NORTHAMPTON — A playful father-son debate broke out Thursday over whose idea it was to overhaul a former Pioneer Valley Transit Authority bus into a van for the Florence VFW Post 8006 to showcase in Monday’s Memorial Day parade.

Tom Pease, who served in the Vietnam War from 1967 to 1968 and founded 1812 Paint and Body in Florence, stepped out of the garage to inspect what, just two years earlier, had been a rusted-out jalopy with failed brakes, a gutted fuse box and a long list of other problems.

“This was all his idea,” said Pease about his son Kristopher, the current owner and operator of 1812 who was looking with pride at the now refurbished eight-seat bus.

“You planted the seed in my head and it just kind of grew from there,” said Kristopher in response.

Regardless of whose idea it was, the two spent much of their spare time over the past two years getting the bus back on the road. The bus will officially be in the hands of the Florence VFW Color Guard after the Peases handed over the deed and keys this week ahead of Monday’s parade.

The restoration project began after the city of Northampton put the former PVTA bus up for auction. The vehicle had previously been transferred to the city for use in senior services, but it and another identical bus had been sitting unused for four to six years.

So the father-son duo got them both, making one car out of two.

“The most inexpensive thing was actually buying it,” said Kristopher, estimating that repairs came to about $15,000. Fixes included new brakes, updated electrical systems and filling a hole in the gas tank. Other crucial elements were donated, including a new set of tires from OEM Automotive and paint from another donor.

The bus will be used for VFW members to get around town for events, and will be featured in parades, such as Memorial Day and in the annual Veterans Day parade in November.

“And heck, next year maybe it’ll be in the St Patrick’s Day Parade,” said Kristopher.

One custom feature of the bus is the number of emergency windows. The Peases uninstalled two emergency windows from the scrap bus, adding them to the newly restored one. This will allow the windows to go down lower during parades and events.

In addition to honoring his family, Kristopher said his motivation is also to give back to Florence — the small community where he grew up, attended school, works and is now raising two children with his wife, a Northampton native.

“Giving back to the community is a big thing not only for me personally, but also as a business — my father has always tried to give back as much as he can,” said Kristopher.

This is not the first time 1812 has restored a vehicle for the community. Molly the Trolley had been an abandoned trolley from New Jersey before being restored by 1812. It is now featured annually in the Memorial and Veterans Day parades, and is donated to Look Park for the Christmas season.

While he is donating the trolley to Look Park at no cost, he said that even if the park eventually profits from it, what matters most is keeping the community vibrant.

“If they [Look Park] can make money off that, that’s great because it helps more community events,” he said. “So something like this bus is just in line with doing more community-oriented stuff, and this will help out veterans and the local VFW.”

Kristopher said that with so many VFWs closing down in recent years, he hopes the van will draw attention to the fact that the Florence VFW is not only a venue for veterans but also the wider community, which can hold events and other gatherings in the space.

As the bus gets ready for a one-mile ride on Monday to the center of town, Kristopher sees some symbolism in the odometer reading.

The Florence VFW is Post 8006; currently the odometer reads 138,005. One more mile and the end will read, “8006.”

“I’m still trying to figure out the 13,” said Kristopher.

Monday’s parade steps off at 10 a.m. Paradegoers will make their way through Florence’s main artery, from Trinity Row to the Park Street Cemetery where a ceremony will be held, and the Medal of Liberty will be issued to the family of William J. O’Brien.