$6500
1998 Metrotrans Legacy LJ Bus Skoolie Conversion Project
Tons of info here: https://www.busupdates.com/1998-metrotrans-legacy-lj/
Or go to https://www.busupdates.com and check out all the blog posts of everything I’ve done to it over the years.
I’ve been dumping money into this over the last 6 years and I’m bored of it.
I’ve got it in storage for the next year near Howard, WI(Green Bay). Batteries have been removed to put on trickle chargers. So if you are wanting a test drive I can meet you there with the 4 batteries and get it hooked back up for a drive.
It’s a fantastic platform to build a camper off of. I think it’s better than a school bus due to the shorter 30ft size, fiberglass front and back caps and the all aluminum skins on side and roof.
1998 Metrotrans 30ft Diesel Pusher Bus
166k miles
24v 5.9L Cummins Diesel ISB Engine, and remanufactured VP44 pump
Allison AT545 Transmission, Remanufactured at some point in it’s life
Dana 80 rearend with 4.56 gears
Spartan BC-2242 Chassis
All Aluminum Exterior skins
1″ Steel square tube frame
So many new mechanical parts over the last 4 years
- Brand New 8r19.5 Tires with balance beads and painted rims, Date Code 03-2024 and about 20miles!
- Fass DRP Fuel Pump with new Fuel pressure guage.
- Rebuilt HX35w Holset Turbo, machined/painted the exhaust manifold when it was out as well, new wastegate valve
- Rebuilt Steering gearbox, and one new hydraulic line from pump to rear proportioning valve, all new fluid
- 4 New Bilstein Shocks, 2 years ago.
- New Brake Master Cylinder, all 4 Calipers, all new pads and all Rubber Brake lines and fluid.
- New Front Air tank, replaced bleed valves on both and installed an air chuck fitting to run air tools.
- Timing cover gasket and added killer dowel pin adapter
- DOT certified LED headlights, that don’t blind everyone on the road.
- New Brake Light assemblies
- Rebuilt Fuel Injectors and new injector tubes, fuel filter
- 2 Newer Starting batteries
- Newer starter
- 3in1 Glowshift Gauge, Exhaust temp, Fuel Pressure and Boost
- All Oil leaks fixed
- Factory AC works, both front and rear, newer engine driven AC compressor
- Water pump, Coolant
- Backup Camera
- Power Puck Performance Chip
- Valves Adjusted last year
- Tons of little things I’m forgetting
Interior conversion is in progress, a lot of the hard work is already done(I know, everyone says that).
- Mini Split AC 12k btu runs on 110v only, with heat pump
- Chinese Diesel heater, plumbed into main 85gl tank.
- Dometic Sink and Stove combo, not fully plumbed in
- Wet bath in progress, new shower pan, propane water heater, brand new rv toilet, water pump, Water inlet, 21gl freshwater tank
- New 24gl Black tank mounted underneath below wetbath. Using this as the grey tank as well.
- Kitchen Cabinets, from Menards. Added custom latches to keep closed when driving.
- MaxAir Fan
- Cheap Vinyl Floor, Looks ok, but expands and contracts in the heat and cold.
- Custom Dinette table, used old bus seats and added seat belts.
- (2) Newpowa 175watt Solar Panels on roof, Epever Mppt 30amp dual battery solar controller, charges both house batteries and starting batteries.
- (2) Newer Deep Cycle house batteries
- Interior LED lighting, 20ft LED RGB color changing strip down the aisle.
- Wall and Ceiling have new rigid foamboard insulation with an air gap and reflectix in the ceiling.
- 30amp shore power hookup with 2 15amp circuit breaker panel
- 12v Blueseas fuse block
- Twin size Bunk Beds, rear engine access area was going to be a queen bed, so would sleep 4
- CO2/Propane Alarm, not wired in yet
The Cons
- Dash wiring, the previous owner rewired a lot of it using only black wiring.
- It’s not geared for Highway speeds, top speed is about 65mph. If you replaced the rear gears with 3.31 gears it would do 70mph without much effort.
- Front Door has a gap and the wind noise is loud at 55. The Interior also creaks and squeaks quite a bit due to the unfinished status.
- Still a lot of interior work left to do to make it nice.
