The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Converting 46 COE to RV

Has anyone considered or know of any one who has successfully built or converted an Art Deco 2T COE to an RV. Perhaps using the original chassis and adding/modifying an old travel trailer or an old RV as raw material? What do you think of the idea?

Creative, no doubt. I'd be interested in seeing a sketch of the concept to see what it might look like. A giant canopy express look comes to might at first.

I have always seen an Airstream body grafted onto a '54 2 Tonner in my mind . .

There's one out of Oklahoma I've seen a couple of times in Fort Worth. The camper part looked like a period box rather than a modern RV. But of course with windows and 2 AC units on top.

Next summer I plan to build a Frankenstein RV.I have a 1975 motorhome with roof and wall damage on the left front corner,but it runs great. I plan to cut the front of the body off and build a new front wall,and roll the roof down the front a foot or so. Then I'm gonna find anold truck cab to graft on. Also I'll build a pair of stacks tall enough to put the exhaust a ways over the top of the rig on the highway. It's a Dodge powered RV,so I'll probably look for a '50 or so Dodge big truck cab and doghouse,but if I run across a Chevy or GMC cab I can get without sacrificing a good truck,???
I'm only going this particular route since I already have most of what I'll need to make it work.
Your plan sounds great-I'll look forward to seeing ya on the road! I think it'd be very do-able. Would you mount the RV right to the frame,or attach it to a flatbed? Awhile back I'd considered doing something similar with a flatbed Ford truck I had,only I was going to use a large cabover camper,and use the rest of the flatbed as a patio. Then I realized I used the flatbed for work a lot more than I'd have used an RV,so that idea got shelved.
It'll be an attention-getter,alright!!
Speed

that's sort of what i am now doing to my 51 cabover. it's very early on in the project, but the intent is to "graft" a large sleeper from a big truck to the cab of the cabover, and add a back seat/bed combo in the sleeper, along with 110v outlets as well as 12 volt outlets. since it's just my wife and i at home these days, we don't need alot of room, and few creature comforts.

we enjoy traveling on our well deserved vacations, and with the costs of moving from one motel to another, we could save a few bucks a day to help extend the trips. behind the sleeper i want to have a flatbed since we often "garage sale" along the way. when we do travel we often get off the interstates and see america as it was, and not just concrete. you meet some very nice people at yard sales or at local diners instead of those damned subway sandwich shops that have all but taken over the interstate highway system.

with luck maybe next year we will take our first vacation in an old bolt. when we do, i promise pictures. oh yeah, we also intend to stop by a farm near mechanicsburg md. on one of those trips!

Moterhome is the first thought I had when I seen this.
http://www.classiccoe.com/oldcoetrucks/trucks/GMC-book-mobile-1b.jpg

It would make a way cool motorhome

I have seen a factory (aftermarket co) conventional cab 46 RV. It was extreemely neat. I wish I was more interested in it at the time but then I was still into the smaller stuff. It basically looked like a customized bus, and I might suggest you go that route. I haven't seen any COE busses, but I think you might be able to do some sort of conversion like that. This Old RV sure was neat...everything very vintage.

With an Advance Design COE the parts of the cab that are different from a pickup are dash board and seat forward. Everything rearward is the same on a COE and pickup or truck.

On a panel or Suburban, everything forward of the doors is the same as a pickup cab.

Conceptually you can separate the COE specific pieces and graft them to a Suburban or panel to create a COE Suburban (concept on one of my projects) or COE Panel.

I'm wondering if you could apply the same ideas to converting a conventional Art Deco bus body into a COE Bus, and then fit out the bus body as a motor home.

Just thinking at the keyboard...

One of the guys on the bolt has an old F**d bus he converted to a camper. It's beautiful, maybe he'll chime in. I can't remember who now LOL. A couple years ago I saw an old White from the 40's or early 50's that had a modern RV box on it, it was really cool seeing it going down the interstate. Also you now see several RV's built on big truck chassis. On Christmas day I saw one built on a Kenworth and thought now that's the way to go!

Just a thought, Didn't Art Himslf rebuild his original bus/van into a pretty neat home?
I'm sure I have an article in one of my collection of mags.
I know it was one of the things which enthused me into the potential of a COE special.
Regards Chris.

Chriss Art who?

He's a customiser/painter from over California way, one of the contempories of Roth and the like.
Not a guy normally U would associate with this site.
I think he dropped our of the custom scene for quite a while, but with the current interest and the financial opportunities made a comeback.
Hope this helps, Chris.

How about this one on ebay, its not and art deco though, but the grand poobah will appreciate it!

#200072469976

Thanks for all the input...I kind of like the idea of grafting the COE cab to an Airstream or Airstream-type trailer...maybe in the 14 -16' range. It would be aerodynamic, relatively easy to accomplish and it would look unique & sensational .

That's cool. But I am always surprised and a little suspicious when someone wants to sell something 95% finished.

Why not invest a little more and finish it? They may have already spent a lot of money, but I'm sure calling it finished and ready to go would be worth the couple days work putting in seats and wiring would cost.

Wow Bill that's realy cool. I'm with ya OldSub gotta wonder why not finnish it and sell for a lot more.

I kinda thought it looked a little awkward myself, beautiful art deco cab with a big square box...

I would much rather have less room inside with a beautifully rounded living area to match the front. I still think bus, and imagine a very narrow lightly grafted rear fenders into the side (only about 1 inch in width), rounded sloping back. Now that would be beautiful.

hello guys
i have seen a deco coe with a very basic rv conversion.... JEEPERS CREEPERS !
Hope you will use yours for a lighter recreational activity.
best of luck

I saw a few years back a very nice AD COE, short WB, with a 5th wheel plate that they were using to pull their 5th-wheel trailor with....sure looked nice......

Bill,

Man, the best of both worlds! Cummins and AD COE! I like it.

By the way, I pumped the firetruck 3 times today, 5 times Sunday! Dry here. Tomorrow, if it's not raining, I'm hauling Henry's new firetruck home ('49 Mack!) after work.

Oh, and Kool -- that's Mechanicsville. That other place is in PA.


John

A couple of years ago I saw a 1940 Kenworth flatbed with a 19 foot Airstream up on the bed. Best of both worlds and he didn't have to cut anything up to use it.

Guy around the corner used to work for the post office and bought a Mack tractor they were selling. He removed the 5th wheel and put a camper on it, and now he doesn't have to pay the road taxes. It's HUGE! I'll see if I can go over and take a pic.
I have a vintage travel trailer parked on my project property so I like your idea. Plan is to build another truck to haul the trailer. Driving this dump truck on the freeway makes me realize that my future hauler should have all modern suspension and drive train to make it freeway friendly. Advantage is being able to drop the trailer and take side trips without carrying all that baggage. If you do something with Airstream, check out all the Airstream restoration sites. You can do anything your imagination can dream up with those things and like our old trucks, they have way more character than a modern RV.

How about an RV body styled along the lines of a n S.F. cable car? Raised roof center with small windows in the raised area for light and arched windows in the body. It would be mostly wood withe canvas over the wood on the top.