[streetlife]

As the blueline bus operations came to a halt in delhi, more than 3000 busses went off the roads. The entire bus market fell sharply which meant, you can get busses at peanuts in the second sale market.

My father is operating charted busses in Delhi now for over a decade and knowing I can use his experience, this was the best time to start my own side business (I have a regular job )

So we went to look out. Checked a few examples. Some were battered to the end; a few in good condition were above the market rates.
This was when one of our mechanic told about one bus. He arranged the meeting with the owner. We went to see the vehicle. It was a 2002 model TATA CNG bus which was parked for over 6 months. Overall condition of the bus was OK and the paperworks were fine.
After negotiations the final price agreed was at 4.10 lakhs. The bus will be now taken to a Bus body builder.

The first pictures.

More to come as the transformation happens!

[theexperthand]

Glued to this thread. Do share all the WIP progress.

What do you plan to make this into - a company shuttle \ contract carriage? Or something more exotic?

hope you do not mind me asking.

All the best for the venture.

[Ashley2]

Originally Posted by streetlife

..
It was a 2002 model TATA CNG bus which was parked for over 6 months. Overall condition of the bus was OK and the paperworks were fine.
After negotiations the final price agreed was at 4.10 lakhs. The bus will be now taken to a Bus body builder.

More to come as the transformation happens!

Nice to see another Bus owner in our forum.
BTW, is'nt the cost of bus is little higher that too for a 9 years old model!

[amitwlele]

Now this would be a unique thread for me. I don't recollect reading any bus transformation or commercial vehicle transformation threads on the forum.

This would be a good read. All the best to you.

[Statement]

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Nice to see another Bus owner in our forum.
BTW, is'nt the cost of bus is little higher that too for a 9 years old model!

Really? I thought a bus will cost more than that(what ever the model). What would be the cost of the bus if you strip it and sell it as junk and then sell engine separately? You could fit the engine into some off roading vehicles if not anything else cant you?

P.S. Newbie alert!! Am dumb and the only thing I know about buses is that I kills and maims people on the road.

[n.devdath]

Congrats on the acquisition.

Is this a 1512 LPT?
It looks like the bus was not in starting condition when photographed. Is this true? How many owners has it changed hands? What is the condition of the insurance, permit and road taxes?

[scopriobharath]

Nice thread - glued to this.

4.0 lacs seems decent for a bus. What are you planning to do int he rebuild ? Make it an AC coach or keep it like barebones commuter bus.

[streetlife]

Originally Posted by theexperthand

Glued to this thread. Do share all the WIP progress.

What do you plan to make this into - a company shuttle \ contract carriage? Or something more exotic?

hope you do not mind me asking.

All the best for the venture.

Thanks buddy. As of now the plan is to run as contract carriage.

Originally Posted by Ashley2

Nice to see another Bus owner in our forum.
BTW, is'nt the cost of bus is little higher that too for a 9 years old model!

Thanks Ashley. Its a cng bus. It has 6 years of lifetime and a new one costs around 25-30 lakhs (non ac). So this is a bargain at this point.

Originally Posted by amitwlele

Now this would be a unique thread for me. I don't recollect reading any bus transformation or commercial vehicle transformation threads on the forum.

This would be a good read. All the best to you.

Thanks Amit.

Originally Posted by n.devdath

Congrats on the acquisition.

Is this a 1512 LPT?
It looks like the bus was not in starting condition when photographed. Is this true? How many owners has it changed hands? What is the condition of the insurance, permit and road taxes?

The batteries had been taken out as it was parked for long. The vehicle started at half self as soon as the batteries were connected. It is a first owner bus with full year insurance done and utpo date taxes. Since its a blue line the permit was suspended. I plan to take contract carriage permit when it will be ready to go for fitness test.

Originally Posted by scopriobharath

Nice thread - glued to this.

4.0 lacs seems decent for a bus. What are you planning to do int he rebuild ? Make it an AC coach or keep it like barebones commuter bus.

No Ac for this friend! Since investing a further 4-5 lakhs on ac doesnt seem logical to me.

[streetlife]

Updates.

After taking the vehicle in our custody, it was driven straightaway to a Bus body repair shop. This guy is expensive but he knows what he is doing, and that's what matters.

The following works were to be done:

Outside:
Front Bumper
Back Bumper
Major dents and dings to be replaced with new sheets
Minor dent removal
New Glasses
Full body respray

Inside:
New Seats
New Driver seat
New Window channels
New roof racks
New Battery Box
New Tool box
Full mudguards for rear wheels

And the work began.

Pictures of the initial body works started.
Excuse me for the mobile camera shots.











