We Have Added Another Resource Page!

I have to say that I never dreamed that the Good News Bus would become so popular and become such an inspiration for others wanting to do similar projects.  At the time I am writing this The Good News Bus Video on YouTube has reached nearly 60,000 views.  Wow!

To all our readers and fans...Thanks You!  I can't make any guarentees but please be watching for a Walkthrough Video of the Good News Bus coming in the next few months.

The purpose of this post is to announce the addition of another page that we hope you will find useful.


At the top navigation bar you will see: FAQ.  We went through our entire project and have listed every tool that we used and the Tools we wished we would/could have used on The Good News Bus Conversion Project.


We hope this page helps you to prepare for your project!

Thanks!

Check Out Our Newest Page!

Click on the link above: My iPhone 4S Otterbox Story for a great story about a Phone and it's protective case.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to just say Happy Thanksgiving from the Good News Bus!

I hope that all of you out there have something good to be thankful for.

As I sit here writing this I had no real plan but to just say Happy Thanksgiving....but I must take it a step further and tell you all, just some of the many things that I am personally thankfully for.

Turkey Fresh Baked in Our Gas Stove in the Good News Bus

The Lord has blessed me with a great wife who (makes a great Thanksgiving Dinner) loves and respects me (that is huge), I am thankful for 6 (yes 6) beautiful children.  I can hear what your thinking; "No wonder he needs a bus!" Most of all I am thankful that in 1996 I met the Lord in a very real way.  Allow me to just share briefly about  that experience.

I will try to keep this very abbreviated:

I was raised in a religious home and although we attended church regularly it always felt (without knowing it) that I was going through some kind of religious motion.  I wasn't doing it because I wanted to but because I thought that is just what I was supposed to do.  When I reached my teen years I was a bit tired and bored with church.  When I did read my Bible I noticed that there was always amazing things surrounding God and so much Life when people interacted with Jesus.

One of my favorite parts to read was 1 Kings 19 when Elijah flees for his life.

And the word of the Lord came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?”
¹⁰ He replied, “I have been very zealous for the Lord God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.”
¹¹ The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. ¹² After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.

So many times we expect God to speak in this loud thundering voice, but so many times He speaks in just a whisper and half the time we don't want to listen to what He is saying. 

I also remember reading the stories about Jesus.  There was always life surrounding Him.  Think about it.  The Blind left seeing, the crippled left walking, the deaf left hearing, the broken hearten left whole, the dead left living.  I remember asking myself as a young 17 year old; "Where is THIS God in my church?"  Where is this kind of life in my church?  When I was 18 an acquaintance of mine invited me to a different church where he had met the Lord in a very real way.  I remember standing out in front of the church before the service started and I prayed a simple prayer; "God if you are here for some reason, please, I want to know you.  I don't just want to read about you, I want to experience you.  I am sick of religion, I want a real relationship with you."  I know that sounds so simple but all I can say is that night my life changed from the inside out because I was willing to allow Him to do it.  God took my heart and made it new.  My desires and focus changed.  After that I was able to attend a mission trip to Germany where I saw the Lord not only do more in my life, but so much in other peoples lives.  Many Many young people came to know the Lord in such a real and powerful way so much so that they gave up many things to follow the Lord.  That first trip was the first of many.  I was able to go on more trips to Switzerland, France, Holland, Italy, England and finally Canada where I met my wife!

We have been married almost 11 years now and still love the Lord, each other and our six children.

We have so much to be thankful for today.  We hope you do too!

God Bless from The Good News Bus!
  

Time Flies

During the summer (May 4th - September 30th) we stayed at a campground in the Good News Bus while doing some local stuff in the area.  To date everything is still in great working order.

Besides the windows that I recently covered everything else is the same for the most part.  There is one modification that I did make that my wife has been pleased with.  You may remember the small bookshelf that is in the master bedroom.  Here is a pic of it:

I installed hinges on the back panel and put in a small latched so it could be opened and closed from the inside.  This has made a great laundry shoot.  The washing machine is in the very back of the bus so this little mod has come in very handy.

I also wanted to just write and say thanks for all the great emails we get from our readers.  Our YouTube video has around 9,000 views to date.  We hope that this blog will continue to inspire our readers.  More videos to come....maybe.

Thanks!!!

More Windows Covered! | Bus Conversion

The last few days I have been working on covering more of the bus windows.  I did this on the inside and not on the outside.  Sometime in the future I may go ahead and cover the outside of the windows with metal.

This is what I did.

First, I removed the wood trim that surrounded the windows I wanted to cover.  I ran them through a table saw in order to make a notch in the wood.
 

Next, I reinstalled the wood trim strips.

Trim with Notch

Installed Trim with Notch

Then I installed construction foam over the window and in between the wood strips.

Construction Foam Installed

Then I cut 1/4" oak plywood to fit each opening and stained and varnished each panel.

After they were dry I installed the plywood panel over each opening.  In all I covered 7 Windows.  In doing it this way I was able to avoid having to cover the exterior window openings with metal because I didn't have to remove the existing windows.  When I am ready to cover the exterior with metal I don't have to remove the windows either.

Front Dinette Window Covered

Rear Dinette Window Covered

Front Kitchen Window Covered

Master Bedroom Passenger Side Windows Covered

Master Bedroom Drivers Side Windows Covered

After all the panels were installed I applied silicone to all sides of the panel to insure and good air tight seal.

