[vintageray]

Hi all. I'm a retired trucker. I have a vintage Peterbilt tractor with all the toys and a vintage Blue Bird Wanderlodge with a drivetrain that is obsolete and inadaquate. I had originally planned on re-powering the coach, but stuffing a big diesel in the doghouse and extending the nose of the bus to accomodate it, along with all the plumbing and wiring modifications would involve a huge amount of work and the result would not justify the project. I've pretty much decided to remove the nose of the coach, remove the engine and trans, build a new front wall for the coach incorporating the front wall of the sleeper with the boot as an entrance to the drivers area and cutting and splicing the frames, resulting in something like a Kingsley Coach type conversion. I will use the rear drive axle from the truck. In short, a Peterbilt cab with a Wanderlodge body.
This post is just a note to introduce myself and my planned conversion. If I can do this it would be great. I'd be a lot happier to be driving my Pete with a custom 31' Wanderlodge body than an antique bus. The dog would be happy to have his old seat too and "drive" his truck.
The truck is titled in Texas and I'll be doing the work there. The Wanderlodge is also titled in Texas and registered as a private bus. I don't know how I'm going to work the title/registration. I'd like to think I could get away with leaving it titled as is using the Wanderlodge title, but then the Peterbilt is titled and has it's own VIN. Texas is strange in that you have to do your registration and title work in the county where the vehicle is parked and mine are registered in Hidalgo County, down on the border. They are really tough to deal with down there and I anticipate difficulties in re-titleing. I've read the threads on this forum and on the escapees forum and haven't found much help. Seems like it's either easy or impossible, depending on who you deal with. I may need some help and advice in this area.