Should I even be thinking about this?

[Fred Bellows]

Devon, I would do it. I agree with Gary though. You have to go into
this knowing that you could easily spend another $5000 and a bunch of
hours over the next year getting it totally usable. But if you gave
them 5-6k for it, and spent another 5-6k getting it all working, you'd
have a classic, vintage, early (very early) Blue Bird Wanderlodge that
would be the hit of every BB rally, and every car show you ever go to.
And the fact that it was customized and sold to some
semi-celebrity-related people just makes it that much more fun. A
friend of mine bought a '63 Blue Bird school bus about 25 years ago
and totally converted it himself, over the years, while using it in
whatever state it was in along the way. It was a blast! He still has
it and it's still not quite finished, but has been mostly done and
completely useful for hundreds of fun trips over the years. Yes, it
was less reliable in the early days than a newer, complete one
would've been. Some trips we took were "lengthened" due to a breakdown
and repair of somekind. But you know what, those are the
fondest-memory trips of all! Any body can find a totally maintained
coach somewhere and get big loan for it, and have less hassles. But it
will just be another, average Wanderlodge, and not a special, early
vintage classic show piece one. The thing about older coaches is that
things break, and we fix 'em. Even Wanderlodges. And along the way, we
get to know our machines inside and out, which helps 'em not break as
much. And that's what's great about Wanderlodges. A> They don't break
nearly as often as other RV's. And B> They're easier to fix because
they're engineered well, with good components, and there is
documentation and forums like this. So, if you're handy, and up for
it, I'd say "go for it"

Fred Bellows
'90 SP "Maunder Maximum"
Phx