The Creative Cruiser

Interior is in High Gear

admin — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 04:18:26 +0000

Since my last update, a lot has happened. If you want to keep up on a more granular basis, be sure to follow this project on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CreativeCruiser, as that’s where the frequent updates happen… this site only gets updated when one chapter ends and the next begins.

At this point, the interior layout has been completely figured out and refined. We did that by mocking up the entire interior in plywood without any working doors, drawers or wood veneer. We then walked through the interior and made changes. That’s when all the general details got worked out since we could actually get a real feel for how things flow and how much space there is available in each area.

Here’s an example of how the process worked:

The left shot is what Larry initially came up with for the entrance area on the bus. I found that my hand/arm hit that wall cabinet when entering, so I asked him to break it into two tiers. Less than 15 minutes later, Larry showed me the new version. A few more quick tweaks later, and we had that area finalized.

In the example above, the version at left is what Larry at Paradise Coach originally came up with, and the version on the right is what we ended up with after many refinements.

Since the layout is now solid, the entire interior mockup has been removed! Now, they will start adding all the details of wood veneers, real, working drawers, etc. and reinstalling everything. That takes a lot of time.

The kitchen is probably the most refined area where the sink, faucet and storage are so tightly designed that every inch of space is defined for very specific purposes. We ended up using the Kohler Stages sink (Google it) and the Kohler Karbon faucet along with dual induction cooktops.

In general, the layout of the bus has been transformed from my initial design to one that is much more refined. Here’s another example. I originally had all the storage in the bus on one side of the isle. After working things out with Larry, we ended up splitting the hanging storage into two areas that are across the isle from each other and the rest of the storage got moved to near our workstations. It broke up the whole thing so it doesn’t feel like a huge mass.

My original layout for storage in the vintage bus.

The same storage that was shown above is now split where my personal stuff (clothes, etc) is on the passenger side of the hall right next to the bed, while Karen’s is on the opposite side and is a bit wider to accommodate long hang storage. The other storage, which included a laundry hamper, has been moved to the left of the toilet room in this shot. The actual laundry hamper has been relocated to a drawer at the isle under the bed. Overall, it’s a much better layout. That’s all due to Larry supplying ideas and us both refining what we come up with to make the most ideal setup.

Overall, here is how the layout has changed since Larry of Paradise Coach got involved:

At the top is the original layout where you can see two distinctive workstations, one built into the dining area booth and the other next to the fridge with a bar stool-like seat. In the revised layout you can see how the front single sofa has been transformed into a dual sofa arrangement. That’s because the main television has been moved from the bed area in the back into a drop down arrangement at the front of the bus (not shown in the model, but would be right above the dash area). Behind that, you find a back-to-back, dual workstation arrangement on the passenger side and the kitchen on the driver’s side. The fridge has been moved to the drivers side. The closet has been split into three areas as described earlier in this post. The toilet room has been moved so that it is across from the shower.

Above you can see progress on the dual sofa arrangement. Clockwise from upper left: 1) The bases for the two sofas was constructed as a single unit that was bolted to the bus. 2) the middle section of the unit was cut away to produce to independent sofa bases. 3) The driver’s side base is in sofa mode, while the passenger side is halfway deployed. 4) when the two sides are both slid out, they meet in the middle for form a bed-like setup and the back cushions fill in the gap near the wall.

While all that was happening, we were looking at a bunch of samples of wood veneers we could use to finish the cabinets with. In the end, we decided on Makore for the cabinets and Douglas Fir for the ceiling.

Here’s a sample of what we ended up choosing for the cabinet wood:

We also made up our mind on a bunch of the small details. Here’s one example where I decided to use the hood ornaments from a 1938 Ford for the three closet door handles (I sourced them on eBay).

Now the interior mockup has been completely removed and they are working on adding all the details so they can reinstall everything. That means they are adding solid wood around the edges of all the cabinet openings and drawers. They will soon add wood veneer to the flat surfaces and then sand then into those solid wood edges. They are also adding all the door and drawer hardware and more. There is still much more work to be done, but all the large design-related decisions have been made.

Above, you can see the solid wood edges that have been added to a bunch of cabinet doors, getting them ready for wood veneer.

Now that the project is at this stage, Karen and I can back away and let the shop do their work while we explore the rest of the country. I plan to fly in a few times over the next few months to monitor progress, but otherwise will let progress advance without too much attention on my part.

Getting Started on the Interior

admin — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 11:30:18 +0000

In my last update, I had just dropped off the vintage bus and met with Larry at Paradise Coach about what I had planned for the project overall. Since then, the shop finished up work on the 1947 Silverside project they had been working on for the last two years. I was there when that bus pulled out. Before it left, Karen and I got a chance to create a video tour of the interior of the bus they just finished and I spent a good amount of time creating light paintings of the exterior. Light painting is where a subject is lit using a flashlight during a long exposure. It’s a technique I specialize in… you can learn more on my other web site at www.DigitalMastery.com.

The 1947 Silverside pulling out of the shop. That’s my current bus on the left.

These two light paintings were lit with a single flashlight. This is actually more than 160 photographs combined into one image.

