The Bus

The bus is a 1977 MCI MC-8. We bought it in Kentucky in June 2010. It was converted by us in Oklahoma that same summer.

We owned 2 different 5th wheels before the bus. We love the layout and space a 5th wheel provides, but the convenience and sturdiness of the bus is far better.

The Bus: The Conversion

It took Derrick 2 weeks to gut and strip the interior of the bus. Another month and a half to do the conversion. We are not completely done with it.

 

Before we took the seats out.

 

Completely stripping the interior.

 

It took 2 weeks to get to this point.

 

The new laminate flooring.

 

Building the wall frames.

 

The wall frames.

 

The beginning of all the wiring. It is ran in the ceiling and in the walls.

 

Electrical panel.

 

Putting the pine ceiling in.

 

The ceiling. There are 3 of those ac units. And the square where you can see the metal was cut out and a Fantastic Fan put in.

 

Building the queen bed in the master room.

 

Storage under master bed.

 

Storage above master bed and framing for side wardrobes.

Building the bunks.

 

The bunks.

 

Door leading from bunk area to bathroom. There is another door just like this leading from bathroom into master room.

 

Closet and drawers in bunk area.

 

Linen closet in bathroom. Shower is to the right.

 

Building the kitchen cabinets.

 

Bookshelf and passenger seat area.

 

Another picture of the passenger seat area. It also serves as Derrick's desk.

 

Installing the couch. We also installed 3 seatbelts here.

 

The tanks before plumbing. The fresh and grey are each 120 gallons. The black is 66 gallons. There is also a fuel tank on the bus that will hold 178 gallons.

 

This is where the bus's ac unit was. It now houses our huge generator.

The Bus: After

Here are a few pictures of what the bus looks like after the conversion. The pictures truly do not do it justice, but will give you a good idea of what a great job Derrick did converting it.

 

Passenger seat ... also doubles as Derrick's desk. In the background you can see the bookshelf.

 

Cabinets above couch and dining room table.

 

Kitchen. The cabinet just to the left of the drawers is where we keep the garbage can.

 

View of the microwave (which very rarely gets used for anything more than a bread box) and upper kitchen cabinets.

 

Pantry and blue flame heater (the ac units also double as heat when he are hooked up to power).

The dining room table.

The fridge. Above the fridge is the electrical panel.

 

The bunks (not looking their best).

 

Ahhh .. A better view of the bunks.

 

Not a very good picture, but this is the closet in the hall/girls' room. There are 6 large drawers below.

 

Each girl has a dvd player with headphones in their bunk.

 

The shower.

 

The vanity in the bathroom. Toilet is just to the left of this (and shower and linen closet are across from it).

 

The queen size bed in master room. The head board is made from the same pine as the ceiling. There are small wardrobes and night stands on either side and storage above.

 

There are two of these large wardrobes in the master room. Each one has 2 large drawers on the bottom.

 

The outside. We covered the middle section windows with aluminum. There is a flood light on either side. Eventually we will paint the outside.

On top of the bus we have our internet satellite, 3 ac units, and 2 solar panels.