converting a ex London welfare BUS into our ULTIMATE campervan RV || our full story START to FINISH
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- Опубліковано 8 лип 2024
- 3 year in the making. We converted a VW bluebird welfare bus. A Mellor Tucana. A VW T5 base vehicle and running gear. A company welded a big box on the back of a bonnet. It used to travel around London assisting people to get to their destinations. The headroom and square space at the back was a big selling point for us. Electric doors is a gimmick we kept and love even though they play up now and again. It was a labour of love built by the whole family and we are extremely proud. We have been wanting to make this video for a while. We had so much footage but cut it down to the best bits. But as you know it is never finished! we still got to paint and upgrade the outside. Hope you enjoy. Ask any questions you have in the comments.
See what we are up to live on instagram
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Edgy/funny videos about our trips on tiktok
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-Contents-
00:00 intro
00:12 collecting bus
00:49 journey home
01:09 playing bus drivers
01:46 designing interior
01:55 bus strip down
04:41 insulation and walls
07:55 laying out interior
08:15 cutting holes in the skin
08:30 toilet/shower room build
08:47 sink install
09:19 bathroom vent
09:45 rear bed build
10:31 kitchen build
10:40 kitchen appliances
10:50 boiler room
11:03 bathroom completion
11:24 ceiling
11:42 painting/wallpaper
12:00 kitchen drawers cabinets
13:47 front swivel seat build
14:07 rear elevator bed build
14:38 where we been?
14:42 cheers!
14:44 outro
Ngl as a bus enthusiast I quite enjoy seeing buses like these getting turned into motor homes, also not sure if your aware of this but some of the seats that were previously on the bus that you own were actually the same seats you can find on a larger size bus with obviously no seatbelts.
Yes the seats looked similar to the buses we used for school.
Nice work guys . It’s good to see the kids eager to help , to many kids stuck on there phones or TV now days . In my camper I am going to use a bilge pump for my shower shower will drain into a container on one side screen and fish tank angle hair filter material in middle bilge pump on the other side there gets into a container I can handle easy . Keep up the good work safe travels .
Good idea this! If your sink drains into the same grey tank then it will be hard to keep pipes from not clogging. Unless you give tank a good clean every year to stop sludge build up.
This is the ideal to convert to RV MOTOR HOMES
Absolutely
Fantastic build, well done to all the family. Very envious of that. But there's no way you all got on that well during that build, my family would all be killing each otherl😂😂
To be honest it wasn't too bad!! 😄
Love this build!
Thank You!! Appreciation is much appreciated!
Unique not too big not smaller the ramps stern 👍
Nice build. But i also love the clio in the background❤
Little project that went on back-burner after we got the bus. Can't wait to get that valver project finished too 🤦
What a video and conversion. Looks amazing. 😊
Thanks guys!
Congratulation for your build. Wishing you adventures.
Thank you!
Impressive build, well done guys 👏👏
Thank you very much!!
Excellent family build. 👍
Thanks for your kind comments. Means alot!
Going viral guys 😃! Make sure you remember your O.G subscriber when you’re UA-cam famous…
Will never forget x
Looking forward to a full bus tour with all your bits and pieces in there 😁
we can't wait to film and show you all the full tour.
Well done to you all. Hope all of your effort brings years of fun and adventures!
Just found this and love how they do this fast not like loads different parts
we try to be straight to the point! Plenty upgrades to come though.
Well done guys looking gd
Flippin’ brilliant, great job.
Thank you! Cheers!
Love the misspelling 🤓🤣😀
Haha we knew someone would point that out 🤣
Excellent build..well done
Thank you very much! It was a slog but still not finished. Got lots planned!
If you ever do something like this again, heat is your friend to getting the panels off, we use oxyacetylene to removed bonded panels on the big busses, also make sure you check the airbags periodically, as they’ll perish over time
Thanks for the tip. Will see about getting new bags. I'm sure they are readily available for T5s.
well done🎉
Thank you 😊
Looks fab 👌
Thank you. Still got outside to do but getting there!
Something nice about building ur own camper van. The bus was a great choice to start with. Them bonded in windows from a large part of the structure of that bus so u had to keep them in place. Great work enjoy
Yes one reason we picked it was because of the windows. A lot of builds remove them or cover them up. We like to people watch 🤣🤣
New subscriber from Melbourne Australia looking forward to coming on this journey with you
Welcome aboard the Whip!!
Wow Great build will have to look out for you when you are in Blackpool if you want free parking Fleetwood has Free Parking & in parts of Lytham St Annes we go to Blackpool a lot in our Sprinter van
Sounds good. We had a night Blackpool in June. James was desperate to go to Pembertons Farmshop so we had to try the lights of the front aswell!
amazing
Thank you!!
Compliments.....!!!!! Subbed!
Thankyou!! 😁😁
Fantastic build, certainly great idea to try out loads of different interior ideas once you had the shell stripped and made ready, on a safety note though the front seat frame has not been crashed tested ( I’m more than sure it’s well made though and more than capable to do the job ) and you also used mild steel studding and not High Tensile bolts this may invalidate any insurance claim if you used it as a travelling seat.
Your are absolutely right. Good eye! This is why we love the Internet. All bolts on front seat has been since changed to high tensile. Just used what studding I had around the garage to get bolted in before welding. Thank you!
I used to drive these they are really warm
The built in diesel heater that come with the bus keeps it lovely and toasty in winter. It's very warm in summer anyway as its a greenhouse 🤣
Love that Craig and Aimee from Kinging It inspired you - they are brilliant!!!! Fantastic build just wondering if the girls have seatbelts too? Xx
They certainly are! Yes absolutely. Double behind driver. Single behind passenger.
