00:00Hello, this is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel here in Allaire
00:04State Park.
00:05I've got my Airstream here, and I just bumped into Jimmy here, and he has a Schooley, and
00:13in case folks don't know what a Schooley is, it's a converted school bus, retired school
00:17bus, converted into a motorhome, RV, or camper van.
00:21Hello, Jimmy.
00:22Welcome to New Jersey Outdoors.
00:26So tell us a little bit about your van.
00:27It's a 1989 Ford Econolander E350.
00:32It's got a 7.3 non-turbo-diesel, Allison Trans, about 19 feet long.
00:39It's a Wolvington body, which means it's not much wider than the bus, and I chose the narrow
00:44profile for parking.
00:46I didn't go with dual wheels, I wanted single wheels, and I've just been playing since March.
00:51So we're into it about eight months, seven months.
00:55How would someone obtain something like this?
00:57Where do you find an old school bus?
00:58This one was found on LECO, and it was rough.
01:01And I paid $1,500 for it with a rotted out interior and started from there.
01:07So it's been an adventure.
01:08My brother's been a great help.
01:10He's better at welding than I am.
01:12I try.
01:12He's better.
01:14And I just kind of put it back together and I still have a lot to go.
01:17But this was my first night out to just play.
01:20Okay.
01:20All right.
01:21Come on inside.
01:22Go ahead.
01:28Doing it hippie style.
01:32Wow.
01:33This thing is super cool.
01:36Everything was done on the cheap.
01:37I'm trying not to break the bank on it.
01:40A key of furniture.
01:41I've got three chairs and they can go outside.
01:44It's a drop leaf table so I can fold it down.
01:47Walmart cooler.
01:48I'd love a Dometic, but not yet.
01:50Soon.
01:50Soon as I get my solar hooked up, which is going to happen, and a roof rack.
01:56We're going to go from there.
01:57But it's all the comfort I could want.
02:00Full size bed, foam mattress with a pillow top.
02:04I raised it, and while I was at it, I got an old camper 33 gallon water tank.
02:10It's not hooked up yet, and I'm not sure if I'm going with 33 gallons because of the weight
02:15or smaller, but there is going to be some type of water.
02:19I bought a pump online, and it's the Seaflow.
02:25So instead of the 3.5 gallon, it's 1.2.
02:29Lower volume, less water usage, and storage is key.
02:36I found a 50 foot kitchen spray hose that I'm going to hook to it so I can use it
02:43for
02:43washing inside, outside, showers coming back from the beach.
02:46You know, I looked into the solar heater roof tubes, but I think I kind of want something
02:52inside to give me that freedom.
02:58These cabinets were here?
03:00Cabinets were Habitat for Humanity.
03:04Used cabinets.
03:05I paid $75 a piece, and to my surprise when I opened them, they had oak dovetail drawers
03:11in them, which made it easy for all the spices and pots and pans.
03:16Then I found an old seat out of the team room at the school.
03:22So it was sanded down by the wood shop teacher, and that became my butcher block top.
03:27So everything I've done was as low-tech and easy as possible.
03:32This was a YouTube find.
03:34A guy showed us how to use the Home Depot aluminum channel.
03:38And then by the pine board, and all you do is stack and drill.
03:41And it's an instant wall, and I just put in L brackets.
03:44So it gave me a little division there.
03:46And of course we have the old Brio children's spell toy, welcome to the bus.
03:51So you know, it's just an adventure and having fun.
03:54And this one we're trying to turn into a little bit of a wardrobe and some overflow pots and
03:59pans.
04:01My girlfriend's with her brother in New York today at a concert, Jersey Boys.
04:05I wasn't interested.
04:06That's her thing, not mine.
04:09And the bed, a little tapestry up there.
04:12I was in the market, and I still am for the Mighty Max fan.
04:18And I'm going to put that in, but in the interim, I got a breather, just a cap with the
04:23rain cover on it, off an old camper for free.
04:27If it's for free and I can low-tech it, I just box it over the wheel well to give
04:31me
04:31a cooler spot.
04:32And I flip the cooler so that I can drain it with a bucket.
04:36So it's a, you know, pretty good sized cooler.
04:39Does what I need it to do.
04:42Again, it'll be a Dmitic one day.
04:45The front of the bus isn't done with repairs yet, so it's still a little rough, but it's
04:52functional and it's fun.
04:54About 109,000 miles on it.
04:57And you can find them cheap, $3,500, $4,500 in better shape.
05:02I paid $15,000 because it was rough.
05:04So it's what your comfort level is.
05:07If you want to walk around the outside, come on.
