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Old 06-06-2014, 04:56 PM   #1
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'69 Chev POS

I am buying a 1969 chevy school bus that has allready converted to an rv. unfortunatly, i did not rember to take pictures when i was looking at it.
It has a chevy 327 motor in it, the interior is not too bad and the outside was white at some point. unfortunatly, the bus has some rust but thats no big deal anything from centeral Canada will be rusty after 10 or so years.
I think that I will install some solar panels and inverter (on hand), weld my crappy old generator to the back, and give it a funky paintjob. Its from the '60s so i figgure its gotta have a phychedellic paint jod and beceause its from '69 its gonna of course be named "69" *wink, wink.
One last thing, hopefully, at some point, ill find a modern diesel engine i can swap in. (not looking forward to 4 MPG)

Any tips or tricks you would reccomend?

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Old 06-06-2014, 06:30 PM   #2
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Re: '69 Chev POS

I have a 79 Chevy Im converting. Im just getting started on my conversion. Lots of great info on this forum. Post lots of pics.
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Old 06-06-2014, 07:03 PM   #3
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Re: '69 Chev POS

Welcome to the madness. I get nearish low 7's with my 350. These old busses are built like tanks and if it's survived Canada for 45 years, it's got to have another 45 in it yet !!
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Old 06-06-2014, 08:26 PM   #4
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Re: '69 Chev POS

Quote:
Originally Posted by bamper
Welcome to the madness. I get nearish low 7's with my 350. These old busses are built like tanks and if it's survived Canada for 45 years, it's got to have another 45 in it yet !!
I like you attitude about these old Chevy Busses. These old Chevys are getting hard to come by.
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Old 06-06-2014, 10:19 PM   #5
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Re: '69 Chev POS

Know of any Diesel engines that are relitevly compatible with the chev 327?
The reason is I have a 6000 mile road trip planned for 3 years from now, and I cannot imagine the price of gas then.
This is going to be my so "npr" burn bus.

Ps. 6000 is round trip.
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Old 06-07-2014, 06:39 PM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Re: '69 Chev POS

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hank's P-O-S
Know of any Diesel engines that are relitevly compatible with the chev 327?
The reason is I have a 6000 mile road trip planned for 3 years from now, and I cannot imagine the price of gas then.
This is going to be my so "npr" burn bus.

Ps. 6000 is round trip.
I would actually consider a diesel engine for my bus to replace the 366 big block gas drinker I have, but I wouldn't even know where to begin. I think I would like to have a Cat Engine just not sure about all the wiring, and plumbing to hook up?
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Old 06-07-2014, 08:45 PM   #7
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Re: '69 Chev POS

NO you do NOT want a CAT, trust me. I am in the middle of CAT hell right now, I just dropped $300 on bolts and gaskets for the exhaust / turbo. If you are swapping motors, I would look at a Cummins 5.9 "6bt" or 8.3 liter (like the 5.9 just bigger). They are all-mechanical and require very little wiring to operate. A good used one will run you a few grand.

The one issue that comes to mind when doing a gas-to-diesel swap is, in that old of a bus the trans (if its auto) is most likely vacuum-modulated, non-electronic. Therefore you'd have to do a trans swap cause diesels don't generate vaccum like gas engines, and the trans from the gasser would not be able to handle the torque. So that would make any sort of motor swap a lot more $.

I have heard of guys buying old bread trucks at auction with 4bt cummins engines and 5 speeds, taking out the engine and trans and scrapping the rest of the truck (mostly aluminum) and damn near breaking even. Just a thought.
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Old 06-07-2014, 09:02 PM   #8
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Re: '69 Chev POS

Quote:
Originally Posted by porkchopsandwiches
NO you do NOT want a CAT, trust me. I am in the middle of CAT hell right now, I just dropped $300 on bolts and gaskets for the exhaust / turbo. If you are swapping motors, I would look at a Cummins 5.9 "6bt" or 8.3 liter (like the 5.9 just bigger). They are all-mechanical and require very little wiring to operate. A good used one will run you a few grand.

The one issue that comes to mind when doing a gas-to-diesel swap is, in that old of a bus the trans (if its auto) is most likely vacuum-modulated, non-electronic. Therefore you'd have to do a trans swap cause diesels don't generate vaccum like gas engines, and the trans from the gasser would not be able to handle the torque. So that would make any sort of motor swap a lot more $.

I have heard of guys buying old bread trucks at auction with 4bt cummins engines and 5 speeds, taking out the engine and trans and scrapping the rest of the truck (mostly aluminum) and damn near breaking even. Just a thought.
Great advice. And yes might as well swap trannys too.
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