Stripping the vehicle

Boy those Japanese sure know how to squeeze them in. This is what our Rainbow looked like before the removal process began. Note the fold down "dicky seats" in each row. There was another one of these in the front passenger seats. From my calculations she was once a 28 seater (including the driver).

One of the things I've noticed in reading other peoples project stories is how far they are willing to go in stripping back the vehicle. Because most bits were in such good condition I decided not to demolish more than I needed to. For this reason I didn't remove things like the roof lining or replace the vinyl floor. I also saved the bolts, screws, fittings and even some of the steel from the excess seat frames.

The roof clearance is only just over 180 cms so if you were taller than us you'd be forced into a roof raise but as we both had a couple of centimetres to spare I decided to leave her just the way she is.

Import agony - Lessons learned

OK - What I should have done is said to the dealer "You get it registered and THEN I'll buy it." This was something that I learned the hard way. As I mentioned, this company normally stripped and fitted out the buses themselves but I wanted to get hold of it before they did anything. I wanted to strip it for the experience and for the possibility of re-using any bits and pieces they normally discarded.
When I took delivery the airconditioner had been complianced and re-gassed for Australian regulations, the diesel had been serviced with new filters and oil, they'd done some polishing (and marked some of the black window frames in the process) and nothing much else. I should mention they also threw in a tow-bar (not fitted), a pair of approved seatbelts, a fire extinguisher and the promise of any assistance I might need. The bus was also covered by a very basic warranty plan [$1000 value]. Fortunately I didn't have to find out if this was useful or not.

I also purchased a Dometic rollout awning through them at purchase time - they used these particular awnings on their own motorhomes and research proved I was getting it at a good price. [Not the original price I was promised but still very good compared to other quotes].
I was also given a trade plate to get my vehicle home to the other side of Brisbane which was a nice gesture on their part.

Everything sounds ok here [and I AM actually very pleased with the vehicle] but there were some promises made and not kept and I always felt that dealings were a bit "dodgy". Statements like "You won't have any troubles registering it!" proved to be quite an exaggeration and I've spoken to a few others since who have confirmed my lack of confidence in this firm.

I knew I needed to get the bus complianced for it's new life so after I stripped it out [I'll go into detail in another section] I fitted new front seats, retained one double passenger seat and fitted new seatbelts. I found a local guy that could get me a compliance plate for the new 4 seater configuration. He advised me what to do, came back and printed me a compliance plate without really inspecting the work. He also recommended where I could take the vehicle for the safety certificate required for registration and didn't foresee any dramas.

Drama. When I arrived for my safety inspection they weren't sure what category the vehicle fell into and after conversations with the local transport office the situation became even more unclear. Because the imported vehicle did not carry a GVM plate [Gross vehicle mass] the inspector really didn't want to get involved. Now all this happened about 18 months ago so the actual details are a bit fuzzy now but what I do remember is that every time I spoke to a different person from transport department I got a different answer as to how I could resolve the issue. I had also organised third party insurance before I drove the bus and there was also confusion here as to what category it fell into. I should probably touch on vehicle weights here - the Rainbow is a fairly heavy vehicle and came in at about 3.9 tonne. There is a category limit at 4.5 tonne with vehicles over that amount requiring more expensive registrations and annual inspections - a scenario which I was trying to avoid - and one my dealer had advised would not occur.

Solution underway. As you can probably imagine this was all getting a bit stressful but I decided to tackle the problem by taking the [unregistered but third party insured] vehicle back to the other side of town to the inspection station the dealer used for his own vehicles. It was there they informed me that I did not have the correct import compliance for them to undertake the inspection of the vehicle - once again the lack of GVM was the issue. Back to the dealer to then make contact with the engineer who did the compliance certificates for their vehicles. Now if all this is starting to sound a bit dodgy you'd be right - one engineering workshop where my dealer told me to take the vehicle for advice told me that "I asked too many questions!". I finally made contact with the dealer's engineer, received a 60 second inspection, paid my $220, got my import compliance certificate with a GVM of 4.495 tonne and headed back to the inspection station. They found a few minor issues with the vehicle - a leaking master cylinder and some suspension wear and a bit of rust in the step that would not pass certificate. I had to fork out about $800 from my contigency fund for the mechanicals. My dealer, who had promised to help me out with the rust repairs, was suddenly too busy for several weeks so the vehicle came home again where I repaired the rust myself. Another week down and back across town, where I finally had a safety certificate in hand. I returned to my dealer who had promised me one of his guys to accompany me to transport department to expedite my registration. Once again they were far too busy for after-sales service but eventually relented and decided to help. Going through the dealer registration did make things quick and after the transport official measured the vehicle [what a joke - the dealer told me he puts 4 of this exact same vehicle through for registration every month] and I paid my money I was actually able to drive home in a registered vehicle.