Once that project was out of the shop, the guys spent some time cleaning up the shop and finishing up odd jobs that had accumulated over the last few months. Next, they turned to working on my bus! Here’s what’s been done in the last two weeks:

The above image shows what the interior looked like before Paradise Coach got started on the project.

So far, the existing flooring, ceiling and vintage insulation have been removed to expose the frame members. Then, all the windows were removed to make it easier to move materials in and out of the bus and to make sure they don’t get damaged during the project. The windows will be refurbished by having the old window tint replaced, having all the old rubber gaskets replaced and getting the aluminum frames polished. The first thing the crew at Paradise did was to rip out the old floor boards so they could see the water and waste tanks that had been fabricated back when the bus was in Texas. That also allowed them to see all the tank fittings and any extra space that was available under the bus. We double checked things like where the fresh water reel will fit and where other systems might be located.

That’s Jeff removing the window tint off of the first window they removed.

Here you can see the frame members exposed on the ceiling and they are starting to install 5/8″ marine grade plywood on the floor.

Spray foam insulation installed in the ceiling.

Once they had the interior stripped, they proceeded to install a plywood base layer on the floor and they sprayed foam insulation in the roof. I also spent a good amount of time confirming that I can fit all our clothing and essentials into the storage space we have planned for the interior. I also added the ceiling frame members to my 3D model, which helped to determine how much space I’d have in upper kitchen cabinets. I was relieved to find that the microwave/convection oven I wanted to use will indeed fit in the upper cabinet without having issues of having the curvature of the roof pushing it too far forward or down.

Here you can see how closet space would be allocated.

General kitchen layout with fancy sink and induction cooktops.

I also spent some time with Larry of Paradise Coach, hanging out in the interior of the bus and talking about possible layout changes. He had some great ideas. One of which was to install a hidden television in the ceiling above the entrance area. There was an opening in the ceiling framing that looked to be perfectly placed to hold a TV with space for the lowering mechanism within the destination sign area. If we went with that option, we could also install single-armed sofas on each side to hide the wheel wells which would create a nice area to watch movies from. I’m not yet sure if we’ll end up with that layout, but I was happy to see some creative ideas about how to layout the interior since Larry has many more creative ideas than I could ever come up with.

Here’s a 3D rendering of the TV position (when flipped down) and the two single-arm sofas we’re considering.

That rectangular area to the left of the brown overhead destination sign is where the TV could be stowed when not being used.

I flew out to spend the holidays at my fiancé’s parent’s place and have since flown to Hawaii to get married. I’m looking forward to hearing more of Larry’s creative ideas when I return in just over a week. Larry is taking a perfectly timed vacation in the meantime.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention: A photo of the vintage bus is featured on the cover of the January issue of Family Motorcoaching magazine. I also wrote an article for that issue that details my lifestyle and how I got interested in the vintage bus. I just noticed that you can read most of the article online (not all the photos are there though).

Planning meeting before project lift-off

admin — Thu, 13 Dec 2012 20:54:03 +0000

Me handing over the keys to Larry at Paradise Coach back in November.

On Monday, I’m scheduled to have a meeting with Larry at Paradise Coach about our plans for the vintage bus. As part of that, I’ll be discussing what I’m looking for in the visual style of the interior. In general, I’d like a style where at first glance you might not be sure if the interior was a perfectly preserved 70 year old creation, or something that was created yesterday. There is one style that I think can pull off that ideal and it’s known as Streamline Moderne Design (sometimes also referred to as Machine Age design).

Streamline Moderne originated back in the mid 1920′s and was strong through around 1940. The style is still being implemented today in many of the designs from Apple and other companies. When looking back at history, most people seem to mentally merge the Streamline Moderne style into the general category of Art Deco, but it was really the later reaction to Art Deco and only had a little overlap in style. Streamline design is a very clean-looking style that incorporates a lot of horizontal lines, curves and circles whereas art deco was a bit more busy, vertical oriented and used triangles and other non-streamlined elements. If you’d like to see the difference, feel free to explore the Art Deco and Streamline Moderne Design sections of my boards at Pinterest.com/BenWillmore.

To prepare for my upcoming meeting, I reviewed all the art deco and streamline design related books that I’ve collected over the last few years (see pic above). Here are the books that I think are most useful when trying to communicate what streamline moderne design looks like (if I had to choose just one book, it would be the first one in the list):

The Machine Age in America 1918-1941

Twentieth Century Limited: Industrial Design in America, 1925-1939

Depression Modern: The Thirties Style in America

American Streamlined Design: The World of Tomorrow

Streamlined: A Metaphor for Progress

…and two more that are not exactly about Streamline Design, but can also help capture the look I’m attracted to:

Future Perfect: Vintage Futuristic Graphics

Airstreams: Custom Interiors by David Winick

I can’t wait to see how my vision melds with Larry’s ideas and how they’ll end up being implemented in the vintage bus.

