The Big Four..Gettin' Legal

So, what's the deal on legally converting a bus into a motor home.

DISCLAIMER: I live in Ohio. I bought the bus in Ohio. I got an Ohio title and Ohio license plates. If you live in PA, FL, ND, SC NM, ME, MA (I always get ME and MA mixed up), UT or any other state in the U.S of A., this may not apply to you. Then again, maybe it does, but you didn't hear it from me. Do your due diligence.

Here's the form for a title.

So we need...

     A working stove
     A working refrigerator
     A place to sleep
     A place to eat

I just wanna get legal so I can drive the bus home to work on it. Work on it where I have electricity, heat and a bathroom.

So lets get started.

I'm building a temporary kitchen counter that the range/oven (from the ol' camper) will mount into.

The stove connects to a 30lb LP tank that sits next to it. The stove works.

By the way, did you know that there is a large selection of possible LP gas connectors.

I didn't. Go to Home Depot (or wherever) prepared. Bring samples and put on your Rube Goldberg thinking cap.

Mission one..complete.

Refrigerator...We are going to use the fridge from the camper. It runs on 120 VAC and LP gas. It needs a 12 VDC control voltage from a battery to operate. Since LP gas operation requires several vents to be cut into the bus, we are gonna start with AC/DC only.

HOWEVER...If for some reason the fridge takes a dump, we would probably replace it with a 120VAC unit from Best Buy or Sams or something. In the event that happens, I have reluctantly decided to waste some space and design the area to burn about 3" on each side of the camper fridge to accept a larger apartment size unit.

Mission Two...Complete

The next step...a place to sleep.

Hmmmm...

Either I'm not sure how we wanna do this

or

We are not sure how I wanna do this 

or

Anyway, I decided on a short-term sleeping assembly that uses the mattress from the camper as well as the hinged storage cover that helped support it.

The bed assembly is designed to slide half-way between the rear wheels, or slide back as far as the rear door. This allows flexibility in deciding on a final location.

Mission 3...Bed...Complete.

Finally, what's for supper? Where are we gonna play Skipbo?

Real high teck. I took the bench seats and table from the camper and gave them a new home on the bus. The table mounts on two legs that fit into flanges on the floor. 

The table turns into a bed that upon which I would wish my most bitter enemy a good night's sleep.

But it is...A PLACE TO EAT.

Mission 4...Complete.

So, let's go get legal !!!