We have a bus, how can we make it an art car?

martinskinner · Post by **martinskinner** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 1:52 pm

Hi fellow burners,

We've bought a red London bus (single-decker) and would like to donate it to become a travelling art car for burning man.

We'd like it to travel the world between burns - guided & funded by its passengers & their ideas/inventions.

We reckon we need the following founding crew:
- Tech (inc web) guru
- Comedian
- Nurse
- Inventor
- Investor
- Artist
- Engineer
- Magician
- Circus performer
- Writer

If you'd like to volunteer please do.

The bus is in London (UK) right now and initial plan for the modificaitons & journey should begin quite soon if it's to be ready for Burning Man 2010. Also, the website (to allow passengers & potential guests to contribute to both the route plan & it's mission) will also need to be started soon.

It should stop off periodically and riders should perform for local dissadvantaged kids (and have a party).

Would love to hear your thoughts/ideas (she needs a nice name to start with), please.

:) Martin

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:31 pm

How are you going to ship it?
Will it fit into a container?
How long will that voyage be?

In some odd way, I am in awe.

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 4:44 pm

Hello Martin, and welcome to the forum.

What a fun idea!

Reading your list of required crew, I fix on one in particular: Investor. Methinks that's the critical one, and I'll reserve my "awe" until you have the funds in your pocket.

But then, I'm old. You are probably young; go for it!

Shipping the bus across the pond should be no problem. We have several double-deckers already, and I am quite sure they did not swim here.

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 5:23 pm

Didn't the Merry Pranksters take Further on a world tour? You might see if there's any documentation on how they did it. Could give you a few ideas.

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theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:48 pm

Thisis where you get started. If it doesn't meet the dmv requirements, it wont be licensed.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 10:09 pm

If you can get it here...let me know how! I've had my eye on that Tiger I tank in Bovington, for a while.
Here are the basic things to look for in an art car....per the "Hottie" handbook....6 years ago...

Shouldn't look like the base vehicle...with a bus, I'm sure there are exceptions...because it serves thing number two....

Should be able to transport BRC citizens...

Is it radically modified? This is where the art critic shit came in so I quit...

Simply glueing shit to it won't work....must show some serious thought and work.

If you go overboard with safety features, and the chill factor, it should get you far with the Hottie. Provided you've been pre-approved online or through mail.

martinskinner · Post by **martinskinner** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 2:22 am

Thanks for your responses & tips guys !!

I don't suppose you have the contact details for any of the teams that brought their buses over do you?

Also, the DMV/BM grant teams?

On the investor front - I've got to rebuild my wealth from scratch after the credit crunch wiped me out but the bus will happen one way or another.

Volunteers welcome to jump on board the bus to everywhere !

:) Martin

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 8:39 am

DMV grant team?
Busses are generally welcomed to BRC and are not held to as high a standard of mutation because of the large number of participants they can help out or entertain.
Elliot hit one thing square on the head: the only team member on your whole list you need is the investor! Busses can be obtained cheap, but the cost to operate them and maintain them is not cheap!

Elorrum · Post by **Elorrum** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 9:02 am

303jewels · Post by **303jewels** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:17 pm

Hello Mate,
I'm in Kent, the Bus sounds the nuts, SURELY there is only one name for it - THE RUSH BUS - flat out and flatlining!

Sorry Eplaya is getting the better of me!

This is fucking cool man - I can talk English for a change!!!!!!

I love your plan, glad you dudes bought a single decker, that way you can bolt on something shit hot to the roof. Whats your vibe?

The bruvvers on here are right though - how the fuck are you gonna get it out there man???? I plan (am planning NOW!!!!!!!!) how to ship out about a ton of stuff for 2010 and am also trying to get crew together for next year. I know you are looking/hoping for investors, I am certainly not able to help on that front! But the poss. of collaberation is always there. Like I say whats your vibe?

BTW, you dont know what happened to or wherabouts Ray D/ Housemaster/DJ Kaos is do ya? Dont ask dont get and all that - cant track him down!

Be cool to know more about you plans. PM me. Love your idea.

TomServo · Post by **TomServo** » Sat Oct 03, 2009 1:32 pm

This gave me an idea... and they rarely come to me. Burners with storage? Would help out a lot of the overseas burners.

martinskinner · Post by **martinskinner** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:01 am

That could be the solution to the shipping cost.

We could stick a load of other burners stuff in it (they share the shipping cost) then ship it to the US.

Radical modifications could be made over there.

Who needs stuff shipped from the UK to the US then and how much Â£Â£ could be contributed?

There's always a way - you don't always need an investor...

