Last Updated: 19/12/2019
Welcome to the story of my motorhome conversion. This is “Gigi”. I wanted to share all the ups & downs of this amazing adventure that I embarked few month ago. There is so much to do and so much to document that I’ll seriously make an effort to write as much as possible.
I just would like to thank my family & some amazing friends for helping and supporting me along the way…
After looking around Australia wide for the past 3 months, my choice came down between an Austral Tourmaster and a Denning Highdeck, and in the end the Austral won my decision based on the choices I had in my priority list.
The priority list was based as follows:
I wanted a high driver position seat
Much easier to drive when you can see past the vehicle in front of you.
I wanted a single side door
I think two doors coaches are useful when transporting people but you lose more room both above and on the bin space when used as a conversion.
I wanted a straight floor with no toilet at the back
That’s just two extra jobs to deal with that I can do without..
I wanted only two front windscreen
Two glass are cheaper than four to replace
I wanted an engine powerful enough to take care of the Motorhome fully load
250hp are simply not enough for 22000 kg
I wanted the fuel tank at the back as well as the AC
Full fuel tank on the front axle does change coach handling a lot, plus I will still have some weight in the front because of the water tanks
I wanted a three axle coach
Nothing to do with more carrying capacity. It just handles side wind much, much better than two axles because of the extra two bags
I wanted a clean unit with no too many modifications
I didn’t want to have to remove too much stuff as I wanted a clean canvas to start this project
In all honesty, The Austral did tick all the boxes and so it came to pass that this past weekend I took possession of my new home on wheels.
It felt good to see this massive vehicle in the driveway the morning after. Then after few minutes I started to realise the massive amount of work ahead and wonder what I just put myself into. Can I do it? Do I have what it takes?
Keep reading and you will find out, as I did, what it takes to convert a coach into a livable Motorhome. Please bear in mind that this Log Book is written as the conversion goes on and therefore there will be mistakes along the way. The Blog itself, is a new thing as well, so I’ll have to learn a thing or two before we can smoothly move forward. Unfortunately, the forum was no longer an option due to incompatibilities with the latest PHP server version..
This Blog is here to allow my family and friend to keep track of my progress, for reading pleasure, and hopefully, to give motivation to others to start a similar adventure and in doing so, enjoying the great nomad life..
Ai miei amici Italiani, per favore usate Google per la traduzione del Blog. Love you all..
Il Mozzo
It has been a while since my last log and a lot has changed since. While in the pursuit of a suitable location with a shed large enough to perform the job, it became apparent that no matter how good things would have been, it was just going to be too expensive. First hurdle, was to locate a shed that had the large front door at the end of its length instead that on the side… Once past that I quickly realised that the only shed with that kind of configuration are the very large ones 300 sqm and up, and the rent plus the ongoing cost can easily reach the 40-50k per year. It also became apparent that commercial shed are easily rented for long lease (3 years and up), while not many are interested in a 12 month lease (I actually only managed to find one, happy to rent only for 12 months, within the 500 km radius and it was the wrong shape anyway).
Then we looked at building a shed in a suitable location, but again it couldn’t be done for less than 25k. Sheds are cheap to buy, but then you need a concrete slab, plumbing, electricity, council approvals… :-( It felt like opening a can of worms. On top of this, you also have to remember that you still have to pay for all the materials and transportation to do the skin job on the vehicle… :-|
A quick look at the excel spreadsheet, and I realised that once you start to add everything up, for that kind of money I can pay someone to do the re-skinning of the coach professionally. While I was really looking forward to tackle the job on a home made base, I also have to be realistic and remember that I’m doing this job on a budget. So, unless you have a free shed big enough to do the job at home, or enough space to maybe build a large tarp area where you already have the basic utilities (water and electricity), you are better off getting quotes for the skin job done professionally. You may, like me, get a welcome surprise… :-)
Pictures coming soon of the job stages….
To bad you dont live here, there is a garage on the other side of the road from my house that used to be a bus service station for our city bus company, you can rent 1 lenght for abouth 200 australian dollars a month.
I guess you already considered scaffolding and a few tarps? We did it as an emergency fix once for a big sail boat, worked much better than expected. :-)
What material is the skin anyway, fiberglass?
To do a proper Job, you need about 25 x 20 metre space. I was going to do it outdoor originally but then we sold the place we had the coach on and start to look for a shed… Now considering everything, I’m going to get a company doing the outside, while I’ll do all the rest.
