Coach Conversion...

jamesbondings

Hi guys,

Me and the brothers are putting serious thoughts on converting a coach for the rugby world cup in the UK in 2015.
A few questions i had, is it legal to change the use of a coach or bus (max 51 seater) to a motor-home/camper?? I also presume a bus license would be required?

We would be doing the majority of the work (except electrical gas and plumbing work) would that work i mentioned be very costly to install?? We only want a toilet, shower, grill, hob and sink.

Also where do i find all the legal aspects of the conversion, by that i mean i presume all seats need seatbelts everything needs to be secure to the frame etc (and other things i will no doubt overlook).

All advice would be great and should we decide to go ahead with it i will bring photos of progress etc but this may or may not happen depending on finances (hence why we are looking at it now we can save and put time into it bit by bit)

Cheers lads

Jamesbondings

Froststop

jamesbondings wrote: »

Hi guys,

Me and the brothers are putting serious thoughts on converting a coach for the rugby world cup in the UK in 2015.
A few questions i had, is it legal to change the use of a coach or bus (max 51 seater) to a motor-home/camper?? I also presume a bus license would be required?

We would be doing the majority of the work (except electrical gas and plumbing work) would that work i mentioned be very costly to install?? We only want a toilet, shower, grill, hob and sink.

Also where do i find all the legal aspects of the conversion, by that i mean i presume all seats need seatbelts everything needs to be secure to the frame etc (and other things i will no doubt overlook).

All advice would be great and should we decide to go ahead with it i will bring photos of progress etc but this may or may not happen depending on finances (hence why we are looking at it now we can save and put time into it bit by bit)

Cheers lads

Jamesbondings

Do you know anyone in the camper van scene/business? They should be able to advise you on what is required.

Del2005

Can't really help on the conversion but if you remove the seats from a bus it becomes a HGV, you'd need a C licence not a D.

jamesbondings

Froststop wrote: »

Do you know anyone in the camper van scene/business? They should be able to advise you on what is required.

Unfortunately not man if only.... Its just going to be an ongoing project to use then maybe a few holidays after that so just need to know a few things so it doesn't turn into a money pit

aujopimur

Most campsites will not admit coach conversions as they chew up the roads and green areas.

Aidan_M_M

And they are nigh on impossible to resale.

nailer8

I have seen a few Minibus conversions which work out pretty nice.
The Merc Vario (approx 25 seat) is popular and is a fairly manageable size, probably sleep 4.

A full 50 seater coach would be hard to maneuver and extremely heavy on fuel. Approx 10 mpg.

Best of luck though, defo post photos.

I always dreamed of an old double decker with all the gang on board for those Munster Rugby road trips to the UK, never happened though.

jamesbondings

true about the fuel. man have you seen any of the double decker conversion videos on youtube?? they all look amazing, as it stands there are about 6-8 people who have expressed interest on coming on tour with us so we would do "shares" everyone splits costs evenly.

i take on board the fact it may be difficult to sell in the future too so would we be better off maybe getting two 25 seaters? the main problem is storage at the moment i couldnt put a bus anywhere at the moment as everyone bar one of us lives in the city and cant just park it up could easily fit a smaller bus in the girlfriends mams front garden though.

i have already learned whatever happens not to allow my brother take control of the project his first comment about saving money was "yea we dont even have to put a toilet in it we could just put the seats back in after" needless to say i explained to him about us going on tour and all the things that go with that (drink and take away) toilet is essential.

This is in my Top 5 conversion chassis list.

It's a built down Vario 813 Merc made specifically for the German police.
Sliding, "milk-van" style driver and passenger doors :cool:.



There's an 814 "LWB" version too with a sliding side-door and normal front doors.

Dolmen won't insure ex-buses IIRC.

paddyp

Sir Liamalot wrote: »

Dolmen won't insure ex-buses IIRC.

I was thinking about this lately - convert the bus to commercial / crewcab, then to camper the whole group scheme thing is a load of old cobblers.

Genius