05:15My big plan on the outside is to sand it down and get some rust-oleum paint and foam roller
05:20it because at this stage in its life I don't think it needs a high-tech paint job.
05:25I love the armor look of it.
05:28Yeah.
05:29I'm going to stay with gray.
05:30I've already looked up the gray that I want.
05:32I raised the bed and I put in a steel frame just angle iron from a local shop and I
05:37cut
05:37it to size and bolted it in.
05:38And I did that mainly for storage.
05:40You got your picnic tables, anything you want in there.
05:43Nice thick matches because I'm into comfort at my age.
05:46So, it's coming along and that was the free vent.
05:53My brother cut it out of a trailer and said, do you want it?
05:55And I said, yes.
05:57So, brand new tires on it.
05:59I've bought everything for the front end.
06:01That's going to happen in a week or two.
06:04I've got a couple of ball hole patches and I've got to be honest, before I paint it, I may
06:09add a couple more because nice things are cool.
06:16So, our YouTube channel, we've featured a Schooley before, a fully converted, large bus, probably
06:23about 35 foot, I'm not sure of the exact length.
06:26And what kind of tips would you give someone that's looking to do something like this, things
06:31that you didn't know about jumping into it?
06:33I spent probably three to four years on YouTube.
06:37I've actually seen your channel many times.
06:39I saw the German couple who brought a vehicle over to a layer state park.
06:44And YouTube, YouTube, YouTube, and you will get something from this one, something from
06:49that one.
06:50And you put it all together and they all become yours.
06:52The walls, that wasn't my idea.
06:54That was YouTube channel.
06:56You can find anything.
06:59The Mighty Max versus the Fantastic Fan.
07:03You go on and look at the tutorials.
07:04YouTube is a wealth of knowledge.
07:06And I probably annoyed my girlfriend by watching way too many videos and that's what I did nightly
07:12until I knew what I wanted to do and then I said, I'm going to buy a school bus.
07:16What type of investment would one expect to get to this level here?
07:21Well, mine was on the cheap.
07:23I paid $1,500 because it was really rotted out.
07:26I had to put new steel from the fender wells back.
07:28I still have to do the steel in the front.
07:31An average school bus, $4,500.
07:33I probably put $2,500 into it with wooden cabinetry.
07:39And, well, because I bought old, I had to do a trans repair that was $1,200.
07:44Tires, the front ends another, tires were $1,000, the front ends another $500.
07:50So, all said and done, with some paint, this is going to be about $7,000, $8,000.
07:55You can buy one in better condition for $4,500 and start from there, add another $4,000.
08:02Under $8,000, you could be running around in something and having a good time.
08:06And as soon as I'm done, I'm going further.
08:08I live local, so that's the other thing my girlfriend says.
08:12Really, you're going 12 miles away to go camping?
08:14Absolutely, I'm in the woods.
08:1512 miles away, 2 miles away, it doesn't matter as long as you're comfortable.
08:19What would you say the biggest benefit to having something like that is?
08:24How would this change your life?
08:25I have everything I need all the time.
08:27I can stop at the store, pick up groceries, throw them in the cooler, go back home, unload groceries.
08:33I'm packed with everything I need to just go.
08:37Well, I could just stop at Walmart, perhaps the grocery store, stop at ShopRite.
08:41I have the cooler, I have the pots and pans, the spices, I have clothing in here, the bedding's done,
08:47you're ready to go all the time.
08:49So, drop of the hat and it's an adventure.
08:53And catch me in a month or two, it'll look better, hopefully.
08:56Now, before you jumped into this, did you have any RV experience or camping experience at all?
09:02Well, 40 years ago I was in the Marine Corps, and I camped prior to going into the military, so
09:07I've been in the woods all my life.
09:09I've actually rented cabins here, the cabin shelters years ago, and these are the newer ones.
09:16The yurts used to be out here in the back of the older ones.
09:19I've stayed seven days, ten days, I've camped here in the winter in their cabins, and, you know, I go
09:25low-tech.
09:26I'm not chopping firewood, I burn charcoal in their wood stoves, and I kept warm and just had a good
09:31time.
09:31I love the woods, I've always camped, so this is just my newest adventure to be ready to go.
09:37Well, Jimmy, I really appreciate you giving us a tour of your Schooley for New Jersey Outdoors,
09:42and I really appreciate, thank you for your service to our beautiful country, I appreciate what you did for us
09:47here.
09:48Well, this is Patrick with New Jersey's Outdoor Adventures YouTube channel.
09:52I hope you enjoyed this video. Please like this video, comment, share, subscribe, I love it, and I'll see you
09:57soon.
