Some of you may recall me from some time back. When I first came around here, I though I had quite a decent chunk of coin coming via a lawsuit but...California's Attorney General had other ideas and settled the case out from under myself and my co-plaintiff.

https://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...831EST0118.DTL

So, I ended up with $76k. Ah well https://www.truckhome.com/infopop/emo...icon_smile.gif. NOT enough to even think about a Renegade/Showhauler/etc.

I pondered the idea of a bus conversion for a while. Most older buses can't be set up to take a bike up a ramp into a bay in the rear. The exception is the Bluebird (or older Wanderlodge on the same chassis) as they're "mechanically similar" to a commercial mid-duty truck and have strong frame rails going to the back bumper and a front engine that doesn't get in the way. But retro-fitting something like that with a garage would be an undertaking, costs would still climb, they're autos with either a gashog of a gasser motor or a Cat3208 which sucks Diesel just as bad (6mpg common on a 35ft rig). Plus they're generally 6'3" inside and I'm 6'4" https://www.truckhome.com/infopop/emo...icon_frown.gif.

But then, I found something...unusual. I found what appears to be an "early ancestor" of the whole Truck Conversion industry - a 32ft overall critter, 16ft living space plus cabover bed PLUS rear garage...currently only partially covered, on a Ford F450 chassis!

Dated 1988.

https://racingjunk.com/exec/ca/view/4...ssifiedad.html

It's freakin' *amazing*. Condition is close to mint - 100% functional, 97% cosmetic...a few paint chips here and there, a place where a branch did a 2" wide dimple in the cabover-bed aluminum skin but no breakthrough. Aluminum skin appears to be a heavier grade, certainly thicker than most cargo trailers. Steel tube frame chassis, all hardwood cabinetry, serious quality throughout. The undercarriage looked to be WAY beefy and in good shape.

Yeah, it's a gasser, an FI460 Ford...but somebody had it who cared about mileage. They added vaccum and fuel injector pressure gauges, plus of course it's a highway-geared manual tranny. Watch the guages some, keep it at 65, it's a 15mpg+ rig.

For $14k?

https://www.truckhome.com/infopop/emo...icon_smile.gif

Some googling showed that "Hansen Haulers" is now a "Hansen's Machine Shop" in Sacramento at the same address, same owners, out of the conversion biz though. I talked to the owner, who explained that this beastie is probably one of his first of a total of about 50 rigs between 1988 and 1998.

The "pickup truck nose" may be funky but it makes working on this puppy a sheer joy.

I stopped by "Dr. George" (see also https://www.rvdoctorgeorge.com) local to me in Sacramento - this guy has a really solid rep in RV repair. His ballpark is that $6k, $7k tops would let him add more framing, a rear door and fully skin/insulate and enclose the rear garage. I may also turn the "garage area under the bed" into additional living space area...I need motorcycle hauling, not a full-length car https://www.truckhome.com/infopop/emo...icon_smile.gif. And I'll also be adding a good inverter and battery bank, up near $3k worth.

Yeah, it's a bit small but not too bad for one guy and the occasional guest, or even a couple. The build quality is literally Showhauler/Wildside/etc level, on a sort of "slightly mini scale". It's so far beyond the build level of a mass-market RV it ain't funny. It won't have the monster towing ability of a modern high-bucks rig but I don't need towing, once I've got bikes on board I won't need a trailer at all.

It's mine now.

It's a happy ending on a budget and gives me what may be the oldest professionally built truck conversion on the road https://www.truckhome.com/infopop/emo...icon_smile.gif and the ancestor of y'all's rigs with more bucks in https://www.truckhome.com/infopop/emo...icon_smile.gif.

.....sounds/looks fun....send along more pix as you get them. Our ancestors live again.....geofkaye

Jimm-
Looks like you got yourself a real deal! Normally I'm a solid Diesel guy, but if you keep that 460EFI in good tune you might get some decent fuel mileage out of it. Make sure it has a good free-flowing exhaust on it, to help the MPG and to keep it cooler on the long grades. Have fun and keep us all posted on whatever you do with it!
Gary
BTW, do you or anybody here know of any conversion shops in Central CA?.

Ah, as to the exhaust: it appears to be both custom and very free-flow, capped with a Supertrapp fully tune-able end (the kind with the disks!).

Between that, the gauges and other clues, yeppers...somebody REALLY cared about mileage.

The one real flaw is the modest non-broke-through dimple to the left of the upper forward bunk window (as you look towards the nose from the middle). I'm considering having a single piece of aluminum diamond plate cut as an "armored shield" for that whole area against low-lying tree branches and the like.

It's sure as hell "different" https://www.truckhome.com/infopop/emo...icon_smile.gif.

.....Jimm....I'm with you on this.....could never see why anyone would put a windshield up there.....nothing like having a kid hurt/blinded by glass and a tree limb......needless to say falling forward in a front end collision....today a parent would never forgive himself for that mistake......and should spend a little time behind bars maybe 3 years on the weekends/holidays for being stupid.......geofkaye

Gary in Hanford -

Check out Morrison's VIP Coach in Sanger. He's on the SE corner of Kings Canyon and Academy. Try Googling for his website and/or phone #.

Hey RJ--
I thought Morrison's was mainly a slideout specialist, but it might pay to check him out again (I don't care for slideouts). It never hurts to look! Thanks man!
Gary
PS- I wonder how many more of us "Valley Guys" are members of this Board?