Carpenter School Bus RV Conversion
Sale price: US $1,000.00 Make an Offer
| Condition: | Used | Type: | School Bus |
| Model Year: | 1971 | Make: | Carpenter |
| Fuel Type: | Gas |
Argenta, Illinois, United States
Vehicle description
Here for sale is our school bus made into a camper. Fix it up or use it like it is. We bought it in 2005 and have taken summer trips every year. We even lived in it while we built our house, two Illinois winters! Tiny house? In 2018 we bought a new camper. The last trip in the bus was 1500 miles round trip in 2017. It"s been sitting since so it"s time to sell it, we need the room. We’re selling it no reserve, the goal is to sell it. Hopefully it attracts some bids but if it sells for opening bid so be it. Maybe someone will get a great deal! It’s a 1971 Carpenter bus on a GMC chassis with a 427ci gasoline V8 in the rear. I was six years old when this thing was made! It has 210,276 miles on the odometer. A sticker above the rear view mirror says new engine Sept. 1982 72,400 miles. I have no way of knowing if that is the current engine, it seems likely. It starts easy, idles a little uneven until it warms up, runs fine. It has a five speed Allison automatic transmission that consists of three forward gears in drive with two manually selected extra low gears. This is great for uphill starts, super steep hills, and extra slow maneuvering such as in parking lots. The transmission shifts solid and works great. It does drip transmission oil, it appears to simply be from the pan gasket. It has done this for the fifteen years I have owned it, I never got around to fixing it. I usually check it before and after trips, admittedly it is a bit inconvenient as the transmission dipstick is under a cover in the space under the bed. It has a 60 gallon gas tank. There is some rust, mostly the rear corners and the engine doors, you can see in the pictures. There are a couple spots under the rails on the lower sides, they seem to be more surface. I charged the battery and got it out last weekend, put fresh gas in it and drove it around at length. Everything seems to be in order. I had forgotten how much fun it is to drive! The tires show little tread wear but I bought them in 2005, so they are fifteen years old. They are modern radials on modern style steel rims, no split rims or inner tubes. Michelins on the front, retreads on the back. Stainless steel wheel covers still look great. The bus has air brakes that work fine. Water is supplied by two air pressure tanks yielding fifteen to twenty gallons, twenty gallon water heater (120v) in the closet, everything drains into a single thirty gallon holding tank underneath. There are two roof mounted Carrier air conditioners with built in heat that work great. There is a ducted 40,000 btu Suburban park model RV furnace (120v), supplied by a fixed 12 gallon propane tank. There is a small dorm refrigerator, relatively new flat screen TV, and blue ray player. There is no stove, however there is a good location for one. The finish is flaking off the cabinet doors in some spots, they are standard Ikea units. The Ikea sofa is sun faded a bit more than the pictures show, as are the curtains. The bed is a regular queen size. There is a 1000 watt inverter that will run the lights, TV and furnace but not the air conditioner. The two deep cycle batteries for the inverter did not survive the winter and will need replaced. There is a large bay on the driver side that I used to carry a portable generator in, generator is not included. The power cable connections are in there. The latch on the passenger side cargo door is stuck and does not latch. Other outside compartment latches work but most are sticky, for the most part they need cleaning and oiling. There is a nice air ride driver’s seat. Cruising speed is usually 50 to 60 mph, slower up hills. Face it, it’s still a school bus. The speedometer is a little off, it reads about 5 mph low. The fuel, oil pres. and temp gauges in the large gauge on the left do not work and have been replaced by aftermarket gauges under the dash. The dash heater fan motor is noisy, I have always just run the RV furnace instead The two high mounted “bus fans” work fine and are great. The suitcases and stuffed fish are included. The title is clear in my name. $200 deposit via paypal at the end of the auction, the balance cash when you pick it up. I have no reason to believe you couldn’t drive it home any distance, having said that it’s 49 years old and has been sitting since 2017, so I have to say sold as is no warranty. It’ll be fine, you’ll probably have a blast.