October Update

admin — Mon, 05 Nov 2012 08:02:12 +0000

Here’s an update on what’s been up with the vintage bus project:

The vintage bus ended up being stored at Choo Choo Express Garage in Chattanooga, TN for about three months before I had a chance to fly out and drive it to Oregon. I really wish that shop would have been able to handle many of the custom projects I will eventually need to be completed (converting windshield wipers to electronic, adding power steering, etc, etc.), but they were not able to handle the custom work I needed.

I flew out to pick up the bus on October 24th and spent the next week driving it 3,000 miles to Coburg, OR. During that trip, I made numerous stops at vintage gas stations to capture the bus in vintage environments. Here are a few examples:

I also made a stop at a waterfall while passing through California.

I had a total of two breakdowns during my trip. The first one happened in Tucumcari, NM, while the second happened near Ashland, OR. Both stops needed the same repair: A big rubber hose slipped off a metal pipe that runs from the turbo, which cut all my turbo boost, which only allowed me to travel at 55mph instead of the normal 75+ mph. In the end, I found out that the rubber hose was too short to properly be secured to the pipe and I knew it would eventually have to be replaced, but none of the shops I stopped at had a replacement in stock.

After driving for 3,000 miles, I made it to Coburg, OR and dropped off the vintage bus at Paradise Coach. They will be finishing up work on a vintage Silverside bus within the next month and then they’ll get started on my bus.

In the end, I’m very glad that I did not end up bringing my bus to Craig Dorsey of Vintage Vacations. I have entered a complaint with the Better Business Bureau, which Mr. Dorsey has not responded to. He now has a record with the BBB if you look him up. I’m considering taking him to small claims court to try to recover some of the expenses that I’ve incurred in moving the bus and parts all over the country. I can’t let go of the idea that someone else might consider using his services without knowing how he treated me. No business should be allowed to continue to operate normally without their clients knowing how they’ve treated previous clients.

The next month will be spent planning the various systems that will be implemented in the vintage bus. That means we’ll be making very precise measurements to make sure things like the refrigerator I plan to use can actually make it through the front door and won’t poke through the curved roof when it’s installed. Once December rolls around, we should have all the interior floor and ceiling removed and have the planned layout laid out on the floor. That’s when things should start to really progress.

Don’t expect this to be a fast process. Building the interior for a bus is similar to building a home or yacht and will take at least a year, if not longer. I hope to update this blog at least monthly once we get going with the project.

Another Chapter Begins

admin — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 20:21:08 +0000

In the last update I left off when the Creative Cruiser was dropped off at a shop near Chattanooga, TN. At the time, I was hopeful that they would be able to handle doing a lot of upgrades on the chassis for such things are power steering and might be helpful in finding a paint shop to handle this project. In the end, the shop was only good for overly basic and straightforward changes (like adding shocks where there used to be some but at some point had been removed) and they were not capable of doing the custom changes my project demanded (like converting windshield wipers to electric or adding power steering). So, the Creative Cruiser just ended up being stored in their yard from the time the vintage bus run was abandoned until now.

I researched a few paint shops near Nashville, but eventually gave up the search knowing that being there in person was the only way to get what I want. As each day ticked by, I resented what Craig Dorsey of Vintage Vacations did and how he handled my attempt to bring the Creative Cruiser to his location. That made me really want to find a different shop to fabricate and install my interior. I simply could not fathom bringing my bus to anyone who could do what he did. Because of his actions, I ended up wasting three weeks of my life driving around the country and easily spent over $2500 on fuel, food, lodging and related expenses for no reason.

I researched dozens of potential alternative shops for interior work and ended up only considering a few. They included (in no particular order):

David Winick at VintageTrailering.com in Michigan who produces very nice designs, but cannot fit my bus into his shop (it’s just too tall)
The folks at TimelessTravelTrailers.com in Colorado who could finish the project quickly (3-4 months), but just didn’t have the attention to detail I was looking for. These guys stayed on my list until I made my final decision though.
Flytecamp.com in Oregon. I never got a chance to visit their shop but decided not to use a vintage trailer company at the point I was about to visit.
FunkyJunkFarms.com in California does some nice work, but are just too used to working on big budget projects for Hollywood clients, so I think they’d blow my budget.
Able + Baker Design who did an interesting Airstream conversion. I really liked Josh’s enthusiasm but didn’t want to go with someone that didn’t have much experience working on a mobile platform or bus systems. Would love to work with him the in future on a non-mobile substrate.
I also investigated dozens of alternatives to the above list. At most places, I found that either they didn’t have the quality I demand, they didn’t have experience with the sophisticated systems that are common to bus conversions (like diesel fired heaters) or that they did not have the creativity to pull off what I desire.

After going through all of that I was about to be stuck with my original choice of Craig Dorsey of Vintage Vacations. But, considering how he handled my attempt to bring business to his door (which I’ll detail in a moment), I was mentally unable to have any comfort with the idea of having him do the work.

