We started building Dot Bus around a year ago. Dot is a 2002 Chevy Collins, built on the 3500 Chevy Express van dully chassis with 5.7-liter V8 gas motor. The bus is shorty 4 windows, only 19 feet, fits in a parking spot perfect! It saddens us to sell her but due to health reasons, we have to let her finish the journey with someone else.
The bus has 163,000 miles and has been given a ton of love. We stripped the bus down to the sheet metal, everywhere. The bus has been treated for rust and double sealed at every seam. (If you want to see photos of this work please let us know)
We have gone through an extensive round of preventative maintenance on the mechanics.
-Just replaced the front breaks. Rotors, calipers, and pads.
-Replaced Fuel Pump
-Replaced Mass airflow sensor
-Replaced fuel injector spider and rebuilt/cleaned intake manifold
-Replaced all spark plugs and spark plug wires
-Installed AC that would have come with the chevy van (we removed the old school bus AC unit)
After stripping the bus down to the bones we rebuilt the bus interior with the following highlights:
-Combined level of insulation that evens out to a 6.5 R-Value around the entire bus.
-1 sealed sunroof
-1 hatch/sunroof to access the bus where the old rooftop emergency exit was located
-The ceiling is lined with aromatic cedar underneath is insulation and all the metal ribs of the bus are studded with wood studs on either side.
-Butcher block countertop
-Lots of overhead cabinet space
-Lockbox over the drivers door
-Liquid nailed and 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood on top of the metal floor
-LifeProof floating floors for the floors with cork in between the floating floors and the 3/4 inch pressure treated plywood.
-We replaced the bus driver chair with a back seat to a transit van. Making it so you can fit two people upfront and also remove the seat easily or turn it around and have extra seating for when the bus is parked
We also installed an outside bar table that is made out of a piece of cedar and moved the emergency windows to be in front of the kitchen and flipped them sideways so they swing out on their sides and fully open up the kitchen to the outside.
There are a series of appliances already installed in the bus including:
-Maxx Air fan
-Dometic stovetop
-Deep sink
The bus has power everywhere. We wired the bus with 12 volt system that is directly wired through a fuse box to a 270 AMP Hour battery that charges off the alternator when the bus is running through a Victron 12v to 12v charge isolator. More details below:
-270 AH 8D Battle Born battery is the main house battery for the bus
-Bluetooth Victron Monitor (so you can check out the battery from your phone and see how much is left, consumption, etc)
-Victron 12V to 12V Charge isolators
-Breakers between all components for safety
-2 DC fuse boxes that all the power in the bus is connected too.
-2 back side cabin lights
-1 back overhead cabin lights
-1 front cabin light
-Power for appliances like the fridge
-Power for the ignition button on the stove
-Power for track lights,
-Lots of power everywhere to run whatever you want to run.
-Backup Camera
We pretty much have everything else you need to finish the bus. The main parts left unfinished are the water system and the bathroom. We have a 55-gallon water tank that fits under the back bed, and the water pump. We also have the KURDY shower system to install which will waterproof, seal and get the bathroom ready for its finishing work.
The bus is let’s say 80% done and just needs your final touches to be ready to go.
