My wife Robbin and I bought our 1978 Loadstar 1600 shortie school bus in December of 2014 from a fellow down in Rogue River for 2,000 dollars. We had seen it on Craigslist, after browsing the market for a few months as dreams solidified in my mind, and we instantly loved it. It is a heavy duty duallie that is honestly overly beefy for the size and our purpose - I love it. The body was in perfect condition and there wasn't a bit of rust to be found, however unfortunately the poor thing wouldn't start for us when we went down to check it out. But we were sold, I had a friend who offered to tow us, and although it was a rough ride coming through those mountain passses, it was worth every bit of anxiety.
We started by stripping out the inside skin and old fiberglass insulation, they would soon be replaced with rigid polystyrene insulation and wood interior. After gutting the inside I applied several coats of white rustoleum primer to the metal and then bolted in the floor framing which I made from pressure treated 2x4's ripped down into 2x2's. The 3/4 inch plywood subfloor caps one and a half inches of insulation, which is plenty, but I may increase in the future by insulating within the frame under the body.
Using self tapping machine screws I then attached hardwood 1"x2"s which I rip cut from 6 foot boards to serve as a thermal break to anchor the interior wall to and full length 1"x4"s for the ceiling. The walls and ceiling both fit 2 inches of insulations which total an r-value of 13.9 - not shabby, especially for such low a volume of space. I wouldn't be very surprised if just our two bodies could keep the thing warm most nights. With the 3-ply panels finishing the ceiling I am left with just over an inch of headroom- lucky me, but luckier for my wife at 5 ft- ha.
Once the interior shell is complete and we reinstall the windows we will then work on the framing for the galley, desk, bathroom and storage cabinets. Hopefully by summer time having the living quarters complete we will then shift our focus towards the large expense such as the 1200watt solar array, 500 amp-hour lithium ion battery bank, 12 inverter and more. Well, focus towards saving for those things that is.
