School bus conversion member project

Using the angle grinder to remove rivets from the walls—you can see the sparks fly!

ToolBox Project members Jeremy, Laura, and their son Jace are working on a skoolie conversion project with tools borrowed from the ToolBox Project. This post describes their experience.

We have been ToolBox Project members since the first full day we lived in Eugene, in September of 2015. Laura is a former ToolBox Project board member, and Jeremy has volunteered as a tool librarian. Our family has been dreaming of converting a school bus to use as a camper for travels for a while, and on November 11, 2022, we bought a 27-foot school bus.

Since then we have removed the seats and wheelchair lift from the bus, torn out the lower wall panels and old wall insulation, put down insulation over the old floors and then plywood subfloor, and started rebuilding and insulating the walls below the windows.

Our design will be pretty simple, at least to start—a full size bed in back, then bunk beds, a bathroom with composting toilet, and later a shower, a dinette area, and a simple kitchen. We're excited to continue this family project, and then take our bus out on the road into the woods and elsewhere for travel and adventure.

We could not do a project like this without all of the tools and equipment that we are able to borrow from the ToolBox Project. They're such a valuable resource for our community!

Check out a continually updated photo album of the project.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/aRsC8o9v5qcL8hM2A

Jeremy, Jace, and Laura in front of their cool bus, a "skoolie", or school bus conversion project.