:) Martin

p.s. sorry not sure about the DJ - you could try the burning man facebook group tho' (someone there's bound to know).

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:18 am

Martin, when you find a shipping agent for the bus, make sure to tell him that you plan to pack it full of gargo. This will affect the cost, or may not even be allowed. I have shipped a number of automobiles from the US to Europe, and they frown on any loose content inside. If you just show up at the dock with the bus full of Stuff, you may get turned away. There is also a high risk of theft.

Container shipping (for the cargo) is not as horribly expensive as one might think. They bring the container to your location to load it. Then they deliver it to your destination for unloading. You can also buy your own container if you wish to use it for storage.

But please double and triple check about cargo in the bus. It may not be allowed at all. That's something you need to find out, and soon.

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 11:24 am

One other thought, Martin... If you have trouble finding a shipping agent in England, you could ask the Van Hool bus company in Belgium how they do it. Van Hool buses are quite common here.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 6:54 pm

Elliot wrote::D
One other thought, Martin... If you have trouble finding a shipping agent in England, you could ask the Van Hool bus company in Belgium how they do it. Van Hool buses are quite common here.
:D

And as far as I can tell, universally hated. I'm convinced that the reason ACTransit has them is that it lets high muckity-mucks (that is hyphenated, isn't it?) get free trips overseas, even f they do have to pay for the Paris hotel they spent a week at on their way back home.

"Van Hells" they're called.

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 7:08 pm

And that, my dear lady, relates to their shipping across the Atlantic... how?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Oct 04, 2009 7:13 pm

Elliot, has it never occurred to you that you give me the thinnest excuse and I'll go into a rant?

REally?

Never?

But it's one of my charms.

vargaso · Post by **vargaso** » Sat Nov 14, 2009 5:06 pm

Sounds fun. We brought an art car out for 2009, was a blast.

I'm a web dude, let me know if you need any help with setting up a site.

RacerX22288 · Post by **RacerX22288** » Wed Dec 09, 2009 11:09 pm

the bus wouldn't be so expensive to operate if it ran on veggie oil rather than diesel fuel. It's a pretty easy conversion, just don't tell the EPA you've done it.

Captain Goddammit · Post by **Captain Goddammit** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 6:39 am

Unfortunately, the days of virtually free veg oil are over.
Fuel isn't everything that makes a bus expensive to operate - it's maintenance and repairs. Wait 'til your transmission fails... or need a cylinder head rebuilt... brakes... tires are $300 each, and you'll need a tire service to come out and change them for you. Busses have a lot of stuff that cars don't have that you need to know how to work on or have deep pockets for truck shops.

It's a cool idea and it's do-able, eventually I want to get a bus myself, just don't underestimate the need for that investor.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 8:52 pm

...just don't tell the EPA you've done it.

Too late.

We keep telling people that law enforcement agencies read this board. They just won't listen.

EndofEternity · Post by **EndofEternity** » Fri May 21, 2010 1:14 am

I say go for it. I don't think it'd be terribly hard to fund if done in the right way. Also since you have plans for it year round you can pull funds from other people, because I'm sure most people at BM have their funds tied to other projects.

Bottom line is, hit up other communities for your funding. One idea is hit up coachsurfing.com it's full of people who want to travel. Create a profile and sell your idea of you bus to wherever the passengers want to go and you'd have people willing to throw in to be along for the ride. Traveling generally costs money and that's a community of travelers.

Your bus would be like the ultimate road trip experience. Hell the more I ramble about it the more I want to be a part of it.

The other option is fundraisers and get as creative as you want with that.

gyre · Post by **gyre** » Fri May 21, 2010 11:51 am

You could buy a double decker that's already here.
I know there's at least two here.
I can also get you a deal on those red phone booths in iron.

Simon of the Playa · Post by **Simon of the Playa** » Fri May 21, 2010 12:23 pm

fill the damn thing with 25,000 gallons of propane and blow the motherfucker sky high in a glorious ball of fire.

just a thought.

Elliot · Post by **Elliot** » Fri May 21, 2010 4:41 pm

Phone booth, propane, fireball.... Visual image of Jake and Elwood Blues making a phone call to Mars with launch assistance from Princess Leah.

Warning, thread drift in progress.

DVD Burner · Post by **DVD Burner** » Fri May 21, 2010 4:53 pm

martinskinner wrote: We have a bus, how can we make it an art car?

Martin

make it electric.

We have a bus, how can we make it an art car?

We have a bus, how can we make it an art car?

The Rush Bus

Re: We have a bus, how can we make it an art car?