This was not quite the end of the dramas though - when my registration arrived I noticed my third party insurance category did not match the insurance certificate I had taken out. When I visited my local transport office to try to sort this out - it was once again all too hard and no-one seemed to know what to do. So I went to my insurer's office where for once things went smoothly - they had already been advised by transport department that the category needed to be changed - I paid my extra $23 and was on my way with the revised certificate. I still can't work out why one transport office knew this change was underway and the other had no idea - I thought their computer system was linked.

Success at last: All I know is I now had an Australian complianced vehicle with paid registration and third party insurance and was very relieved to have that very stressful part of the project done and dusted. As I started out by saying - I know how I should have done this now and I would never buy an unregistered imported vehicle again. Let someone else jump through the hoops and have the headache!

Selecting a vehicle

The spouse committee approved the project despite the fact "it was too soon" so I began searching classifieds, websites and magazines for the appropriate vehicle. All the research pointed to the Hino Rainbow, a 7 metre, rear-engine, turbo diesel powered, flat-floor bus as the ideal specimen for conversion and ironically it was one of these I had seen and photographed in NZ when we were there.
I had been told these vehicles were available for as little as $15000 but I couldn't locate anything at those prices. I know there are Toyota Coasters, Nissan Civilians and others out there but the Hino did seem to be the go - here are some of the things on the selection roundabout I considered.

• I found a company in Australia disposing of some of their older Rainbows - these vehicles had done between between 300 -600000 kilometres and were priced in the mid 20k.
• I found a website dealing directly with a Japanese based company and considering organising an import for myself. The possibility even existed to fly to Japan, inspect purchase and import or take the chance and buy sight unseen. For someone bolder and braver than me it did seem a way of getting one at the right price (under $A10000) but let's face it - I just wasn't game to do it that way.
• I found a guy in NZ who organised imports as a job and conversed with him via email. He was experienced in getting the right vehicle but it also sounded messy to have him organise it from NZ and have it arrive here in OZ. Too hard again. [Note: - the prices in NZ seemed a lot cheaper than here]
• I found an e-bay advertisement for a Hino Rainbow from a Sunshine Coast based advertiser but even his post seemed a little bizarre "Don't waste my time with stupid questions" - Now there's someone I'd want to buy from - NOT!
  
• I found a Gold Coast based importer also advertising on e-bay and these seemed a definite possibility. Prices in the mid $A20's.
  
• Next stop was Koolah Kampers at Loganholme where I met the owner, Ray, who gave me great advice on buying an import and if he had the right vehicle at the time it would be his company who I would deal with. It was here I made my decision on the RB145A Hino. They do conversions on these buses as well as the widebody RH160 and 9 metre Fuso and Hino imports. The RB145's were priced in the high $A20k with the latter two demanding around $20000 more. They did all sorts of engineering mods including roof raises, luggage bins and fitouts.
• I found another southside company who also imported the RB145A regularly but generally did them up for sale themselves. At the time I enquired, they had a couple to choose from so I headed over for a look. I had a pick of two - one with 270000 km on the clock for around $25000 and one with 107000 km priced at $30000. I also had the opportunity to see some of the fitouts they had done and failed to be impressed. With fitted out prices between $60000 and $90000 I thought I could make a reasonable go of it for much less. After much agonizing - I bought the dearer bus because I thought when and if it came to resale time the lower k's would really count. I had also seen about six of the RB145's by this time and the condition of this one was the best by a country mile. I'm not going to mention the name of the dealer here because in all honesty my best recommendation would be to deal with them with extreme caution. I learned a lot over the coming months.
  

