We bought our 1976 Volkswagen Transporter on St. Patrick’s Day in 2013. It’s easy to remember because we promptly parked our trailer in Chicago and took a quick trip downtown to see the river turn green!

Within a week, I had a job offer in Charleston (we were living in Michigan at the time), so movers packed up all our stuff in a semi, then drove the bus into the semi trailer as well, and hauled everything down to South Carolina.

The body was in great shape, a beautiful new paint job that we get so much credit for, but it wasn’t us, it was the previous owner! Unfortunately, that’s where his good decisions end, mechanically there were many…issues.

So we pulled the engine out and cleaned up! The great thing about these old systems is that they’re pretty easy to figure out, since it’s mostly mechanical. Don’t be fooled though, this old bus has a computer in it!

After she was mechanically sound, we got to work on the interior. We built a camping set-up, trying to keep it minimalist and clean looking. We found a great fridge at a pawn shop (brand new!). The bench seat folds down into a bed. We added a solar panel to run the lights and fridge, which also meant adding a house battery bank. Several years later, when we decided to live in the bus full time, we added a cabinet with a sink (and upgraded some electrical things like the inverter, plus added shore power). At this time, the interior had really yellowed, so I painted all the cabinets. We also re-did the front seats and added an awning.

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