Refurbishing of a Bus

[Klong se Pa]

Guys, I need help please.

My church has a 1988 Mercedes Benz OF1624 53seater bus with a true 132 000k's on the clock. The time now has come to either refurbish this one, or get something else. To refurbish is going to cost a pretty penny, I know, but to replace we're running the risk of getting someone else's headache. You don't just get secondhand busses with low (below 450 000km) mileage that easy, and normally the interiors are worse than our's, because they have been used much more. So a bit of a catch 22 here.

Now the reason for this post is to see if there aren't some of you that maybe are in the business or know people who are which I can contact to give me some quotes or advice. I need to present the church council with costs of different stuff that needs to be done, and only then can a decision be made as to refurbish or replace.

Some of the work that has to be done is
1. Dust- and waterproofing (starting by replacing all window- and sidelocker rubbers, and anything else that may cause leaks)
2. Rewiring (insolation on all the wires is hard and brittle causing all kinds of hicupps)
3. Replacing the old benchtype seats with 44 recliners with integral seatbelts
4. Redo the interior (ie floor, walls, parcel shelves and roof)
5. Remove rust and minor dents, respray and fitting of a modern look nose with "elephant mirrors"
6. Replace ADE407N with ADE447T, or upgrade existing 407N to turbo ( we want to fit an a/c, and 407N is a bit underpowered)
7. Replace std 6speed ZF with an 8speed ZF-box
8. Fit aircon system

Ok, I know it's a lot, but fortunately it's for the council to decide. If you okes can maybe just help with some info on where and what can be done at whom, it will be much appreciated. Thx

[Thabogrobler]

Best floor covering would be rubberizing - like Tuffguard or Rhino linings, etc.

[OOOOMS]

Gesels bietjie met Simon 'Siron Conversions' dalk kan hy jou raad gee ens, hy werk aan trokke in die Queenstown gebied