Bus decker conversion DIY project

rolion · 15-02-2019 12:21am #1

Hi,

Looked online past few days and few DIYers managed to do a brilliant job in converting a bus / double decker in to a marvellous home on the wheels.
Any idea if that is doable, any one done it, any practical hints ?!

Was looking at the continental market for double deckers and some of them looked interesting as a project in the next couple of years, once the kids are out of my back pocket !

I like the ideea of space, with nice sized kitchen and lounge area down and full size permanent bed up plus a nice bathroom and not lastly, relaxing / cinema type room up in the front with panoramic views.

Thanks

racso1975 · 15-02-2019 12:22am

From what I've heard insurance is impossible to get over here

Day Lewin · 15-02-2019 10:54am

I've never seen a double decker in use as travelling camper, here:

Have seen some single-deckers - very hippie ;-)

CJhaughey · 15-02-2019 10:58am

Best bet is a Toyota Coaster or Nissan Civilian bus. very nice camper conversions can be made from these.

rolion · 15-02-2019 11:07am

I've seen few in UK.They are double deckers,buses not small vans type.
Most of the completed projects are on the Continent,where you have the infrastructure.

Silent Running · 15-02-2019 11:12am

I once, many years ago, had an itch to convert a VW Optare to a camper. I ran out of cojones and built a C class on a Transit chassis cab instead.

A double decker would be an interesting project alright, but the insurance issue would kill it stone dead.

Alkers · 19-02-2019 5:10pm

I've seen a few excellent looking conversions online alright. The fuel economy and driving experience in terms of manoeuvrability and acceptance at sites or wild camping locations are likely to be so poor that you'd probably be better off with a static caravan and paying to have it transported whenever you require.
It would be a great project and you could make a very comfortable dwelling but as a motorhome I don't think it will fit the bill

CJhaughey · 19-02-2019 9:49pm

I saw a few massive campers in France last year, they were built on a 40+seater bus chassis but had slideouts. These were custom built jobs but I think they have a lot of problems being able to fit into pitches and wildcamping is out of the question.
They were single deck as well, not double deckers.
I don't think they would be very practical here or in Europe as the roads you can travel would be limited due to headroom.

Nomis21 · 27-02-2019 11:21pm

I drove a double deck bus converted into a mobile home from UK to Amsterdam via Rotterdam port. Insurance was no problem. I just told the insurance it was a campervan and gave the make of the camper as a Leyland which was the make of the bus. It cost less than a car to insure. Cheap on the ferry too as it was classed as a truck and it was charged by the metre length.The biggest problem was that UK double deckers are 4.3 metres high and most bridges in Europe are 4.0 metres!

I never found a campsite that would accept me in the bus.

Bus decker conversion DIY project

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