Day 13: The VHS Surprise

Author: Justin Dunn

We’re 13 days into this project of converting a retired school bus into a livable mobile stu-dio. Today was all about working on the screws holding down trim and covers—and a nos-talgic discovery that caught us completely off guard.

Tackling the Trim Screws

My dad and I started on the screws securing the trim around the wheel humps. These screws had clearly lived a rough life; dirt and debris had packed into their heads, making them almost impossible to grip with a screwdriver.

First, I tried blowing the dirt out with my breath—obviously, that didn’t work. Then I used a wire brush to loosen some of the buildup. The change was subtle, but the screw-driver sat slightly deeper into the screw head. With more hope than certainty, I ham-mered the screwdriver into the head to get a better grip. Even with more torque, the screw wouldn’t budge.

Meanwhile, my dad was on the passenger side with an entirely different approach. Armed with an electric drill and a hammer, he would smack the screw head first, then press down hard on the drill, lightly tapping the trigger to shock the screw loose. It worked! Once the screw started moving, he would hit the trigger harder, and the screw would shoot out.

Removing the Heater Hose Cover

After the trim screws were out, we moved on to the metal cover protecting the heater hoses along the driver’s side floor. These hoses carried hot coolant from the engine to the rear heater core, ensuring the bus stayed warm in its original northern climate.

Removing the cover screws was straightforward but tedious. As we worked, my dad and I got to talking about the security system’s black box mounted near the front of the bus. Curiosity got the better of us, and we decided to investigate.

The Black Box Discovery

We disassembled the black box and found—of all things—a traditional VHS recorder in-side. Of course, the next question was: Is there a tape in it?

We opened the little door, and sure enough, there was a tape labeled “NEW.” My mind started racing:

• Did “NEW” mean new as in 2005, when the bus was built?
• Was this tape a fresh one from the last service?
• Does the recorder tape over itself, or could it hold some hidden history?

We had to find out.

Watching the Tape

My dad, being “old school,” still had a fully functional VCR hooked up to his TV, along with a collection of old family VHS tapes. This was one of those rare “only at Dad’s house” mo-ments.

My wife, who had come over to spend some time with me, joined us in this unexpected detour. She usually avoids the tedious, dirty work involved in this stage of the build, so having her there felt special.

We popped the tape into the VCR, and—of course—it was just static at first. After some fiddling with the tracking (a lost art for those who didn’t grow up with VHS), the picture started to come into focus.

The tape showed an empty bus driving.

Questions and Possibilities

While the footage wasn’t groundbreaking, it raised more questions than it answered. Why was the tape labeled “NEW”? Was it part of a routine test drive for the security system? Or was it a leftover, forgotten by whoever managed the system?

Either way, it was a fun reminder of this bus’s past life. Little discoveries like these make the project feel more personal. The work is hard, but moments like this make it worth-while.

Tomorrow, it’s back to stripping down the bus—one stubborn screw at a time.