Bought a GMC bus,converted to Motorhome. In the process of making the back end into a hauler for my Altered. Beats dragging a trailer around and I have a place to crash after the races.
If I ever had the real need for a hauler/camper I always thought an old bus would be the way to go.
When I was younger the town I grew up in had a Mud Drag every year, and there was a guy who came yearly with a CJ rolling on 40's or there abouts, he had a bus with the back 18-20ft cut off and flatbedded and then what was left he had set up as a camper. I remember him pulling the jeep off and then using the deck as a patio with chairs and table and such. Also he took the space below the deck and made it fit tool boxes, space for spare parts and whatever else was needed. Wish I had pictures would make a little more sense.
Years ago there was shop in Kitchener called Pauls Transmission that raced a big block Anglia. I think the team was called the Knob Hill Gang or something close. They had a school bus with the back cut off for the car, painted black with a big Union Jack on the hood. They towed a tent trailer behind it which was set on fire at Cayuga one night. I always thought the school bus idea was cool but always used a pickup and open trailer ourselves.
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Keep your stick on the ice and don't pull your goalie.
Where are you gonna put the really long ramps to get up into that bus? like the guys were saying. I have also seen them with a stubby bus at the front and a flat bed with the "Beaver Tail" to minimize the ramp height. something to think about.........you could also "Bag" the back end to get it a little lower and also help with the load of a car.......
Had another thought, if you do this. You could put "Short Bus Racing" LOL!!
-- Edited by 30-S6 on Sunday 26th of February 2012 09:06:31 AM
I've seen a few of those busses done for stock cars etc. they usually cut the back end off off body,then cut body further up,leave say 10 to 12' of body behind driver for living 1/4's then weld the cut off piece back on & make the remaining section a "ramp" truck or flat bed,if you get my "jist" Guess if you can get the car "inside" that works too!!!!!
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I can only please one person a day, Today is not your day!!Tomorrow doesn't look good either !!!!
was one of my pipe dreams that my wife talked me out of. even had a 57 gmc school bus lined up. Big block under the bench. figure to convert 3/4 for camping and make the back for motorcycles.
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There are 106 miles to Chicago. We have a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.
hey guys,been a long time and the hauler is done and the Altered has made a few passes. it loads ok.drove it up the ramps and winched it once when the starter broke in the third round of eliminations at Sparta,three weeks ago.the ramps slide down the sides of the racecar and get tied up with bungee straps. the 4500 nlb winch pulls it easily.I made the door a barny in the end. couldn't find rams to lift the door all the way up.my plan was a canopy,but it didn't happen. heres a couple pics. If anyone is interested,I'd sell it. I have another project in mind,that will be a secret till I sell the bus,if I do,lol.
Looks great . Dont wanna sound like a downer on the party . But yrs ago up here in Barrie , the stock car guys would use school busses . But they all got busted in mto spot checks . I think it had to do something with the weight the bus was carrying .And how much the bus frame was legal for . On another note I met a dude a few yrs back who was like a genius , but not all there upstairs . He made a bus into a car hauler / camper . What he did was he took one of those hydraulic lift gates offa a 5 ton delivery truck . Lengthend it so the car would fit on it . Then he made up a hydraulic scissor jack device . The jack was attached to the bottom of the lift gate . So you drive onto it . the scissor jacks would lift to the level of floor of bus , then u just rolled the car in side . The hydraulic lift gate would pull the whole thing up an close it against the back of the bus . The you retracted the scissor jack thing . It sounds complicated as I read over this , but it had a remote control with like 20 ft of cable and you could load the car in like 5 minutes and never leave the drivers seat . The only thing u had to do by hand was the tractor traler style slide bolt locks on the door , to secure it . Guy was nuts though ..77.
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I,m as cool as Milner , but axeually a bit more like Beckwith
Nice set up studebraker especially nice to have when a downpour is going to hit!! Everything under cover including your self!!
(Speaking of stock cars , years back "Earl Ross" car was loaded and unloaded by a "Cherry picker" on a flat bed truck. The car was lifted off/on with straps.The cherry picker was used once to quickly change an engine, the spare engines and parts were brought in an old school bus/mobile shop.)
Looks cool to me. Just get some vinyl images of kids sitting in bus seats and put them on the windows. Get a wig for yourself and some think coke bottle glasses and when the MTO or the OPP looks at the bus, they will only look once and continue on.
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meoracing - 48 Studebaker 1 1/2 ton dually stepside. LOSERS CC
Will those ramps hold the weight of the race car without putting any supports under them??? There long, & look like they might "flex" over that length of span. Just wondering?? Pete
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I can only please one person a day, Today is not your day!!Tomorrow doesn't look good either !!!!
Wonder if the Jeep/bus combo PistolPete mentioned was a guy I used to work with ... Jeep was lime green and called the Bog Frog.
Spinner43 mentioned the Knob Hill Gang ... I don't remember that name but I do remember the name Ant Hill Mob from the drags. Not sure what they used for a tow rig though.
Studebraker; I sent you a PM, but that was before reading all the comments. Looks like someone has already mentioned about the MTO frowning on converted buses.
