1957 Crown Atomic Energy Coach

[Jones'n4chrome]

Shh Chuck, don't let New Life know I said this: I like the shape and design of the outside of your Crown. I am excited waiting to see what you do with the bus. I see the outside painted with "character" instead of a "stock" paint job. I see the whole "face" painted in front. It just has the design in place for that on the the front. What ever you do, I am sure you will give it the "character" that it cries out for. You will have fun designing it to fit what you "see".

OK Ginger,

I painted the bus.
I almost went with the "face" idea, but in the end I decided on something a little more joyful.

[Granny]

I like it, Chuck. I didn't say you had to do "my suggestion". I said you need to do what "you" saw. I want to see more pictures (so I'm greedy, always wanting more to see more ). I like the "Joy Bus" idea.

[Jones'n4chrome]

I was joking about painting my bus.
This bus was for sale in Bakersfield CA.
Here are a few more photos.

[Mark B]

I'm glad, Chuck, because for just a minute, I was a little worried about you....

Mark

[Jones'n4chrome]

Here is a video for your pleasure. It has nothing to do with my bus though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uiBfmGYv ... re=popular

[Jones'n4chrome]

OK bus fans, time to juice the Shark Site a little...via the 57' Atomic thread.

It has been my desire to post something on this thread for awhile now, not just something? but rather a decision I struggled with for awhile before making a choice.
You see I never intended to keep the interior in this bus, because to me it has the appearance of regurgitated puke.....(whatever that would look like)....oh well, that's the way I see it anyway.
But the craftsmanship was perfect.
All the cabinets were built by a cabinet maker, using high grade 3/4 plywood, covered with formica. Not the shit you get at the home depot.
Also, when was the last time you saw a bus conversion where the cabinets meet a contoured roof like these do?




One of the things that bothered me, was that originally this coach had a 4 cylinder AC unit mounted to the frame. Well it was gone when I bought the bus.
Al told me it was designed to run nonstop as you drove. No problem there, but Al said "it was a noisey bastard when you were parked".

The ducting ran the full length of the bus on the floor, and the cabinets were built over the top of them.
Also the overall layout of interior just kinda sucked.
I think a tear out and remodel is in order. Pics coming soon.

[Jones'n4chrome]

The first thing that I removed were the beds. There were two twin beds in the back of the bus.
It had rained the night before I took these photos. I noticed that the air conditioner that someone installed in the roof leaked.
I removed the wet beds and rear dash under the rear windshield. This allowed use sheet plastic to direct any rain out onto the ground under the rear bumper.
Here are a few pics of the bed removal.




At the top of this next photo, you can see the built in AC unit. The cabinet is a little damaged from the water.
The red piece below the glass is the dash that I removed. Just below that on the plywood, you can see two support brackets, there is a table that can be attached there as additional dining space if needed.


That green box on the floor is one of the rear heaters.
When I went to get the bus in Las Vegas, the brake lights did not work. By the time I finished messing with them, I got out of Vegas late.
My friend Charlie went with me, on the way back we were to tired to drive so we camped in a field next to a coffee shop.
When we parked we were the only ones there. I woke up freezing about 2 hours later, I looked out the window and saw the lot full with 18 wheelers, and all of them were running.
So I fired up the bus and turned on all 3 heaters, it was very warm in about a 1/2 hour.


Now the beds are out. I left the heater there for now.
They added some ducting so the heat would blow in the walkway between the beds.

[dburt]

Well, I guess you could always save the old cabinets for patterns for new ones, especially for remaking the roof curve parts. Recycle what you can, and pitch the rest out. It seems that alot of the RVs made in the '70's and even the '80's used alot of dark "earth tones" in the interior scheme, and don't forget shag carpet! The more green or brown, the better!

What worries me is- what if it comes back into fashion again?!

[Jones'n4chrome]

Now working in the front of the bus I began to remove seats and cabinets. I this photo I have already removed the blue seat, my tool are now sitting where it was mounted. In the left of this photo, that plywood was the start of a sofa bed. The glass is the windshield glass out of Red Skelton's TV bus. It is chipped on the edge, but worth saving for sure.




