Converting a Gillig Transit Bus into a Motor-home Tiny House (almost a Skoolie) 

Thanks guys! It’s been a positive experience so far. Working around aluminum things is an extra challenge but once you get the groove is very clean to work with.

It's not a platform its a bus. The platform is the floor next to the driver where the passengers get on and off.

Thanks for watching! We’re really excited about it too.

Great news!!! Congratulations and welcome to the club 😉 Find us on Instagram and send a dm, we have some specific FB group for Gillig builds too.

Yeah, there are very few of us out there for now but it seems to be changing! You can find some ideas on Instagram looking for “transit bus conversion” or “city bus”. We will post soon our layout ideas but for now it’s still in the works 😂

Thanks for watching 😉

Thank you for watching!

Obrigado 🤩🤩🤩

Thanks for watching! More videos coming soon.

OMG! I would absolutely love to talk to you! Do you have Instagram for a DM?

@@CappellaBus sorry I don't. All I do is texts.

I'm now on Instagram. What's your name there? I tried Capella but didnt find you

@@dennisoneill9208 I'd like to get in touch with you, too. I'm in Austin and have a Gillig LF bus. Is Instagram the only account you have? I'm mainly on Facebook and here.

It was around $4k USD but since it was an auction the risk it’s all yours 🥶 So far it’s great!

@@CappellaBus thank you. That makes a big difference to the overall budget. In Mexico the buses are owned independently so there are no such things as fleet auctions. The one I'm looking at is from 2003 and is the equivalent of 16,000 US dollars so a huge difference plus I'm also hoping to have one that doesn't necessarily run because I want it to stay in one place potentially. Great channel, keep up the good work and enjoy the ride

They moved a few years ago to a city near by but the Hayward location is still being used for something else. Thanks for watching!

It was from a random google search that we landed on, I know there are several online auction sites that transit agencies use. If I remember correctly it was Govdeals for this one. Good luck for you!

Hey! This build started about 1 year ago. I think these buses will have this kind of milage. The good thing is that usually they keep them very well maintained but there’s always a risk that something will brake. Good luck to you on your next bus!

We removed all original AC unit and everything connected to it, we will be replacing that with a mini split with dual heads inside. This bus doesn’t have a fuse box, it’s all electronic with some very cool breakers. There’s one part on top of the driver seat and another on top of the back-passenger wheel wheel. Thanks for watching!

@@CappellaBus Thank you for your response. Why would you remove the AC and evaporator. Trust you will use the compressor? Shortest part to success is if you removed the evaporator placed on top of the bus, now you have to put one inside the bus. Which model do you have. I am working on one whose evaporator is inside. Still charged but not kicking over compressor wise. That I can deal with. A breaker is a fuse equipped with a thermo sensor.

Do it! Make videos and tell me about it 🤩 Thanks for watching 🤘

It was from Austin TX 🤩

The main reasons for my choice was great air suspension, a powerful engine and the fact that this bus was geared for intercity traveling. There are a lot of school buses that have great engine and transmission combos too, never seen a school bus with air rides though.

City bus ride so much better than a school bus.

If you go back to our channel we have videos on the whole demolition part. Since the rivets were internally driven I didn’t patch any of the holes. We did gut this thing to the bare aluminum though! Let us know if you need anything specific and I can try to get it.

I really appreciate it. My storage compartments are more like a coach bus vs the ones you seem to have had in your bus I hope it's the same. I'd like avoid drilling holes in the roof if possible.

I think it was around 500k miles.

As of 2020 you could buy them from $3-12k according to our research back then. You can get one in an auction site for cheap but without any guarantees, in some cases they don’t even start. You can also find one from a more trusted source, where they make sure everything is working at the time of sale. I’m definitely not an expert in these but some people on RU-vid have comprehensive check list for you to follow, I know I used a lot of their advice on both purchases. Good luck to you 🙏🏼

@@CappellaBus thank you so much

I think it was around 400k miles but the odometer is never reliable right.

In the trip from Austin to San Francisco the average was 9-10 mpg

I couldn't find the info initially. So I drove from Kansas to Boston without one. Before I left I had called the Massachusetts state police and they had said someone will contact me. They called me three days later to tell me, for MA since it's over 26000lbs, 40 ft and carrying over 16 passengers u need a CDL.

@@mluemaphosa1929 Even if you are going to convert it into a RV?

As far as I know, you only need a CDL for commercial applications, if it’s a bus that’s not for hire you only need a regular driver license.

@@CappellaBus RVs are exempt. If it's not registered as an RV, you need a CDL even for private use if it's over 26k gvwr or designed for 16+ passengers.

It goes around 70-75mph on the highway, at least that’s what I got driving it from Texas to California. I don’t think you wanna go faster than that anyway 👀

@@CappellaBus thanks for responding. That's plenty fast. Lots of these things max out at 55.

Yes!

😎 Viva Austin Texas!

And their beautiful buses 🚌🎊