[Brian Atwood]

Hey how's it going everyone?

I need your help. I know I have a mind of my own but I want to pick everyone elses. Here's what I am thinking. I have been out looking at dozens upon dozens of motorhomes from the basic gasser to the extreme diesel with quad slides. I have looked at several bus conversion as well. I have not seen too many diesel pushers that rock my world but I have seen a couple of bus conversion that I liked. I am leaning more towards the bus conversion but don't want to spend a half mil and up for a new conversion on an old chassis or really buy someone else's dream.

I know there are some great coach converters like Horizon Coach, Marathon ($$$$), Infinity Coach, Walker Coach, and Liberty Coach. I really like a lot of these conversion and realize there are a lot of small custom conversion company's also and here's what I'm thinking of doing. I have a shot at buying an older classic Newell Coach that has a bad engine, and the coach is very solid and extremely nice and could be updated to be just as nice or nicer than a lot of bus conversion and be an original factory made diesel pusher.
My idea would be to put a newer in-line 6 cyl diesel engine like a 450 or higher Cummins (ISL?) in it and have a restyled retro classic not like everybody else's. I don't care if it cost 20K for the engine conversion. I would be in the master piece between 60-70K and feel that would be a bargain for such a coach. I don't care about slides. I want to own something built very stout.

Has anyone done such a thing? I am looking for input and ideas from everyone. Some will think I'm nuts and others might think it's a neat idea. I am not worried about resale value and realize that it will probably be worth less than I'm in it, but who really knows?
What's your take? Share your crazy thoughts and if you know someone who has done something similar or is thinking the same I'd sure like to know.

Thanks,
Brian Atwood