant really.
I did used to start her up now and then until the staring batteries finally gave up, she started instantly for years.
If you can bring a couple of charged batteries she might start for us!
So to sum up the bits that make living aboard possible are worth a good amount, the bus itself a wee bit, the labour a fair bit, and altogether she's got plenty more life and pleasure to give in return
for a week or so's work..... she's over 30 years old and has not moved for some 10 years.
She'll have to be lifted and towed, see image, I paid about £400 for a 150 mile tow some years ago.
Timewasters tyre-kickers and dreamers expecting Pink Floyds tour bus won't be welcome. I trust you understand.... so...
please only get in touch if you have somewhere to put it and are ready, willing and able to proceed as this is a stressful period for me.
I'll be on site early July, any questions do just ask.
Contact me if you purely want the empty vehicle for spares. Hurry, urgent sale!
