building a bus. . .

0riginally the cool bus had a maximum capacity of 16 passengers plus one driver.  which worked out to 8 total seats in back, each seating 2, with 4 seats on each side of the isle. there was no way to keep all of the seats and fit everything necessary for the trip. it was decided that all of the original seats would be pulled out, and we would fabricate our own. some ideas were debated rather hastily and sometimes we saw eye to eye. in the end all of the ideas help mold the cool bus into something we all are proud to say we are a part of. here is how our golden summer began. . .
the first step was to tear out all 8 passenger seats, which left a cabin much the size of most college dorm rooms.  

We had to maximize functionality, given the scale of the trip and had to have the support and comfort that we so sorely need.  Keeping in mind the money we saved for the trip must last us, this all had to be done within monetary reason. In keeping the aisle and both doors accessible, we also needed room to sleep. We constructed a bench in the back on the passenger side 3 ft. wide and. 7 ft. long. In front we fabricated a co-pilot seat so the driver has a wing man. Behind the driver we have a food pantry, area for bag storage, a two seat bench with a table that drops down to create another full bed. All our seats have storage below them, and we built in a cooler and a 6 gal. water jug in as well.

For our upholstery we have to give a personal thanks to our good friends, Brandon Smith and Mandi Pratt. They donated two quality pieces of furniture which we then skinned for upholstery materials and foam which I’m currently lounging on as I type this and gaze out the windows at Monument Valley, Utah. Mandi, Brandon thank you i‘m very comfortable. It provided enough to outfit our whole rig. 

 For power, we mounted two marine grade gel celled batteries with a trickle flow from the alternator. A switch is wired in to isolate these batteries from our engine batteries, so we can blast the stereo we have all night and still start the bus in the morning. 

Everything thus far seems to be stable and rides well. As we go down the road we can modify and add as we see fit. We all admit that for what we did, with what we had, in the time we had: it could not have turned out any better. What can we say other than...sometimes, its just in the cards. -Dude

(pictures in reverse order)

packed an ready to roll .  .

seats fabricated, upholstered, stained and ready for road. . . 

upholstering seats late into the night, trying to hit the road!

katy helping paint website on bus

back deck. . . 

figuring out seat padding, upholstery, etc

all seats built 

co-pilot seat finished, 

1000 watt power inverter, hard wired to the batteries

building the co-pilot seat

the first bench made, now a couch

dual batteries mounted under bus entrance that give us constant juice