This Eagle conversion was originally built by David Sargent of Traditional Coachworks, and was completed in 2002. A few years after he died, the family sold it to a Canadian lady who drove it to an RV Park in Mesa and parked it, using it as a winter home. In late 2019 she decided to sell it at consignment lot in Apache Junction, AZ, where it sat for nearly a year before I found it. And as a result, since the bus hadn't been driven most of the previous 10 years, it needed a lot of work to make it road worthy. 

Both the bus and house batteries were completely shot, but once they sat on a charger long enough to test everything, a number of non-trivial issues quickly became evident. It smoked like a chimney, leaked oil like a seive, and had tires that were 9 years past their expiration date, so an in-frame overhaul and 8 new tires were needed before it could be driven very far. In addition, the auxillary air compressor was non-functional, and once the engine was started and the engine air kicked in, it was clear the slide seal had a leak. The HWH hydraulic leveling and slide system worked fine, but after looking thru the documentation included with the bus and making a few calls, it was also clear that replacing the slide seal would invlove a lot of labor as the slide had to be removed, which would be very expensive. However, the interior was still in good condition, so after negotating the price down to nearly half of the original asking price, the rebuild process began.

Me and Dan Lenz

I took on the task of finding a local mobile mechanic to service all mechanical and hydraulic systems, service the brake system and replace all of the brake shoes, and do an in-frame overhaul of the engine. I also found Dan Lenz, a former employee of the Eagle Bus Company and all around great guy. He travelled to Phoenix and spent a day teaching me how they built the buses, what kinds of things typically need to be serviced, and most importantly how to drive it. Then, he drove the smoking beast 10 miles down the road to the service yard where it would be brought back to life, as I was following with the hazard lights flashing and the AC on recirculate...

In addition to the above, I installed a new auxillary air compressor, had the electrical system updated, had front and rear airbags installed to supplement the aging torsion suspension, added network and AV cabling, and generally brought all bus and house systems back online and up to date. After getting the bus road worthy and driving it from Arizona to Texas, an HWH dealer replaced the inflatible slide seal, and we replaced the washer/dryer. We then made a trip to Montana, where we ended up having a complete out-of-frame engine rebuild performed at a Detoit Diesel dealer in Billings.

A few years later I met a former Bombardier employee and pilot, who later designed and manufactured his own line of light aircraft. He generously shared his knowledge and experience with aluminum, rivets and painting aircraft, helping me to replace broken rivets, compound and polish the polyurethane paint, and refinish the mirrors.

It has been a big project full of a lot of unknown unknowns, and has required a lot of work by a lot of people, but it has been a great learning experience.

See Photos for more details about the bus, and My Story for the motivation behind the website.