That’s when Larry at Paradise Coach in Coburg, OR left a very brief message on Facebook offering to help. I was not familiar with his shop, but was excited to see that he had no fewer than three vintage Silverside buses in his shop (the only other type of vintage bus I considered purchasing). He owns two himself and was in the process of converting the third into a motorhome. The owner of that rig had nothing but praise for the shop and, in general, so did everyone else I’ve talked to. Most of the people who work at this shop have 20+ years of experience working on motor coaches. In fact, many of them have worked for Marathon coach, Outlaw coach, Country coach or another bus conversion company. That means that they are very used to working with sophisticated systems and are used to producing a quality product. The fact that they were actively working on a vintage bus conversion and that the owner of the shop owned two vintage buses himself indicates that they are not afraid of working on unique projects and that they have a passion for vintage design themes. After inspecting the Silverside they were actively converting, talking to a few reference clients, looking at photos of a few decades worth of conversions (they really should show more on their web site) and having them work on my current bus, I was able to develop a comfort level in their skills that made me comfortable bringing my project to them. Not only that, but their labor rate is darn near half of what most other shops charge and Oregon doesn’t charge sales tax, which keeps costs low. The final detail that made me want to bring my work to this shop is that they plan to finish up the Silverside project by the end of September, which should be a good time to get my project moving with few delays.

Once I decided that Paradise Coach could handle the job, I thought it was time to talk to Craig Dorsey at Vintage Vacations before I made a commitment to make a change. I called Craig to break the news and was amazed at his total and complete indifference to anything I said. Now remember that I had told Craig that I was going to fly out to pick up my vintage bus, spend ten days driving it across the country to his location in Nova Scotia, only if he was ready. He responded that he was remodeling his kitchen and that my project would be a great dessert to that project. Only after driving halfway across the country did he reveal that he had taken on a new client and would not be able to work on my project until that one was done, which should be six months… eight months after an update he gave me. He took the new client BEFORE I emailed him saying that I was about to head his direction and he chose to not mention it to me and that resulted in me wasting over $3,000 on fuel, hotels, flights and other expenses associated with driving to his location. I will further incur expenses to re-ship all the appliances I had bought and had shipped to NJ that were to be picked up on my way to his location. I will also have to pay to have the bus shipped from its current location to the shop that will ultimately fabricate and install the interior. The expenses I will ultimately incur due to Mr. Dorsey’s actions will most likely bump up to around $5,000 by the time it’s over. Keeping that in mind, I expected him to at least be apologetic about how he handled the situation. But, then I called him, he said things like “I’m good with it… I’m going to move on the moment we hang up… and …I’ll be clean.” Had he simply said he was sorry about how he handled the situation, then I would have been OK (but not thrilled) about what happened. Instead, I registered the domain of www.vintage-vacations-sucks.com (which I’ll simply point to this post) and filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau as a few first steps. Next, I will consider small claims court or getting my attorney involved. None of which would have been on my mind if he handled things in a professional manner. Nobody should consider having him work on a project without knowing how much he can screw things up.

Here’s an edited version (stuff chopped out for brevity wherever you see “…”) of the email I received a day or two after he revealed that he took on a client and couldn’t work on my project. That was one hour when he actually seemed to care, unlike today:

“Ben

I fucked up! And I don’t even know how to begin to make it right. Some how in my mind, not confronting you and telling you that I was working to button up another client and being open about the situation head on while trying to balance everything out seemed to be the solution, but it didn’t works.

…

As I am sure that it was for you, I am having the hardest time writing this email. From the moment that I got off the phone with you last night, I haven’t stopped vibrating with a deep down feeling of pure panic, fear and self loathing for what I have done to you and the situation that I have placed you in by not telling you that I was about to button up another contract I know that there is absolutely nothing that I can say or do at this time to relieve you of the negative emotions that you have for me and this situation

…

All that I can say at this point is that I am very sorry for the way in which I dealt with this situation and for the hurt that it has caused you and I ask you to please give me a chance to make it right.

…

Craig”

That was in response to a message I sent that included the follow (content removed for brevity wherever “…” appear):

“Craig, I really don’t know where to begin with this message. Here I am, with my completely gutted bus, in “middle of nowhere, USA,” and thousands of dollars into a trip to your place, when you tell me you that you have suddenly taken on another project and can’t work on my bus for another six months.Is there a particular reason you didn’t tell me about this new project, say, two weeks ago, BEFORE I booked a flight to TX to pick up my bus? It was THEN that I asked you for your exact address and I told you that it would take me 10 days to get there. I specifically told you that the bus “would be ready this week” and that it should take me “10 days to drive it there”.

…
BUT, now I’m in the middle of the flurking country and have no idea where anything will be done! I’m about to explode emotionally and don’t know why I should consider having you do the interior at this point. I have to say, I feel pretty screwed here. All you needed to do was tell me that you were asked to do another project. Look below and read the exact quote I sent you… here it is :

The vintage bus will be ready this week and I should be picking it up by mon or wed and driving your way… IF you’re ready.

Let me know what’s up on your end… it should take me 10 days to drive it there.”

Did you notice the “IF you’re ready” part of that message? Had you mentioned THEN that you took on a major project, then I could have shifted gears and gotten paint/body work done back in Texas! It would have been a bummer for me, but I would have totally understood and re-adjusted my plans. But now, I’m up a creek without a paddle….