My reason for doing this was to increase the energy efficient of the bus.  It should stay a little warmer in winter and cooler in the summer!

UPDATE:  I had someone ask what it looks like from the outside.  You can't see the foam insulation from the outside because of the dark tint on the windows.  I will post a pic soon.

Tires Complete | Bus Conversion

I wanted to follow up on two posts I made some time ago regarding our tires.  The posts I am referring to can be found here: Previous Post Update & Tires & More!!!

Hopefully this info may save some money for those of you who are doing similar projects.

We did the following not long after getting our new tires but I never made a blog post about it so here it is.

Originally I wanted to purchased some used tires at half the price of new.  After purchasing them and having them installed we noticed that the bus vibrated really bad.  They informed me that they were unable to balance the kind of wheels that are on the bus  To make a long story short we went back and had new tires installed all the way around hoping it would fix the problem but found that the vibrating had not stopped.  I then did some research and found that I needed to have my tires not only balanced but trued.

I located a place that could true my tires.  Truing is the process of shaving the tire in different places to get it perfectly round and balanced.  They do this with the tires still on the bus so not only do you get balanced tires and wheels but everything that spins and is connected to the wheels is also balanced. 

Had I know about this process before, I could have just kept the used tires and had those tires trued and balanced instead of spending the extra cash on new tires.

Now the bus rides very smooth with no vibration at all!

Another New Page is Added

We enjoy all the emails we receive with great comments and questions.  We decided it would be good to have a F.A.Q. page to answer some of the frequent questions.  Don't let this discourage you from writing us.  We would love to hear from you.

Above you will see the F.A.Q. tab.

Just click on that to go to our new page.

Thanks!

New Good News Bus Video! | Bus Conversion

We have uploaded an new video of the Good News Bus:

Be sure and check it out.  It is a very condensed video of the Good News Bus project.

Thanks!

  

UPDATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know this will be hard for our die hard fans to believe but after months of silence I am posting an update on the goings on of the Goods News Bus.  As you already know we came up to Canada for a short visit with family.  Believe it or not WE ARE STILL HERE!

Not long after arriving we had an opportunity to do some ministry while we were here.  Bringing the "Good News" is what we like to do.   We are actually starting a ministry work in the local city here.  Not long ago we were featured in a local newspaper that covered what we were doing.  We have a full band and my brother in-law who has studied the hot topic that is Creation vs. Evolution gives a great presentation on the issue.  This and other things make for a great ministry night that we are doing once a month.

So for now we are in Canada for an unknown amount of time.

As far as The Good News bus is concerned.  The winter was very harsh and I was not prepared for the cold.  I had some pipes crack all of which are now fixed.  We are moved back into the bus and enjoying it.  It is like the Hilton on wheels.  That may be a slight exaggeration but it is really nice.


More soon....maybe!

Maiden Voyage | Bus Conversion

The Good News Bus departed the south on Nov. 30th and arrived in Canada on Dec. 5th.

This is the first time the Good News Bus has ever seen snow. Everything went well and we arrived safe.

Previouse Post Update

In the previous post Tires & More!!! I posted that we had used tires placed on the back and new on the front. We were having problems with a lot of vibration with the used tires so we took them back and had news tires put on instead. Evidently the kind of wheels we have are hard to get balanced. I am trying to find a place to do it. But the vibration is WAY less with the new tires.

Odds, Ends & Backup Power | Bus Conversion

If anyone knows what this plug is for, on the front drivers side of the bus, let me know.

I can only assume that it is a block heater but I am not sure.



The last few days I have just been doing some odds and ends on the bus.

First was a picture I forgot to add in the last post.

I had a new bumper cap??? made to cover the gap between the bumper and the back of the bus.



I also installed a 30 - 50 amp plug. Everything is powered up and seems to be working great:



I came up with a very simple but effective idea for a shower curtain rod in a tight place. I used a bungee cord:



If you lean against it is will not fall like an ordinary curtain rod.

I can add a second bungee cord to make more room in the shower:



Next I needed a lit entry way so I obtained 2 LED lights and installed them.







I installed a lock for the back door storage / room:



I received the backup power generator for the Good News Bus. There is a 30 amp cable I have run from the back of the bus to the Iota switching system. I tested it and it powers everything just fine. Very nice, VERY QUIET!!!:

Almost Done! | Bus Conversion

So much has been done I am not sure where to begin. My internet has been down so I was unable to post as I went so here it is.

After installing the metal over the new door opening I was trying to figure out a way to hid the seam. I tried caulking it at first and was just not satisfied so I went ahead and used body filler on the seam.

Here is a pic with some of the body filler done:



Here is a pic of the door removed, body filler finished and metal painted.



Here it is finished:



Next I worked on the stairwell. Here are a series of pictures of the progress:















The tanks are also installed and hooked up and most important...working properly:



The black water tank is to the left and the grey water is to the right.





I also decided to move my battery bank to the other side of the bus in a more convenient location. I now have more room if I need to work on my batteries.



The washer / Dryer combo is also installed and working:



The propane tanks are installed to the left of the washing machine.



Last but not least I installed a stainless Steel Tail Pipe Tip:



For the most part the bus is done! I have a Honda 3000i Generator on it's way for the backup power.