Gday all,
thought Id join up and say hi,we(better half)and I have recently bought a coach to convert to a motorhome.
Have been doing lots and lots and lots and lots of research on what equipment to fit it with etc etc.
We spent time at Mt Gambier in a Dennings over new years eve with friends during a racemeet and decided at 3.30am after nearly getting killed by a roo who thought I could pull up a fully loaded Falcon wagon towing the sidecar trailer in a heartbeat.
Decided a coach was best to lower their survival rate a bit....
Anyway we plan on setting it up more as a mobile workshop/home due to our needs at various racetrack.
Plus we got sick of paying for motel rooms and pitsheds and knew we were better off building a coach up.
We looked at caravans but nothing really was suited to carry what we do,mainly as next year we will be running 2 sidecars plus the spares,tools etc.
Currently its still being stripped out,with only the roof mounted Coachair unit being the last item to get removed.
As soon as thats done its off to the weighbridge,engineer and the tyre fitters then home to start the build.
Have most of the gear already to fit in,
Fridge,stove,shower unit,toilet,bedframes,couches,front seat belt points,stereo and AV equipment,Supercombi,2 AC inverter units this list goes on.
I shall start up a build thread soon when it starts happening,but for now we are still doing the planning of wiring,item placements,extra hands aswell,and other stuff I cant think of now.


Anyway hopefully I can be of use to you guys,Im a mechanic that has gone over to diesel engine servicing and fabrication in the fire industry as normal mechanical tasks were just that....tasks and not challenges.
I work on 12/24 and 240v control systems,(can only isolate 240v,not actually work on it) and get to play with some weird machinery at times.

My woodworking skills lack somewhat badly so will be avoiding that side of it as much as possible and let the old man and my mate take care of that.
Shall keep you all updated.
Cheers
Neill

heres a lil teaser pic of "Sophie"

Welcome, look forward to picies of the fit out.
Frank

I love the old Dennings as a Coach still some nice ones around in service the're an awesome vehicle, your looks like an Austral or Scania

Good luck with the conversion, looking forward to the updates

sounds great, I would be considering leaving the air conditioner on tho, as getting it cool on a warm day might be difficult Love watching chairs racing

Wow What a project .I know it will be a first class job just by reading your thread .Great looking coach. Please keep us up to date on your progress. with pics of course. Regards Dave n Jen Old Ringers Van.

cheers all,ye definatley looking forward to getting into it.
Whilst it may not be the sort you see coming out of places like Jacana etc it will be a massive price difference compared to buying one outright.
Have had a few people carry-on that Im going to be up for $100000-$150000 to build it most dont realise is that about $70000-$80000 is purely the labour content.
So far Ive only managed to spend $18000 on the equipment and only require the wood and RHS(approx $3000) to do the internal framing.
As Im a tad on the shorter side I saved a packet by not having to raise the roof and will tip that money back into the fitout and maybe a 2nd Supercombi unit.
Hopefully the weather stays good and I can keep at the roof AC unit,not real fun when the wind is blowing and Im not real keen on any heights.......

Pathie,
the coach is a 1985 Austral Tourmaster with the Mercedes chassis.Has the twin turbo 951ci V8(380hp) with a 6sp ZF syncro box.
Luckily the previous owner took really good care of her as her framework is still in excellent condition with the worst rust being confined to 2 short section about 3' long above the rear axles.
Plus it only spent its first 2 years doing Sydney to Brisbane,then went inland to Bathurst,Oberon and Gilgandra and never really saw the coast again so it remained rust free.
Dont think very much of any coach with a Detroit as they are a crap oil leaking POS and was stoked when we found the Merc.
Anyways I shall keep ya posted on build!

just subscribed to this thread so make sure you post heaps of pics

hi Sidecar44,
WELCOME to the forum and Family..

Cheers Rod

Mate BIG job ahead. If you can take your time and do it all ok first time will be very satisfying.

Australs were very popular with Deluxe Coachlines they had heaps of em(till they went bust). Dennings were my favourite.

I am wondering why you want to ditch the coachair? it will keep the whole setup cool as while you drive.

as has been said before let's see lots of piccies please we are very interested in how you do it.

and welcome to the forum. I am certain you will find lots of help and support available for the asking.

the coachair is only useful(debatable) when moving but chews thru the diesel.
Ive got 2 Sharp 2.6kw Split AC inverters and will run these from the 240v supplied from the Supercombi.
The 2nd alt was originally for the Coachair AC unit but will now run it to the "house" batteries to keep em charged while running and the Sharp units can be run while the coach is moving then without drawing on the house power as the alt pumps out 140amp at max rpm,105amp at 100kph very nicely.
Plus Ive got a buyer for the whole lot,coach operator in Sydney, so it paid for at least 1 Sharp unit

Just ta add,the Coachair is 1 to 1.2 ton all up,where as the 2 Sharps are 130kg max combined with all the copper piping etc,plus it doesnt drag the motor HP down and chew juice.
Plus the 2nd alt needed to be used for something other than the coach operating systems as its already got a 140amp alt doing that so running it to the Supercombi/house battery setup seemed the logical choice.