I’ve wasted thousands of dollars and lots of time, and now I’m sitting here in the middle of nowhere, pretty much screwed. I literally don’t know what direction I will head in the morning.Why, why, WHY did you not tell me about this project you took on BEFORE I flew to TX to pick up my bus? The April 11th email indicates that the bus will be ready within a week and that it will take 10 days to get there… that would make it right around NOW.I realize that I’m freaking out a bit here, and I’m sure you can imagine why. In fact, I’ve got to end this e-mail right now, before I say something I might regret.

-Ben”

That should give you a sense for what I went through when I attempted to bring my vintage bus to Craig Dorsey and bring him business. I’m happy to say that the interior will now be done by Larry and the gang over at Paradise Coach Interiors in Coburg, Oregon. Let’s hope this next chapter has a much happier ending than the one that involved Craig Dorsey of Vintage Vacations. He’s a very creative guy who is also an amazing fabricator, but his clients do not deserve to be treated that way.

Sorry for the rant. I needed to get that out of my system so that I can move on.

My next step will be an attempt to find a driver with a landall trailer to move the bus from Chattinooga, TN to Coburg, OR. I can’t wait to see actual progress on the interior!

What’s Up With the Creative Cruiser Project?

admin — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 03:21:11 +0000

If you’ve been following this blog for some time, you may be wondering “what’s up” with my vintage bus project. Well, old blogging software (Apple’s iWeb) didn’t allow for saving drafts, posting new content and then going back to finish the draft. I had a very long and detailed post in the works about solar panels that I never got around to finishing in iWeb which prevented me from posting new content… add to that additional delays on the vintage bus project and I just started to forget about this blog and started to update the Creative Cruiser’s Facebook page instead. Now it’s time to get this blog going again and a big change in the course of the vintage bus project is what has prompted me to get interest in the blog once again.

First an update on what has happened with the vintage bus project since my last update:

In late March 2011 the Creative Cruiser was moved to Trackmaster Fabricators in Newark, TX where George Fields and his assistant Dave started working on engine and chassis updates.

Delays plagued the project caused by the person who originally started the repower back in California. First he didn’t include the engine/transmission wiring harness with the bus when it was shipped to TX. Secondly, we had to drive to the original mechanic’s home and call him a bazillion times to talk him into giving us said harness (which took about four months). He placed the harness in a huge box and placed it outside the fence at the end of his driveway. We drove by in our current bus, picked it up and had it shipped to TX. Upon receiving that harness, we found it to be the wrong one! Only after two additional months did the original mechanic find a random wiring harness laying around his garage and figure out that he might have sent us the wrong one. In an amazing display of humanity, the original mechanic called to say he was going to ship us the correct wiring harness. Of course we wasted many hours trying to figure out how the wrong harness was supposed to work, so this was a lot more than simple delays. (see how the project was getting delayed and why I might lose interest in blogging about it?)

During the time George was trying to get the first wiring harness to work, I did a lot of research on Solar panels, Lithium Ion batteries, alternators, water systems and spent time refining a 3D model of the bus that I created in Google SketchUp.

I designed the plumbing system so that it would have a 256 gallon fresh water tank, a 198 gallon gray tank and a 129 gallon black tank. Those tanks are huge and custom made out of stainless steel. For comparison, my current bus has a 160 gallon fresh water tank and a 135 gallon gray/black combination tank. I wanted large tanks so we would could spend a lot of time away from RV parks. The frame that runs down the length of the bus was strengthened to make sure it could support the weight of all the liquid that would be held in those tanks. At the same time a 130 gallon diesel fuel tank was fabricated to supply the engine, generator and diesel-fired hydronic heater.
I read the entire NFPA 1192 code book. (It was a real page-turner!) NFPA stands for National Fire Protection Association and is what documents all the building codes for RV plumbing systems. You do a lot of random reading when your project is being delayed and you want to keep your mind thinking constructively.
I decided to use an electronic induction cooktop in the Creative Cruiser and that ScanPan CTX pots and pans would be our best option. We even created a video cook-off between my current electric cooktop and an induction cooktop. It’s a video about watching water boil… pretty exciting stuff I tell you.

I created mockups of the iphone and ipad interface for the home automation system I’d like to implement. They aren’t finished pixel-for-pixel designs… they more or less just show what kind of controls I’d like to have without the visual polish that would be on the final designs.

I chose the location and layout for all wall switch panels in the hope that I’d be able to get a more exact home automation quote. I also made up 12 volt, 24 volt and 120 volt load lists that show exactly how many devices need to be powered and how much of an amp draw I should expect from each.

I scoured eBay and other sources to find New Old Stock (NOS) parts for the bus. Those are old vintage parts that have never been used and are often in their original vintage boxes. Among the parts I found were NOS clearance lights, front and rear arrow-style turn signals (all glass and metal, no plastic) windshields and more. I also acquired replacement vents for the rear baggage doors that are the louvered style that I like a lot better than the stamped metal ones that came with my bus.

While I was doing all that research, George and Dave at Trackmaster Fabricators installed Bigfoot hydraulic leveling jacks, fabricated the engine exhaust and cooling system. They also fabricated all the stainless steel water and fuel tanks, insulated the bottom and sides of the tanks and added heaters below them so that things won’t freeze in cold weather.