Skins material depends on budget and vehicle age. In the old days the main two choice were Zincalume panels/rolls or Aluminium. These days the materials of choice are plastics or Fibreglass. Most new vehicle manufacture do mix and match materials based on Country and purpose of the vehicle.
A city bus will be a mix of plastic and fibreglass, where a luxury Coach will have fibreglass and aluminium. Frames are also a mix of RHS, Galvanised RHS or aluminium based on purchase costs or customer preferences…
Not much has happen lately as we are looking for a new location to perform the skin replacement. Originally planned outdoor, we eventually decided to look for a shed large enough to allow the entire job to be perform undercover. It may cost a bit more but it will be a hell of a lot easier. Instead of doing one side at a time, we’ll work on the entire vehicle at once.
Hopefully from next month, we should start to really get cracking with the skin and all new windows…
In the mean time we are proceeding with the interior planning and continually changing ideas on what to use outside for the bin doors hinges… :-) Phil is really working hard in continuously supplying new ideas and pictures on a hourly rate.
I can only see something good coming out of all this have we are seriously considering all the option available on the market today.
They all have to pass the three point test and in this order:
1) Strength and Durability
2) Functionality
3) Good looking
Even new coaches are still delivered with a mix of hinges system that can be based on cost, strength, look, and country of origin. Then you have all the new multi link hinges from all over the world making few appearance on the most upmarket coaches models. You can pick Steel, Stainless, Brass, Alloy and invisible hinges. There is so much choice that it really makes it a pleasure to just have no limitation in what we are trying to achieve.
We have already collected so much material on this subject that a new thread just covering this topic could be a serious possibility…
Oh dude, how awesome is that! :-)
I’ve always wanted to have a motorhome or at least a caravan. What kind of trips will you do with it?
Im looking forward to your trip reports. :-)
Hmmm… How to put it? well, I did circumnavigate Australia on a motorbike and I loved, but there is so much to see, that I felt really bad about how quick I was passing through everything without having the time to stop and actually absorb the experience. After all we all know that it is the Journey that count not the destination.
So this time I’m doing the opposite. I will travel as slow as I can, and I have no destination! If it takes me 10 years, good, if it takes 20 years, Even better…
The thing is, we got to converted it to a motorhome first. That’s when the journey did start and I got the feeling that the next 12 months will be very exciting and busy…
In my previous reply I mentioning the next 12 months as been exciting and busy… :-)
Busy?? Hell yeah… Exciting??? Meh… Sometimes…
The thing is that one doesn’t realised until you start to put things in motion how much stuff there is to do to make a move like this. It will probably take more like 18 months to get there and that is a more reasonable pace to keep up with.
To be honest, it remind me a bit of when you leave a country to move into another… Selling stuff, buying stuff, the mountain of paperwork, the logistic, having to learn new skills, having to improvise on the spot,the doubts that start to hang around your mind, the fear of the unknown, leaving good friends behind, I could go for ever….
Just stop for a second and look around yourself how much stuff you have, that you already know that you can’t take with you… The feelings you go through, while thinking at what you really want to (maybe can) keep, once you live in a bit less than 65m³ of space. I know. it is still plenty of space, but I really did spread out in the past 20 years, so it is really all relative…
At the same token, I’m thinking how much easier is going to be to keep things clean, once I get there… :clap:
And yet, while all this is going through your mind, that’s when you really start to feel alive, when you realise that there is something out there, calling you, that is not made of cement or plastic and it has no rules, no time… I call that freedom… That the thing that makes it go through all this, worthwhile.
Make no mistake. It may take a bit longer than expected…but I’ll get there….
Well it will be worth the time.
All I know about Australia is that death is always within a very, very close proximity. That it is a massive and very beautiful country and that cold beer is good 24/7 I cant imagine a better way to explore the country than having a big motorhome that you can stand up straight in, cook and shower in and watch TV.
I have done quite some traveling by car and living in a tent or a cheap hotel and while it works its not exactly comfy or ideal.
This will be amazing and the hours you spend now wont feel like anything but a good investment later. :-)
You are spot on Kenneth…
In my early days I use to live in a motorhome with my wife and my first daughter, and working while going around Europe,and I loved it. It was a Ford transit 130 with the Arca Mini body on top. We did it for three years and while winter was really hard to cope with, it gave us the best memories. In summer going through Italy and Spain made it all worth it.
We made great friends in Holland, Germany and England, and I’m still in touch with most of them… We also have great memories in France during the fruit picking season at the beginning of our journey…
It is definitely a good investment, and without realising it, probably the best.