My newest whip a 9.0L Turbo
06-16-2010, 11:25 PM
#1
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Location: Seabrook, TX
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My newest whip a 9.0L Turbo
It is a 1982 Thomas Transit Liner with a Cummins 555 turbo diesel. The bus was used at Texas A&M for a number of years in their student driven bus system. I used to drive this bus and always wanted to get one like to convert into an RV. Low and behold this one came up for sale up in College Station, so I went up and got it for only $2000. Immediately after we went to the service department at A&M and got a complete service history for it.
The engine is strong, transmisison is good, and it weighs 23000 lbs. The only bad part is that it tops out at 62mph. We will be regearing the rear end to be able to cruise at 70mph.
We resprayed it the original paint job it had when it was still in service at A&M and tore out the inside. There is now a bedroom, complete bathroom with a toilet and shower, kitchen with stove and fridge, and a living room. A 6500W generator was mounted under the bus and a 15000btu roof mount a/c was installed. We may have to install an additional 13500btu unit, but we will see.
I will post up some pictures from during the build as well as take some pictures that aren't from my phone.
BTW, that Flyin' Miata sticker is a windshield sticker for the miata. Just to give you a good idea of how much bigger this thing really is.
The engine is strong, transmisison is good, and it weighs 23000 lbs. The only bad part is that it tops out at 62mph. We will be regearing the rear end to be able to cruise at 70mph.
We resprayed it the original paint job it had when it was still in service at A&M and tore out the inside. There is now a bedroom, complete bathroom with a toilet and shower, kitchen with stove and fridge, and a living room. A 6500W generator was mounted under the bus and a 15000btu roof mount a/c was installed. We may have to install an additional 13500btu unit, but we will see.
I will post up some pictures from during the build as well as take some pictures that aren't from my phone.
BTW, that Flyin' Miata sticker is a windshield sticker for the miata. Just to give you a good idea of how much bigger this thing really is.
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06-16-2010, 11:29 PM
#4
Awesome!
My uncle Bob lived in a school bus for a while, but he was a bit of a hippy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Waldmire
(actually, he was more like the hippy)
My uncle Bob lived in a school bus for a while, but he was a bit of a hippy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Waldmire
(actually, he was more like the hippy)
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06-16-2010, 11:47 PM
#6
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Inside my shop. I have a 5000 sq ft storage building at work. It will stay in there with my parts cars and shop supplies. I could store it at home as I have no home owners association, but the wife association says no.
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06-16-2010, 11:50 PM
#8
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That's fine you can use my bunk this weekend. Happy to have you coming Jeff. That drive to Dallas is going to be a long 6 hours and hope there are no problems. Fingers crossed.
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06-17-2010, 12:01 AM
#10
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This is unbelievably cool. 
Are you familiar with Auragen systems? Basically it's a massive alternator that produces 400 VDC into an inverter that gives you a stable 110/220 @ 60 output. We used to install them into TV remote trucks back when we were in that business, as a alternative to standalone generators.
Are you familiar with Auragen systems? Basically it's a massive alternator that produces 400 VDC into an inverter that gives you a stable 110/220 @ 60 output. We used to install them into TV remote trucks back when we were in that business, as a alternative to standalone generators.
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