IS HE MAD?? - COACH CONVERSION UK - First Sense of AURA. RV Conversion Begins !
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 พ.ค. 2022
- I bought a 2008 Beulas Aura. For those of you who don't know, it's a motor coach, ex Southampton Football Club Team Coach which I'm converting into a Motorhome / RV.
Here I bring you up to speed by show you a little more about the first work to be done, some mechanical, some cosmetic and some structural.
I begin by tackling the bodywork. This is an easy job when you pay someone to do it, but as it was a 'makeover' rather than full restoration it was far more efficient to pay someone, never mind the fact that I don't have the facilities to do it myself.
Then some work for the MOT - steering brackets, exhaust and welding, tyres, wheel bearing and batteries, all part of what I knew I was getting in to.
Don't get me wrong, there are a myriad of buttons and dials which I have yet to understand, never mind error warnings, nacho settings, seat controls (they still confuse me) and a rear camera which has a mind of its own.
I share with you the costs to date which are probably less than you expect and answer some common questions I get asked, such as 'where will you stay? You will also hear our plans for her interior and how this will evolve in time.
Then the fun - ish. I start removing the interior and you see the first shoots of progress. We will have a sofa-bed, bunk beds and are ready to travel....almost......
....but first, let's get to know her a little....
![ช้างศึกสู้ต่อไป!! พาเปียโน ดูบอลไทยครั้งแรก ตกรอบแบบโคตรเสียดาย!! l [Nickynachat]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/4WloIH645Lg/mqdefault.jpg)
I just clicked on this after watching your loft conversion time lapse video. As I was watching I realised I walk past this on the way to drop my baby off to Nursery and always wondered what a coach was doing parked on a residential street, assumed it was a cheeky coach company!
Hi and thanks for watching. Its actually OK to park a big vehicle where you like. That said, as this is private, its registered as a Van believe it or not.
Awesome will be watching as im in the middle of buying one myself!
Hope you enjoy it!
Cool build , great idea , I would have gone for a VanHool double dekker myself but that's coz I've been driving the Belgian motors for 30 odd years and I'm a bit biased , nevertheless , good luck and have a blast
Hi. Yeah that was my initial idea. Having looked at a few I came to the conclusion that the head height upstairs was a bit claustrophobic and the space downstairs, particularly storage, not what I hoped for. But yeah, sometimes I do wonder if I shoud have gone there !.
Aura is beautiful, the new paint job makes it look like new, good job! We are doing up a single decker at the moment, but struggling to get anyone to MOT it as they are saying its no longer a coach but not quite a motorhome / camper yet :( how did you get around that? Anyway, looking forward to the next instalment.
Talk to DVSA. I talked to the MOT guy at a commercial MOT station. They will help you.
Good 👍
Thank you! Cheers!
Have you got any more content
I like your idea s and you answered my main question & that is where do you park it when out camping, the next question restrictions on country roads width x length what kind of problems will this cause you long term , shopping ? unless you find a very empty tesco asda car park you could get yourself blocked in , the only reason im asking these kind of questions is that I got upto a 24ft camper and it became a baskit to park on a regular basis plus more so in europe, Wild camping ? Whats the rules on parking lights is it similar to hgv because a lot of councils ban overnight hgv camping . How much is this coach going to drink to the gallon will it clear 14mpg .
Hi. Thanks for atching and the questions. MPG is about 8-10mpg. That said its 17 tonnes so I will give it leeway. Yes I'm looking to see if I can fit a car underneith so once parked it can stay oarked. I will alomst certainly do electric bikes, which will take care of the supermarket issue. TBH I find most big-uns with. apetrol station are usually OK for access as they have HGV access as it is. THe vehicle is now not registered as. a HGV - its a PLG as it sprivate so I can park where I like. Given it looks like a coach, its actually more stealthy than most van conversions and with the windows tinted more so. For the size I have to accept that it aint no van so some coutry roads are a no no. THat said we are moy 'civilisation' types so not something we feel we lose out on, particularly if I can sort out the 2nd transport mode. THanks again. Andy
@@kjdrandy1468 Thank you for the straight honest answers, maybe instead of shoe-horning a small car underneath somewhere ( the rear engine stops the most normal place ) have you thought tandem trailor or similar because of your overall size and keeping to normal wider style roads it should not increase your problems as long as you keep to max goverment overall lengths, fabricating steel work to fit it underneath i doubt it would be worth the effort..... I will be following with interest good luck solving the problems.
Beautiful bus. Beautiful colour. Beautiful wheels... Could you tell me what is the interior standing height with a flat floor?
Hi. In the centre Aisle it’s pretty high. Over 6.6feet. Where the seats were it’s about 5 feet and a bit. Where I put the floor in at the sofa bed I’d say over 6 feet.
Any updates? Would love to hear more about this project and how its progressed
Hi. I was just out there this weekend taking off 3 seized alternators! Gonna post some stuff soon, once I get her through her MOT !!
Embarking on this journey myself, do you mind me asking what license are you driving on and how it's classified on your V5? I come up against a barrier to long coaches which seems to be HGV and Motorhomes are limited to 12 metres so would need to be driven on a cat D license as a bus, but then a bus must contain over 8 seats. Can't seem to resolve legislation for a Private HGV longer than 12 metres or Bus with less than 9 seats... Would love another perspective...
Hi. Yes you need a bus license for a vehicle this big. I have both a Lorry ( rigid) and bus. It’s classified as a cat d on the log paper but will probably go to a private psv as there are few lot stations for band which can cope with a vehicle this big and most commercial vehicle mot stations don’t do cat d.
Definitely the best coach you could of picked. How much was the coach if you don't mind sharing that info
With everythng I have done and net of selling seats etc I'm £20k in so far.
That's a lot of motorhome for £20k
How did you know there’s 150 sites for large RVs in the uk is there an app?
Hi. Yep there are several Apps about.
How do people find RV parks in the uk?
Hi. There are a number of apps for places to stay in the UK for larger vehicles.
@kjdrandy1468 would you be able to name a few?
What is that song
Hi...a freebie from the Audio Library. Is it OK?
Arrrgh why do people keep doing this - You need a different license to drive that costs £££, they look awful with bits tacked on inside and despite what you say about a thriving RV community - Rubbish. These take up too much room, slow the traffic down on anything other than a motorway. You can only fill up at certain petrol stations and they exceed the weight limit of loads of areas. They are pretty from this inside but this is just too much "on a shoestring" for me
American RV needs a lorry license and this a bus. Both of which I took for fun and is just part of the overall cost. A good quality van style is getting on double what I have spent so far.Nonetheless my choice is size and space. Everyone to their own.
Twaddle , spoken by someone who's never driven one
That’s the worst conversion I’ve seen ever u could brought an rv for that
Wow. Some statement given it isnt converted yet! And yes I could have bought an RV but where is the fun in that and nonetheless it would have been a knackered one.
@@kjdrandy1468 Yes, there is no way you would get a RV under £100k that would come close. The coach is beautiful and it looks great. I used to drive coaches for my main job. Way better then most RV`s , proper powerful brakes, beast of an engine
What’s the rules on your driving licence , the road tax and the service/ MOT side of things . If you can’t drive it or keep it roadworthy / legal why bother .
Hi. Yes you need a bus licence to drive it which I have. Road tax/MOT is the same as a car and you can legally park it on the road as its not in commercial service. I take it to a garage for main bits just like a car.