2002 Thomas built High Top Partial--Please Read

This website is not permitting me to load most of my photos.  I also have a video of the bus running.  Please feel free to call me and I can send you many more pictures and the video.  Marc–219-616-7057.  The Bus is located in New Port Richey Florida.

We bought this bus in 2020 with the plan to turn it into a Schoolie for  our daughter to live in. It is a dognose Thomasbuilt Hi-top.  Dognose bus engines are easier to work on than the rear engine buses. The bus has around 250,000 miles, but it has the classic Cat 3126 diesel engine that goes a long, long time. The bus starts and runs fine, first time, every time. Filters and oil changed.  Shortly after we bought it, I (the Dad) got very ill and we did nothing on it for a couple years. We have worked on it for the last three years, with some breaks.  Now, my daughter’s plans have changed and she no longer wants to live in the bus, so we are selling it. It is 2/3 built at this point and I have spent over $72,000, about half of which is for welding, materials and fixtures, and about half is which was on labor. No one in our family has construction experience, so we hired experienced workmen to do all the work.

The bus came with two factory storage areas and we had a welder add three more, so lots of storage.  Because my daughter was planning on living in Colorado, we had all of the storage areas fully insulated and lined with heavy vinyl sheeting, with weather stripping around the edges. And because she was planning on parking her bus out in the country, we made it very secure by adding to the door and each storage space a Master Pro Series Hidden Shackle puck lock—this is their professional model with a highly pick resistant 6-pin cylinder with spool pins.  All are keyed alike.  Puck locks are virtually impossible to grind off.

Before doing any work inside, the old vinyl floor was stripped off and the undefloor thickly coated with waterproof paint. Then that was covered with closed cell insulation  (R-Matte Plus-3 .75 inch)  with .75 inch plywood over it.  We had been advised that cold coming through the floors can be an issue.

On the roof we had two platforms added, one of which is intended to mount solar panels and one of which is intended to be a deck for lounging. There is a ladder mounted to the back of the bus to climb to the lounging platform and there are heavy duty fixtures around the edge of the lounging platform in which  to mount posts to hold rope railing around the edge for safety purposes.  There is a platform mounted to the back of the bus, extending the back bumper, permitting storage on the back of the bus, as well.

We have bought most of the materials needed to convert the bus. We have three expensive specialized horizontal 20 gallon propane tanks, their hookups and the needed propane piping to run a range and a demand hot water unit. The tanks fit neatly into one of the storage units.  All of the electrical wiring has been run and is ready to have the outlets and lights installed. We have the electrical panel in place. We have two water tanks that fit in the storage units, one for fresh water and one for grey water. We have a black water tank that fits in another storage unit and a mascerating blade-shred toilet to make the waste management process much easier.

We have two types of insulation for the ceiling—r-matte plus-3 .75 inch, to put directly against the inside of the roof and 1.5 inch fiberglass over that.  The ceiling would then be finished with some beautiful high end real birch lattice paneling, which we have already purchased.  The walls have been covered by r-matte plus-3 .75 insulation and are ready to be covered by beautiful natural bamboo wall covering, which we have also purchased.

Besides the toilet, we have a bathroom lavatory, its faucet and a high end kitchen farm-style Kohler sink with faucet.  The hot and cold water lines have been run and are ready to be hooked up. We also have 35 feet of very heavy-duty  service cord to run electricity to the bus, SOO, 6/4 heavy duty (6 guage)—four strand, braided.

Most of the interior spaces are framed out and ready to finish.  The floorplan of the layout is in one of the accompanying photos.

We have everything needed to finish this project other than lighting,  a refrigerator, bath tub/shower, on demand propane water heater and range. There is also room for a clothes washer/dryer unit and a dishwasher. Please see the floor plan.  This is a big, well planned bus with lots of features not found on most schoolies.

We are truly sad to give up this project, but it will be a gorgeous Schoolie when it is done.  We hope you agree.