The engine was repainted Cummins Red to match how they paint new engines (it was black when I acquired it). The transmission was painted silver and a lot of the underside frame members were also painted to prevent rust.

I keep buying random vintage crap that I find on eBay. That means we have silverware, grab handles, a wall mounted hat rack, cool looking clocks and much more. All that stuff is piling up in Karen’s old bedroom at her parents place in New Jersey.
Near the end of the year we met with Craig Dorsey of Vintage Vacations while he was visiting Huntington Beach, CA. He’s the guy I was planning to use for the interior of the Creative Cruiser. He’s the most talented vintage trailer restorer that I know of (and I’ve looked into dozens). He’s also very talented in fabricating custom details that make modern televisions and refrigerators look vintage. We’ve been talking about this project for years and neither of us could wait for the time that he’d get a chance to start on the interior (important updates on that coming soon).
Around January of 2012 is when I could finally start to see the finish line on engine/chassis updates. It was a good feeling to think that the bus was about to move on to the most exciting stage… the interior.

In February I met, once again, with Craig Dorsey of Vintage Vacations while we was again visiting California. We went shopping and picked out the wood veneer we thought we should use, purchased leather and just looked at things like cabinet hardware and more.
The CreativeCruiser.com web site got a total redesign thanks to Apple (for canceling the iWeb service) and my fiance Karen for whipping up a brand new design in Word Press. She not only made the new site from top to bottom, but also redesigned and combined all my other web sites into a single site that can be accessed at www.DigitalMastery.com! Now my old URLs just send you to the proper areas of the new combined site. The CreativeCruiser side could be found by visiting DigitalMastery.com, clicking on Blog and then clicking on Creative Cruiser from the right side bar… or just go to CreativeCruiser.com and you’ll be sent there automagically.
As time progressed, I started to research which appliances and accessories I’d want to buy for the project since I knew the interior phase was about to begin. Here are a few details: The fridge I plan to use is made by Vitrifrigo in Italy (they still build quality instead of crap), the toilet is from Planus, electric water heater from Torrid.
On April 19th, 2012, I took the Creative Cruiser for it’s first road test with its new powerplant. We were unable to take it up to cruising speed because we didn’t have the correct type of wheels installed (it was an issue with bolt patterns and stud types).
The next day, after getting the front wheels changed for ones with the proper bolt pattern, I was able to take the bus up to cruising speed. Holy shit, is it a hotrod! I had to concentrate in order to keep my speed below 90 MPH on the interstate.

After a day of working out a few kinks and doing a bunch of test runs, I left Newark, TX on what become known as “The Vintage Bus Run.” The idea was to drive the Creative Cruiser from Texas to Nova Scotia, which is where I planned to have the interior fabricated and installed. I figured that I should be able to make the trip in about ten days and thought the bus might brake down two or three times on the way considering that it had so many changes made that hadn’t been tested.
The first day I had it from near Ft. Worth, TX to Oklahoma City, OK. After that I headed to St. Louis where I encountered my first problem: The transmission heat exchanger started to leak at a fitting. It took three days before I was back on the road. My next stop was Evansville, Indiana where a sensor snapped off one of my air tanks because the rear axel shifted two inches toward the drivers side. Why did it shift? Because the original mechanic (the same one who caused the wiring harness fiasco) hadn’t tightened the bolts properly. I was able to get this problem fixed the next morning and get back on the road. At this point I had been on the road for a total of six days.
The vintage bus run stops short of its goal. This Facebook update sums it up “Major setback with the vintage bus project! The guy who was going to do the interior has taken a six month project on (when he knew I was heading his way with the vintage bus), which means everything is up for grabs. I might get paint/body work done during that time, or I might choose to use someone else to do the interior work. I feel like I’ve been screwed beyond belief since I talked to him about heading his way a few weeks ago and he chose to not mention the fact that he took on a six month project (he played stupid, which he must be). I could have had body work done in Ft. Worth where the bus was previously based, but now everything is up in the air and I’m pissed beyond belief. Does anyone know of an amazing body and paint shop between KY and NJ? I’m beyond pissed off… I’m so pissed that I’m calm, which is scary.”
Dejected and not knowing where to go next, I decide to head to Columbus, OH and Elkhart, IN to get quotes on a paint job and look at RV surplus stores.
On May 4th I drop off the Creative Cruiser at the Choo Choo Express Garage near Chattanooga, TN. At the time I hoped they could spend time doing additional updates that I would have otherwise done after the interior was installed. That included converting windshield wipers from air to electric, adding dashboard heat and air conditioning, adding power steering and a bunch of other upgrades. I flew back to my current bus on May 5th (which was in California) and have been trying to manage things remotely ever since.
Recently, Karen completely redesigned the Flxible Owners International web site. Karen and I are the volunteer web masters of that site which is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting people who own Flxible buses. The Creative Cruiser is a 1963 Flxible Starliner.

I’ll post another update within the next few days to bring everything up to date and announce some very large and important changes that are happening with the Creative Cruiser project. I’m sorry for not having kept you appraised of the progress on this project and I hope to post updates on a regular basis. If you’d like to see more granular updates like “I’m researching having the window seals remanufactured” kind of stuff, then be sure to follow the Creative Cruiser on Facebook.

