Zane and Jessica Strong, of Clintonville, Wisconsin, have had an RV dealership since 1974. In 1987, Zane became interested in doing a conversion coach for himself, which could go 80 mph safely with no rattles "forever." When he set out to purchase a good used bus, he got a great buy in Orlando and brought it home to Wisconsin. He was confident that he had found a rust-free bus, but, when the skin was removed, extensive rust damage was obvious. Water had entered and lain in the structural square tubing and frozen so that the metal had puffed up round. One piece at a time had to be cut out so that new ones could be fitted and welded into place.
Zane and his long time friend, Mayford Kreiese, wore out a band saw cutting the thousands of pieces needed to replace the entire tubing structure, using about $2000.00 worth of tubing. Only the roof bows were sound enough to remain. Zane is happy to report that an accident was narrowly avoided. A grinding disc broke in half during this portion of the conversion project and almost cut off his index finger. Fitting the windshields was tricky. New front bows had come from another old bus but no measurements were available. This task was a seemingly never-ending process of tack-welding and fitting up the windshields, making adjustments over and over. Zane recalls, "I bet I fitted the windshields 50 times."
Front torsion bars had to be welded up, turned down and new bushings, pins and new grade 8 bolts added, all new from Eagle. Zane amused himself when the local people would stop by the sport shop where the work was taking place. They would ask what he was doing with this totally dismantled bus frame. His reply, "I’m building a hunting shack," satisfied most of them, as they turned away in obvious amazement. Only one out of those many people figured out that he was kidding.
One night, with the engine and transmission installation going well, Zane lowered himself between the frame and engine to tighten the starter. He became stuck while no one was around. He started to panic, knowing his body would start to swell. Daughter Christina, five years old then, happened to wander past and was able to get her mother. Jessie determined that the solution was for Zane to get greased up. He did so, then pulled himself out of there with his arms. Jessie remembers, "He was good and stuck!"
By this time, there was still much left to do. Miles of wiring, plumbing, a new skin and many fixtures still had to be hand fitted. Cabinet building was capably and professionally installed by Howard Koenke, a local cabinet maker. In six weeks, the beautiful interior was intact. Now, this coach is new, from the tires up. The modern features include: V8 ‘71 Detroit motor, new 750 Allison automatic transmission, tires, shocks, brakes, bearings, the entire steel frame with roof raised seven inches, doors with stainless steel hinges, 150 gallon fresh water tank, electric water heater, Wabasko heater, Vanner converter, 5 kW Onan generator, indirect lighting, central vacuum system, Jacuzzi tub, microwave, coffee maker, digital satellite dish, handmade instrument dash panel, Corian counters and a leather ceiling. With all this, she weighs in at 37,200 pounds, almost 19 tons.
The exterior received a coat of Bahama Blue paint before the Strong’s headed to the F.M.C.A. Rally at Minot to give it a good shakedown cruise. While at Minot, the president and vice-president of Eagle Bus saw the coach and visited with Zane, Jessie and Christina. They were truly impressed with the coach.
A rally of that magnitude is a good place to see impressive art murals and other airbrushed creations. Zane and Jessie met Jim and Sheryl Brown of Gallatin, Tennessee, who have a spectacular mural on the back of their dream. The Browns’ airbrushed masterpiece depicts a beautiful Indian princess holding a dream catcher. This mural shows all of this in an Arizona setting under a beautiful starry nighttime sky. Jim explained to the Strong’s that he believed that this particular mural was the best mural ever created by the airbrush muralist Letterfly, who had come to their home to create it.
Zane then knew who he wanted to do the mural work on his recently completed Eagle conversion. He contacted the artist and asked him to travel to Wisconsin to create three murals. He also explained what Jim and Sheryl Brown had said and added, "I want my paintings to be even better."
Since Zane had been a gold hunter, collector, and prospecting historian for many years, and since he had bought a Southern Arizona RV Resort and named it "The Gold miners’ Resort," this was to be the theme for the murals on the coach. Letterfly arranged to drive up to Wisconsin to do the work at the end of August. When he arrived, the Strong’s had a pile of books, magazines and pictures of mines, terrain, old-time miners, boom towns, and other prospecting memorabilia for him to study. The artist became familiar with the old-time ways of an era gone by, and began to envision the theme for the series of murals.
The artist felt that it was certainly appropriate to plan a logical sequence of mining activity for the three sides of their bus, his three canvases. The first mural shows a four-up team of mules being driven by a relatively young prospector sitting high atop a wagon full of supplies headed west in search of wealth and fame. Upon close inspection, you will find a toothless gap in the smile of this young miner.
The back of the coach was Letterfly’s largest canvas, so it received the equivalent of two complete paintings. The upper half is filled with a steep tree-covered mountainside with a babbling brook winding its way downward and their new park logo, designed by Letterfly, is prominent in all its machine-turned 24-carat gold splendor. The mountain stream cascades to the lower area where a prospector and his mule are happily panning for gold. The expression on his face is a clue, not only that he is being successful, but that he indeed has a tooth missing.
The third canvas shows an old man and his faithful mule companion proudly standing on a hilltop overlooking a modern 1800’s mining facility with the boom town of Pearce, Arizona in the background. We finally realize that this persistent prospector has struck it rich. When we study his complete smile, we see a prominent golden tooth. Zane and Jessica Strong are just like the persistent prospector, undaunted by life’s barriers and frustrations found along the way. They now have, in this Eagle brought back from the grave, a valuable, unique treasure, a treasure that they will enjoy for many years to come.
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