Here she is ...
One of the things I forgot to mention earlier is that at the time I knew nothing about diesel engines. As I didn't want to risk my money on a dud I organised a mechanic from the local bus company to come and do a pre-purchase inspection. He passed the engine ok and it only cost me a $100 for piece of mind.

Why?

There are probably lots of whys to ask? Why a motorhome and not a caravan, why a bus conversion, why a "do it yourself project", why blog it? Let's attempt to answer a few of those.

Why a motorhome? Our first motorhome experience was in the South Island of New Zealand in 2007. Our youngest son, who has an intellectual disability, was finishing school and since schoolies week was out of the question, we tried to think of an experience we could offer him. My wife and I love New Zealand (we have been a couple of times before) and thought the convenience of the motorhome would suit our son's needs perfectly. I liked the idea of the freedom camping concept, being able to stop whenever and wherever it suited us - so that was what happened. We flew to the South Island in September and spent 10 days doing a huge figure 8 of the South Island visiting some of the places we hadn't seen before. Let's just say I was hooked and the research began! My wife being the wonderful woman she is, went along for the ride!

History: I was raised in a family who camped. We weren't well off and camping holidays were relatively cheap in those days. Mum and Dad had an old timber frame box trailer with a canvas top pulled behind a succession of old Holdens to various parts of the country - from Cairns to Adelaide on various excursions. With the tent on top of the car and a mattress at the bottom of the trailer for Mum and Dad's bed let's just say setting up was not exactly quick. Since having my own family we've had a tent, an early camper van (push up - not wind up), an old caravan, a trailer sailer, a camper-trailer and back to a Goldstream windup camper. One of the things most of these had in common was the work required - the first camper needed the floor and canvas replaced, the old caravan had to be re-lined, the trailer on the camper was shot so a new hot dipped galvanized beast was built from scratch. Let's just say I like a project. Even though the Goldstream was in good nick with features like a rollout BBQ the customization was always fun - this time a rear rack capable of carrying a 15hp 4 stroke outboard which could then be wheeled to the zodiac.

Why not the caravan? I think the freedom camping in New Zealand hooked me. The ability to stop just about anywhere when it suited was wonderful. The ability to stop, put the kettle on, look at the view through large windows and not even have to get out of the vehicle has it's advantages but I'll admit that everything is a compromise. People choose the caravan because they can drop the van and go exploring in the tow vehicle. I decided if I wanted my wife to feel comfortable freecamping she had to feel secure and that's the big plus of the motorhome. I wondered whether we could experience the same freedom in Australia as we had in New Zealand and so with a borrowed Sprinter motorhome from the in-laws we spent a few days travelling not too far from home [to Warwick], taking secondary roads where possible and freecamping overnight. Success! Only problem was the sprinter was only built for two and we needed to accommodate our son. Time to look for a vehicle.

The project: As already mentioned I like a project so a bus-to-motorhome conversion sounded like a great challenge to me. I decided upon a bus because we needed a vehicle with sleeping accommodation on the one level. Our son struggled to get in and out of the luton cab bed in NZ and we had to make up our bed from the seating area every night - the bus seemed to be the answer - permanent bed made up for us, a bed for Blake at regular height and generally cheaper to get into than an existing motorhome. I'm also pretty handy, have a fair selection of tools, live on acreage and have a shed to work in. So why not?

Why a blog? One of the things best things about a project is the journey and not just the product at the end. I spend a lot of my spare time reading, internet browsing, thinking about and researching "the project" and have enjoyed reading about other people's experiences doing similar conversions. I found blogger.com when reading about a coaster conversion and it seemed like a good way to share my experiences. [Facebook looks far too busy for me] I'm not using this tool as a true blog as I have been working on my conversion for 18 months, but I have taken photos and notes along the way and this seems like an easy way of sharing my story. I guess if you want to read it in order you have to start here at the first post.