If you have any questions about what has progressed over the last year, post them below and I’ll answer them soon.

Stainless Fuel Tank, etc.

admin — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 08:14:26 +0000

The Vintage Bus Project keeps cruising along. Here’s a quick update on what’s happened since the last time I posted:

• I made an inventory of all the random parts I have laying around. That includes Flxible name plates, vintage turn signal glass and more

• The rear wall of the bus has been removed to make more room for living space

• We received some parts that the previous mechanic failed to include with the bus. We’re still missing one wiring harness and another engine room part. Of course the mechanic that used to “work” on the bus isn’t returning calls or texts. I’ll have to catch him while he’s working his normal job to see if he’ll answer. His delays on sending any missing parts is slowing us down a bit.

• A brand new custom stainless steel fuel tank has been fabricated which should increase my fuel capacity from 100 gallons to at least 130.

• The floor next to the engine has been removed in preparation for mounting the generator. It will be mounted low in the driver’s side rear of the bus, which will make for extra storage above the unit.

Met with a paint guy in TX who used to work for Chip Foose who might do some body work on the bus. This picture is a low-quality iPhone shot of the metal flake paint job he had on his pickup truck.

• Met with my friend Sam in Boulder, CO to talk about the solar setup I plan to have installed. Sam works on large solar systems full-time. I hope to do a future blog post about what I’ve learned. The sketch above shows a bit of our brainstorm.

• I’ve been doing research on hydraulic leveling jacks for the bus and am currently planning to use Big Foot jacks.

• I’ve sourced the inverters I’ll be using and am almost ready to place my order.

Note: That’s George’s Flixble at the top of this post. We took it out for a ride while I was in Texas. We have since moved on to Colorado. For more details on what we’ve been doing aside from the Vintage Bus Project, check out my WhereIsBen.com site.

What a Difference!

admin — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 08:08:08 +0000

The vintage bus has now been at the new shop in TX for about two weeks. During that time, I’ve been out of town for ten days and the people who run the shop have been away for multiple days to go to a vintage car event. Even so, I’ve seen more progress made over that time span than in any two week span at the previous shop. Here’s just a hint of what’s been done:

Above: wiring harnesses from donor vehicle being sorted out.

Engine removed, engine mounts fabricated and then engine re-inserted, but not permanently attached yet (we’re waiting for missing parts to show up from the previous shop)

All basement bay systems removed including old tanks, water heater, water pump, wiring, etc.

Donor vehicle wiring harnesses sorted out. That’s when we found out that one is missing from the previous shop.

Engine and Tranny computers mounted near drivers seat.

Old fuel tank removed and measurements taken for new custom stainless steel tank. That should increase capacity from 100 to 138 gallons. We also plan on having custom fresh water and waste water tanks made from stainless.

Radiator removed and ready to be pressure tested. (Charlie claimed that it had been recored… but it looks like it had never been out of the bus before).

Discussed all sorts of things like engine cooling design, dashboard layout and various accessories that need to be installed (like leveling jacks).

Above: old tanks, plumbing and water heater removed.

While all that progress was being made. I’ve been feverishly doing research on the following:

Choosing water and waste tank position, size and connections.
Choosing 2nd alternator for house battery charging and to run air conditioning while underway.
Deciding on position of diesel-fired heater, shore cord reel, water hose reel, generator and many more systems.
Choosing a leveling jack system.
Deciding how much roof space can be devoted to low profile semi-flexible solar (answer: a lot more than I thought).

Above: old 100 gal. fuel tank removed. Will be replaced with 138 gal. tank

I’m mainly trying to make decisions fast enough that I don’t cause any delays on the project since it seems to be progressing rapidly now. We don’t have a finish guesstimate yet, but I’m very happy to see major progress.

3/21 The Bus in Now in TX!

admin — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 07:03:13 +0000

After sixteen months of absolute bull-shit, the vintage bus has been transported to Texas (near Ft. Worth) to a more reliable shop. The previous mechanic was such a total fuck-up that the engine fell out of the bus while it was being transported!

I’m not kidding. He didn’t attached the rear motor mount at all and the other two were so badly welded that he should be arrested. Here’s what it looked like when it made it to Texas:

Above you can see the rear motor mount and that it was never connected to the frame. The holes were not even drilled for it. You can see where it was supposed to be connected… that’s where you can see a bit of rust on the horizontal member.

Above you can see the transmission in contact with the trailer that it was hauled on. If you look close enough you can see the shitty mount setup and where it broke off near the top center of the image. I’m sure glad he didn’t finish the re-power, since this break could have happened while traveling at 70MPH and then the engine would have hit the moving ground.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the previous mechanic failed to plug many of the ports on the engine, which means that dust and dirt was free to enter the engine. He was nice enough to cover a total of two ports, but that’s it!

Before getting the bus out of his “shop”, Charlie hadn’t returned a single call, email or SMS message for over seven weeks and before that he mainly responded with the same info he gave me months earlier. Not only that, but Charlie gave away the engine and transmission that was originally in my bus without asking my permission. He didn’t ask if I wanted to sell it or give it away, or to who!