Yes, i was thinking of going down this route, but my knowledge of possible air suspension and or gearboxes, hydraulic or air, would have taxed my brain if repairs were needed, l did find the music more foreground than background, but other than that, l think it was a job well done, l eventually bought a standard motorhome, but it’s what you want that counts, so carry on, ignore the haters, and don’t let life get you down, lol
Thanks for your comment. You saved yourself a lot of time and stress buying a motorhome. These are big projects with lots of components on base vehicle that need attention.
Soooo much work but well done ☺
It is a big project. Sometimes there's no light at the end of the tunnel.
@@galavanting_whip The van life community is there for you 😉
Can you please use safety goggles when sawing and drilling etc! :)
😄👍
Love this! I saw one of these in the summer in West Wales - was this you? I’m interested how you went about sourcing the vehicle. Thanks. 🎉🎉
It probably was as we love touring the west Wales coast. They happened to pop up for sale every ten years when they have completed there working life. Currently there are T6 conversions in service now with around 5ish years left. We are waiting for them to come up for sale to maybe do it again.
Like to do this with a shorter bus ( a bit tight on my drive ! ) any idea of costs , well engineered design. Good luck on your travels.
i have an idea
Would love a tour
There is a tour vid coming soon!
I remeber when the council were selling these off for 2k a pop they were introduced the deintroduced in my town
Yes I remember seeing these for sale for £2.7K then covid came the price went to the moon very quickly.
@@galavanting_whip i missed a trick there! Great video, im currently refurbing a caravan but thinking i should have gone more in your direction! You have all worked really hard and made something good!
Thank you. They are a great shape to convert! Wish we bought one at 2.7K though 🤦
A lovely job, well done, I wonder if you can go down bus lanes? 😁😁
Good point. We parked with buses in Alton Towers and our V5 is classed a bus so I would say yes!
Hi, did you think about using sheepwool for insulation? I wonder if that would have worked. Apart from that: great work - the vehicle looks great and I realy like the shower. Have fun with that RV!
The Vehicle had Insulation already...all it needed was the Silver bubble layer over the top of it.
It already had wool in black bags as insulation. Just did not seem seem sufficient. So decided to insulate with 50mm to ensure some help in the winter. Sheep wool is definitely an option. But my next door had left over sheets of celetex from a build so we couldn't resist at a cheap price.
Didn't you watch the video,@@cerealtiller? They pulled off all of the interior panels and removed the bagged insulation from behind them, then replaced that with insulating foam panels between the body framing. The also put the aluminized bubble wrap over the wood framing which they installed inside of the body framing and insulation.
Yes..I saw that ,it was a lot of extra work for little Gain.
The Alloy Panels that were Discarded were there to stiffen the body and maintain an Airgap for Insulation.@@brianb-p6586
Awesome idea i must ask what about the windows all around isn't it going to get cold in winter times and the condensation issues as so many windows ? I do really like this idea and making me think about a bus like this lol
Good question. We thought this aswell when purchasing bus. Yes there is condensation on windows in the morning with 5 of us and a new dog. We got a window vac that removes all condensation in the morning. You do need to think about insulation for windows. We are upgrading to double layer blinds this winter. The views outweigh any problems with the windows for us.
@@galavanting_whip ah many thanks for reply and as in UK i see amazing in summer with all windows perfect but winter will be the test for you guys unless you not use much in winter of course. Will sub for sure worth the follow to see how things go :)
Wow, what adventures you'll have! Fun!
Why did you choose to not insulate the floor?
It already has 1" special type of foam board built in the floor, seemed pointless to insulate again and loose at least 40mm in headspace + all extra work 🤣
@@galavanting_whip Got it. I just kept thinking about how cold my feet get, but should've known you had it under control!
With hindsight we would of fitted underfloor heating! Keeps your feet even warmer!
Anything with lots of glass will be colder inside. Then the other problem in the uk is parking it when touring
Parking not too bad to be honest. If we went any bigger we would struggle getting to destinations we want too such as small coast roads
well done, how long did it take you to convert the bus
On and off 3 years. If we did it solid we could of done it in 5 months but jobs and children get in the way 😊
Have you still got the rear ramp.
we gave this away
What software did you use to design the layout?
We used ‘sketch up’. It’s online and free to use 😁
Bloody gteat job can i asked how much ot all roughly cost you guys 😁
Including vehicle I would say £11K.
And thank you!
@@galavanting_whip wow thats a bargain happiness with the kids is priceless
I was wondering how opaque the shower door is, what with you having 2 young girls. Maybe replace it with one you can't see through?
The door is perfect. Really recommend them. You can't see through but good point for privacy.
This is the perfect base for a camper. Do you need a special license to drive it?
Normal UK license. So even better!!
Where did you get the bus from?
We got it from a firm who sold off old fleet for transport for London. Can't remember the name of the firm to be honest.
Was it Ensignbus Company over in Essex
@@danbus180 Ventura Bus Sales I think
Should "have" ordered a skip
😄 there's another one in there too 😊
:air suspension worked great??: NO it didn't, it worked well.
We thought worked great is perfectly fine in written English. We must go back to school 😊
I meant no disrespect. Just had it to my back teeth having our language being (for want of a better word) messed with. For a yank the ;good' would have been acceptable. Take care now. @@galavanting_whip
Like your choice of vehicle to convert .I will subscribe and watch your videos, but please don't do any more filming while driving. This seems to be some thing a lot of UA-camrs do but it is seriously dangerous and totally illegal.
Thank you and point taken 👍
Don't take any point off them😂 they don't even have any videos on their channel yat😂. Keep going with your videos its your adventure and your making memories...
There's always one with the rules 😂