In this next photo, on the lower left corner, you can see the stainless steel AC duct.
It's on the floor and joins the wall. This one goes from the entry door al the way back to the rear of the bus.
They vent are under side windows. More on that later.


Here is a diner booth ready to go out the emergency door, the seat support is leaning against the wall.
Notice all the silt everywhere.


This is the same booth from the outside looking in....Hey that's the story of my life.
I am getting to slide it out the door. Notice how well this stuff is made.
In this pic, you can see the end of the duct.
On this side of the bus, they removed the AC duct from here back, you can see the cutout on the front of the booth where it went around the duct.
Then they used the back side of the booth to terminate the duct.

[Rudy]

Chuckster, I am excited to see these photos. Save that plywood. I wish I was there to help you build a new interior.

[Mark B]

Save the plywood if for nothing else, templates on the curvature.

Mark

[Jones'n4chrome]

Thanks guys, I stashed the wood and templates awhile ago.
These photos were taken a year ago.

In this next 2 photos, you can see that both booths and couches are out.
Sorry the pics are so bad, that is dust floating in the air, I swept the floor, but it takes hours for that dust to settle again.
I think this should have been Dusty's bus.




I took break from the cabinets to remove the AC duct behind the drivers seat. The ducting wasted a lot of space.
Also In this pic, I have begun to remove the lower kitchen cabinet.
If you look closely at the slider window, you will see the bottom track is full of silt.
None of the windows would budge until the dirt was scraped loose, then vacuumed out.

[Jones'n4chrome]

The opening to the right of the radio is where the fridge was.
There were two in there at one time, but I only got one.
I removed it, and two layers of carpet on the walls and ceiling.
The stove was missing also. It was to the left below the radio.



This is where the fridges and carpet lived.


The pile is getting bigger outside the bus.

[Jones'n4chrome]

Now for the daily post. It's past my bed time, but I'm going to post anyway.......wait, this just in....Sharkey now has 205 registered members on his site. Be sure to tell your friends to join.
If that doesn't work, try to bribe them into lurking for awhile.
I have several friends talked into lurking. Every time I tell them they should join, they say something stupid, like "But I don't even have a bus" Well they don't need one to join.
Now back to the post.


Time for the kitchen to make an emergency exit.
Oh look at that...more silt. I might have swept half of Las Vegas out of this bus already, yet here's more!
So much for "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas"
The best thing about this photo is, when I stepped back and shot it, I noticed stuff in the upper cabinet.
There was a light blue tin with antique keys in it, a box of blue tip matches (they didn't work) and a can of mixed nuts, they were real old, but I ate them anyway.





Now the overhead cabinets are out. Also the area where the fridges were at.
There was a little base cabinet where they were going to put the bathroom sink.
Inside the cabinet was one of the heaters, you can see it on the left in front of the closet.
OK, now it is way past my bed time.

[Jones'n4chrome]

Now for the daily post. It's past my bed time, but I'm going to post anyway.......wait, this just in....Sharkey now has 206 registered members on his site.
That's one more than last night.

So.....which one of you bribed a friend into joining? You are to be commended, even if you desire to remain anonymous.
Now back to the post.

So as we all learned from my last post....it's never good to eat old nuts in a bus.

Now we are getting down to the gritty nitty. The bathroom demolition! Although I'm not sure why I referred to it as a bathroom, as there is no bathtub in there.
And quite frankly, unless you were half the size of Rudy and slathered in lard, there is no way you can squeeze into that shower anyway. It's gotta go!

OK here's a pic. Sorry about the time warp photo, but it seems that I'm missing a card....no wait, I think I'm missing the full deck.
In any case this is the best pic I can find. Just inside the emergency door, is a closet, with a small overhead cabinet. Both of these were laid out well, the storage they provided was very useful, however, as you turn the corner and head toward the bedroom there are two locking liquor cabinets.
The previous owner, Al said "that was how I kept my buddies out of my booze!" More on "Why it's a good thing mothers got MADD!" later.


Here is the tiny bathroom.


With the skinny shower.


I took the doors off, but that's as far as I will get for now. I need some sleep.