The bus being unloaded. Click here to see a video Karen made about the bus unloading process.

Unloading the bus was not a trivial matter. The driver of the truck just wanted to “let it roll”. Had we followed his advice, the bus would have high grounded in the middle (as shown above), would have hit on the rear overhang and then would have slammed into an upward hill after it got off the trailer. The guy was a total dickhead and only wanted to get it off his trailer as fast as possible. Thanks to George and his crew (at the new shop), we inched it off the trailer and jacked it up before it contacted anything. This was just like a circus with the driver trying to deliver his “expertise” which would have damaged the bus in multiple areas. His main comment was “that’s what insurance is for”.

After inspecting the underside of the bus, I learned that Charlie failed to replace the front torsion bars, which he claimed to have done. He sent me progress images such as this one, which I thought clearly showed that all four torsion bars were removed, as well as the second two shots which show brand new torsion bars for my project. But, upon receiving the bus, the front torsion bars are the old rusty ones that are obviously not new!

Karen couldn’t help but hug the bus once it was on solid ground. She’s been dealing with my general frustration for a full year and was very happy that the Charlie chapter was over.

The bus is finally in good hands. George at Trackmaster Fabricators has a 1950 Flxible Visicoach that has been re-powered using the same engine/tranny combo that I plan to use for my bus. He has a shop that is over 10X the size of Charlie’s and is very good at fabricating metal. His shop is full of metal bending machines, English wheels and a bunch of other stuff that should make him a very versatile guy to work on the bus. I had considered shops in California, but never found one I could be confident in.

Above is a shot of George standing next to his bus.

George isn’t just a fabricator and bus enthusiast. One of his main hobbies is to fabricate vehicles designed to break land speed records. The vehicle shown above is one that he’s piloted at 314MPH on the Bonneville salt flats (and that’s with only a four-banger engine). You can see a little more about his rig here.

Other projects in the shop are this rod:

And while the bus was being unloaded, this jalopy showed up to ask some advice.

The Vintage Bus Intervention!

admin — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 06:56:05 +0000

I’m so frustrated that I have considered selling my vintage bus on multiple occasions. The mechanic who’s been “working” on updating the chassis refuses to return any of my phone calls, text messages or emails. It’s been about a month and a half since I’ve heard from him and each time I do, he keeps slipping the expected finish date by a month or more.

When we originally started this project, he estimated that it would take four months to finish the chassis upgrades. He’s now had the bus for almost 15 months. I should already be living on the bus by now!

Last year was a terrible year for Charlie Lamar (the guy working on my bus). From what I’ve been told, he got a divorce, his boss at his main job got fired, he was injured and then his mother died. I’m assuming he’ll next get struck by lightning! All that would be fine if he’d simply call and tell me what’s going on and help me get the bus out of his shop when it started to take too long for him to finish this project. Instead, he has a habit of just falling off the face of the earth for multiple months at a time.

His last departure from communication is the absolute last straw. I MUST get the bus to a place that can finish the job and am committed to making that happen NOW! So, we plan to abandon our plans to finish up the winter in Florida and will be making a bee-line for California so we can orchestrate getting the bus the hell out of Charlie’s garage, so that one day I might actually end up living in the vintage bus.

Starting on February 8th, we plan to start our journey to California. Once we get there, we’ll park our current bus across the entry to Charlie’s place and wait for him to get home. When he shows up, we’ll try to talk him into showing us what’s up with my vintage bus and to figure out what kind of truck is needed to pull it out of his garage and get it to another location. If he doesn’t want to cooperate, then we’ll get the police and attorneys involved (I hope that won’t be necessary, but who knows, the guy won’t even send a single sentence email or phone message about anything).

I know for a fact that Charlie is alive and well. He’s currently attending a Flxible bus rally in Wickenburg, AZ. I can see him in the center of the photo that’s at the top of this web page looking at a red and white Flxible bus. I’ve even posted to various Flxible bus related online forums to ask if anyone has heard from him lately, but have heard no direct responses related to Charlie. I can’t wait anymore. I need to get this bus finished so I can start living on it.

So far, I have two places I’m considering to bring the bus. One is near San Francisco and the other is in Texas. I plan to visit the Texas possibility on my way across the country and hope to decide where to bring the bus before I get to California.

I’ll be wasting about nine days, driving over 2600 miles and spending about $1200 on fuel just to figure out what’s up with my vintage bus. Sure, I could fly out, but then I’d need to pay for flight, hotel, rental car and I wouldn’t have an real idea for how long it will take to evaluate the condition of the bus and coordinate transportation for the bus to another shop. After all, what if Charlie is out of town (like he is right now) when I show up and it takes 3-4 days for him to show up? And what if it takes multiple days to get all the parts collected, packed and ready to be moved? Charlie Lamar could make this process so much easier by simply calling me to indicate what has been done to my bus and what would be needed to transport the bus… and helping load it, etc. He refuses to communicate in any way and that’s why I must waste all my time and money to drive across the country and deal with all this shit!