Man's boyhood dream finds fertile ground in conversion buses

SEDALIA, Mo. -- Imagine an 8-year-old riding a bus halfway across the country for the first time, with never-before-seen sights flashing past his window, leaving him in awe.

Tom Parsons may not remember everything he observed on that trip from California to Missouri nearly 40 years ago, but he easily recalls the excitement he felt.

"I was always a bus nut," Parsons said. "That trip started it all. Then when I was a young teen growing up in St. James, I would go to the bus station in Rolla and watch the old Greyhounds come and go. It was a nine-mile trip, and it cost 50 cents. There was a mini-bike track in Rolla, and everyone always wanted to go up there to ride. I just wanted to sit at the station and watch the buses."

His fascination with buses eventually turned into a hobby and then a full-fledged business. T&D Bus and RV Conversion is about 4 miles south of Sedalia on Highway 65.

"A year or so ago I began playing around with a bus to do a conversion for myself and my wife, Diana," said Parsons. "People started bugging us. They wanted us to do one for them. The interest took us completely by surprise."

Tom gave up his general contracting company, Parsons Construction, and dove headfirst into the newly hatched business earlier this year. A certified mechanic, electrician, cabinet maker and carpenter, Tom said it's the only time in his life he's put all trades to use at the same time.

Diana, a bookkeeper, spends as much time as possible with the buses and RVs, and keeping the office running smoothly. In addition to an RV technician, the Parsons employ seven people. It's not always enough. The company performs all interior and exterior work, and mechanical jobs from regular maintenance to engine replacements.

Workers build cabinets, offer upholstery services and install the slide-out units. The latter requires cutting out an entire section of the bus and inserting a unit that, at a push of a button, slides out to increase the size of the living space.

For instance, a privately owned bus has been cut in half vertically and horizontally. The unit was stretched 5 feet and raised 9 inches, and 15 feet were cut from its side in order to insert a slide-out unit. Another bus in the shop is receiving an oak entryway, pearl white exterior paint, the rebuilt bay doors and a plethora of other repairs and replacements.

Wes and Marilyn Wilson, owners of Osage Bluff Lodge in Warsaw, Mo., own a 40-foot, bus-style motor home that is on the road for months at a time. They trust all their maintenance work to T&D. "We are well pleased with his work," Wes Wilson said of Parsons. "When you talk to him, you know he knows his business."

Over the mountains

Another bus owner has given the T&D staff a more challenging situation. He is counting on mechanics to retrofit a 1989 LT Cummins engine into his 35-foot, 1957 GMC 4014 coach. The Arizona man wants his bus to "fly" over the mountains. Parsons said it should: The replacement engine is near 300 horsepower.

While many people believe that bus and RV conversions are for celebrities and the wealthy, that's not the case. Many of T&D's sales and conversions belong to charter companies and churches. Also, individuals are up for stretching their homes on wheels a few feet and raising their roofs another nine inches or so.

The Rev. Herbert Robertson, pastor of Abundant Life Christian Center in Sedalia, bought three coaches, 48 seats each, from the Parsons. Robertson previously owned a motor home. He said the buses are built to stay on the road longer with fewer problems.

"We were very pleased with the price of the coaches, as well as the integrity of this company that stands behind them," Robertson said.

T&D sells across North America -- from Quebec to Illinois to Mexico. Prices for a used bus range from $35,000 to $300,000. T&D has about 35 coaches on the lot right now, with eight on consignment. The company has another eight units scheduled for repairs or modifications, and three set for full-coach conversions -- stretching from 40 to 45 feet, raising the roofs 8 inches and the installing of custom conversion packages. There are also eight covered storage bays, all occupied, and room for 20 coaches for storage outdoors.

'Stick and staples'

"We're now booked about six to eight months out," Parsons said. "We had no idea that this thing would go as it did. But the RV manufacturers today have really gone downhill. Their products are what we call stick and staples. You pay a Class A price for Class C quality. That's why custom coaches are so popular. It's like buying a home. You know what you want, how you want the rooms configured, what colors you want -- dark wood or light wood, and that's what we do. You get what you want at a price you can afford."

Many units have queen-size beds, built-in entertainment centers, stacked washers and dryers, cedar-lined closets, ranges, side-by-side refrigerators, satellite tracking and full baths. Basic interior packages at T&D begin at $45,000 and can top $180,000 if mirrored, vaulted ceilings and other extravagances are one's desire. The company also sells used and new RV parts.

"Most everybody who comes to us has owned an RV," Parsons said. "Now, they're ready for what they really want, and we try our utmost to give it to them."

On the Net

T&D Bus and RV Conversion: www.tdbus-rvconversion.com