The After School Special
This is the transformation of a school bus into an environmentally-minded tour bus. When finished, the bus will be equipped with solar-powered electricity, an extra fuel tank to run the engine off recycled vegetable oil as well as heating elements on the roof to harvest the sun's energy for heating air and water as needed.
The bus will be used to record new albums on the go using its built-in recording studio as well as host live music events at schools and festivals throughout the United States. We're planning to bring good American music to the masses and educate people about sustainable design.
Click on the photo galleries below to follow the progress...
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Seat removal and roof raise (8)
An old school bus finds a new job... -
Windows and skylights (16)
You'd be amazed at the things you can find and the people you can meet in a junkyard... -
Insulation (12)
You wanna know about heat transfer? Let me tell you some things about heat transfer... -
Slide outs Part 1 - Framing and contruction (23)
I started drawing floor plans for a bus with slide outs and a bus without slide outs and told my buddy Willy G I was having a hard time making a decision. He looked at the two drawings and told me it looked like I already made my decision... -
Slide outs Part 2 - Automation (7)
Having four slide outs in a bus is pretty cool. Having four slide outs in a bus that open and close at the push of a button is just plain mischievous... -
Slide outs Part 3 - Exterior (12)
Before I could start laying the floor in I decided I should probably make sure everything was sealed up around the slide outs as best I could. Bring on the awnings... -
Floor framing and insulation (12)
Raising the roof a foot and a half gave me about 9 inches of space to raise the floor for storage and plumbing while still adding about 8 more inches of headroom to the original interior height. Here's the framing of the sub-floor and the last of the insulation... -
Wall and cabinet framing (22)
Things are finally starting to take shape in the interior. All the rough framing for the walls and cabinetry are done... -
Plumbing Part 1 (27)
Storage tanks under the floor and cupboards and the sinks and shower that will feed and deplete them... -
Flooring (9)
Construction of the flooring panels for the kitchen/bathroom area, the living room in front and the studio in back. -
Futon framing (7)
Slide-out drawers are for sitting and sleeping on... -
Studio/Bedroom area bed, closets and walls (15)
The first walls of the bus go up with a fold-up bed and closet doors following close behind... -
Studio/Bedroom Cabinetry (15)
I now know what a mortise and tenon joint is and will eventually find out what kind of acoustics cedar and oak have... -
Exterior Paint (16)
It's a lot easier to appreciate the size of the bus now that I've sanded every square inch of it... -
Interior Finishing Work (11)
Finally getting into the finishing touches on the interior...