A Most Awesome Eagle Bus-Conversion that is beyond your normal customization!

[Neweller]

I recently discovered a beautiful fully custom Classic Eagle bus-conversion owned and converted by some great folks up in Rochester, NY. Lynn Allinger and Gary Stam created a wonderful master piece out a 1990 Eagle highway bus that had been used for a decade making runs between Los Angelas, CA and Mexico City, MX then coming off the road in 2000. When later the bus was acquired by I-44 Bus Sale Inc. whom gutted it, added dual slides and raised the roof making the bus ready for Lynn and Gary to unleash their extreme artistic talents onto it.

I coudn't resist asking Lynn if I could share about this beauty and of course she obliged, add she also told me that their wonderful Eagle will be featured on the HGTV show called: "You Live in What" this coming January 2013. We will definitely be on the look out for this wonder. I will keep everyone posted!

Please enjoy these pictures of Lynn and Gary's luxury Eagle coach. Their awesome business is full of artistic creations from them and many friends. You might even find a treasure you can't do without! Next time in Rochester, NY I will surely look these guys up.

For awesome art, please visit their website at: Craft Company No.6, American Artisan Jewelry, Gift and Decorative Accessories

Lynn and Gary's Eagle Bus - Early Stages

Gary's lifelong dream was to do a bus-conversion on a classic Eagle Bus probably because Willy Nelson had one and he thinks Willy is a pretty cool guy. We became RV'ers in the mid 80's. At that time we had a second craft gallery in Coconut Grove, Florida called American Details. We spent the winter months living in Florida but had a tough time finding a decent apartment that would accept dogs. Gary came up with the idea of getting an RV and living in that. At first I was horrified by the idea of living in an RV, but after we started looking at them it seemed like it might be fun. Over the years our RV's grew in size from our first small conversion van to a 45' 5th wheel with three slide-outs. That 5th Wheel that now resides happily with our friends in Melbourne, Florida. >>>>
We did lots of customizing to our last RV (the 5th wheel) and this really inspired Gary to want to due a big scale bus-conversion. He did lots of research on the Internet about where to find the right bus and who to use to do the initial steps that he couldn't do. He eventually decided on I-44Bus Sales, Inc. a company that sells empty bus shells for people who want to do their own bus-conversions. Eagle buses are no longer being made, but are very desirable among "bus nuts" like Gary.
Our bus was built in 1990 and traveled daily from Mexico City to Los Angeles. It was retired in 2000. I-44 Bus refurbished the bus to the point where Gary could take over. They raised the roof, put in a new engine, new exterior skin, 2 slide outs (shown at right), new stainless steel bottom and paint job.

Gary rented a wood shop in Bakersville, NC where we will live while working on the bus-conversion. This is a big project, similar to building a house, and Gary estimated it would take about 2 years since he wouldn't be working on it full time year round. Well we're now into year 3 and its still got quite a ways to go!
Here are some pictures of what the interior of the bus looked like when we picked it up. I love the "WATCH YOUR STEP" sign in both English and Spanish and want to find a way to work this into our finished design.

The first image to the right>>>> shows the empty shell looking toward the front.
The next image is looking to the rear of the bus. The bed will go on top of the slide-out mechanism and a closet will go across the back end. >>



<<<< The first steps in the bus-conversion were mostly tearing things out and working on things that didn't show like insulation, wiring and plumbing. After tearing out the insulation Gary painted the metal frame work with rust- proof paint. >>>>>>>>


<<<< This image shows some of the wiring and plumbing under the floor.



Gary replaced the old insulation with new and covered in that with plywood.>>>>>


<<<<<<This image shows the bus with its plywood cover. The blue tape marks and foam cut-outs are how we laid out our floor plan and divided off "rooms."