Old seats being stripped







Will post next updates soon

[fx45]

This is going to turn out to be a ultra niche restoration story.. Bring it on!
A lot of similar buses were built in bombay by In-Coach and Bharat Coach and then sent to Delhi.

Hope someone does something like this to good'ol BEST Buses here.. especially an old Double Decker

[turbo1787]

@ streetlife - congrats for your purchase.
This is going to be one brilliant thread. I have always been a big fan of blueline buses (contrary to public perception). Their business model would even fail Big time fleet owners.
This is going to keep me glued now.
In my 3rd year in college (2008) i was almost about to start my own and then the family support was withdrawn (no guesses why). Later on in the year 2010 i again ventured out, this time i had tied up with a few major hotels for airconditioned coaches and again history repeated itself.
Sorry for posting the sad story of my life here ( no intention to hijack your thread streetlife) but only fellow Bhpian bus lovers can understand my pain.
Getting back to this thread:-
1. which bus body maker is doing the makeover?
2. have you already tied up with potential clients or are still on a lookout.
Looking forward to more pictures.

[streetlife]

Originally Posted by turbo1787

@ streetlife - congrats for your purchase.
This is going to be one brilliant thread. I have always been a big fan of blueline buses (contrary to public perception). Their business model would even fail Big time fleet owners.
This is going to keep me glued now.
In my 3rd year in college (2008) i was almost about to start my own and then the family support was withdrawn (no guesses why). Later on in the year 2010 i again ventured out, this time i had tied up with a few major hotels for airconditioned coaches and again history repeated itself.
Sorry for posting the sad story of my life here ( no intention to hijack your thread streetlife) but only fellow Bhpian bus lovers can understand my pain.
Getting back to this thread:-
1. which bus body maker is doing the makeover?
2. have you already tied up with potential clients or are still on a lookout.
Looking forward to more pictures.

Thanks Turbo1787
I can understand well what you feel, I myself am a bus lover.

I am doing the bus with an individual body maker with a couple of helpers. We know him from quite a while and he does the job pretty much OK.

Can I ask how did you managed to tie up with hotels without having any buses and not being in the field (I am assuming that you are not into this business)? I am still looking out for potential clients. No luck so far.

[streetlife]

Updates.

Body work started with new body panels.








Both Mud Guards in Place




Quick clean up after the old seats were removed. The old seats were sold as scrap to Mayapuri. (Delhiites know this place better )



In come the new seats.





The new front bumper and repaired grilled made the front neat



Initial Preps for paint



In the mean while I had to source a roof rack and a new driver seat. Man it was tough to work from 9 AM-5 PM in the office and look out for parts from 7 PM-9 PM in Mayapuri.

Will post more updates soon.

[turbo1787]

Originally Posted by streetlife

Thanks Turbo1787
I can understand well what you feel, I myself am a bus lover.

I am doing the bus with an individual body maker with a couple of helpers. We know him from quite a while and he does the job pretty much OK.

Can I ask how did you managed to tie up with hotels without having any buses and not being in the field (I am assuming that you are not into this business)? I am still looking out for potential clients. No luck so far.

Hey Streetlife,
Saw the updated pics, the work seems to be going on smooth and fast.
I see that you will be incorporating 3x2 seating (makes perfect sense for contract carriage purposes).
As far as your query regarding tie-ups with hotels is concerned- I had a couple of friends working as transportation managers (read executives) in a couple of hotels therefore i had the upper hand. Basically hotels pay a lot to the transporters ( since they charge quite a lot from consumers/guests). In fact before the commonwealth games top hotels of delhi were on an average paying Rs.225-300 per Km for an airconditioned 2x2 luxury coach. It is mostly a commission based game. if you give underhand commissions to these transportation executives they will call you up for their bus requirements.There are no written agreements generally; whenever they need a bus they place a demand for one.

Now coming back to this thread, which sort of paint will you use- PU or a regular enamel?
Also, i noticed that the rear of the bus has the space for stock TATA tail lights, why not a new set of round LED type tail lights that can be seen these days. It sure will enhance the looks of the bus?

All the best buddy.

[streetlife]

Hi All.

Updates.

The body now has been put together and it looks like a bus.. again.

The back bumper done.




Now as the work progresses to next stage the the surface was smoothed and primer applied












The interior being done side by side.



All the seats being positioned and fixed.



The bus will have a total of 47 + 2 seats



As it is a contract carriage roof racks are a common demand. We sourced full set of roof racks from Mayapuri for a cool Rs. 6000/- Its from a swaraj mazda bus which is not looking bad in a TATA.




More to come as the work progresses.

Cheers