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Old 09-28-2018, 08:18 AM   #1
Bus Geek
 
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Location: Columbus Ohio
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Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
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Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
a Superior Journey!

Ha! so its true.. I found the Holy Grail Unicorn of a Skoolie...

well Ok **MY** holy grail of a Skoolie.. which is absolutely the Opposite of this Board's holy grail ..



about a month ago i got word that there was a Bus Identical to one I rode to school on as a kid.. but it was Clear across the country... However the price was right, and me being up to prove everyone wrong ,hopped on a Jet and set lets do this...



The Bus - a 1978 Gasoline IH Loadstar 392 V-8 with an AT-540 Transmission.. full size and located 2500 miles (and 9,000 feet of elevation) away...



so I got up way before the crack of dawn one morning.. and regrettably before the StarBucks in the airport opened.. and hopped a first Class Seat from Columbus O. to portland oregon


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so I made it there.. the dude picked me up at the airport, and we went straight to the bus!!.. ha! turns out he is building a skoolie himself.. or restoring one he built long ago.. regrettably my POS iPhone was dead by then so i didnt get a pic of his 80s Bluebird all american... maybe he will show up here one day..



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loadstar!! a Classic indeed...



Off to go get some new shoes... the tires were dry-rotted and yucly.. alas somewhere else i posted my TERRIBLE Les Schwab experience.. . Never-Never-gonna do that again... i'll be paying for that mistake for awhile. a guy brought an old tractor in, turns out there was a cool old machinery show a few miles away so I took off and enjoyed...



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now lets get this bad boy on the road.. so I did.. and I hit the ground running... the Carb was REALLY LEAN... but iunfortunately Oregon is not the Hot-rodder-heaven that the midwest is, so trying to find a Carb calibration kit for an edelbrock out there is like asking for A/C in a 40 year old school bus...



I hit the slopes.. and went up up and away..

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all was awesome... the higher I got, the better the bus ran... of course.. it was in-service in the higher elevations on the dry side so it was tuned lean.. the air is thinner so you have to Lean out your carb or it will run really really rich... modern fuel injection systems auto adjust for elevations as we drive..



so i punched it and that little 392 punched right back!.. oh but wait i had forgotten that big motor is in front of a Lowly Shallow-pan stock AT-540 transmission.. about halfway up the hill i started to smell trans fluid.. yeah anyone who has ever smelled that "warm tranny smell" knows what im talking about... ..



we better take a rest... I hit the side of the trans with the temp gun and I was over 300 degrees at that point...

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back on the road an hour or so later.. I got up high enough that it got pretty cold outside so i took it easy and kept the trans below 220 easily..



Peaked it out..!! rest of the trip is downhill from here!!
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Lets have a drink and get some work done!!
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the next copuple days were PURE BORING FLATNESS.. even my starbucks app was EMPTY for hundreds of miles!!!! Now I know why I dont travel west and north very much.. sorry guys I prefer the city life to the country Any day!!!..



Oops I noticed that i stopped for gas and there was a pretty loud Hiss under the hood... Crap I blew an air line!.. crappy 40 year-old rubber hose couldnt last longer???


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more to follow.. i gotta go fix someone;s phone system first..
-Christopher
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Old 09-28-2018, 08:27 AM   #2
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Whoa! Is this bus number three for you now?
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Old 09-28-2018, 10:29 AM   #3
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How excellent! I am confident you can handle any mechanical issue ...just hoping you find enough Starbucks along the way.
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Old 09-28-2018, 10:41 AM   #4
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An absolutely Superior report! What, no A/C? Jack
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Old 09-28-2018, 11:05 AM   #5
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Man, you're crazy.


But I guess most of us reading your thread are as well.


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Old 09-28-2018, 11:58 AM   #6
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I can't wait to read the next chapter!
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Old 09-28-2018, 12:08 PM   #7
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Another fine adventure.
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Old 09-28-2018, 12:59 PM   #8
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YAY! Chris finally found that old Superior he's been so wanting!!!

Glad to finally see some (great) photos, too!
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Old 09-28-2018, 01:48 PM   #9
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Ah ha! I've been waiting for this thread to crop up, ever since hearing mention of Chris' ol Superior in other threads! Thanks for keeping us in the loop ;)
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Old 09-28-2018, 02:11 PM   #10
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Congrats on the find. If I am not mistaken, some of those pics are in Oregon as you head up "cabbage hill" on your way to La Grande. home sweet home. looking forward to the build!
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Old 05-31-2021, 06:54 AM   #11
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Join Date: May 2009
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Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
I havent updated here in a While.. Yep I still have this Bus! shortly after I got it home I started getting a loud Knock in the rear.. tore it apart and found the Pinion gear was roasted.. so I had the rear rebuilt with a new gearset.. installing it wasnt too bad


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4.78 Gears and all new U-joints.. that was done in the summer of 2019.. then came the winter, then came the coronavirus so all my effort was put into my DEV bus as it became my mobile office / covid bug-out..



finally in the fall of 2020 I got back into working on this bus.. I tore down the driver area, the heating systems were non functional.. the right side heater was a great steam humidifier...


now im full on into the rebuilding of the driver area and general fixup of the bus..



when i got the bus I could see pavement through the driver floor in one spot.. the rest felt solid.. so i assumed the floor was rusting out (40 year oldf bus right?).. tore up all the vinyl only to find that there is a planned gap in the chassis to body floor on these loadstars.. there was originally a rubber seal to go between the 2 and then 2 layers of bus floor on top that had worn away.. No rust!!


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I dynamatted the driver area both to cut down on heat ./ noise and to seal up the firewall a bit..of course painting the old crappy heater boxes and such.. along with cleaning the coils and replacing all the motors with new ones that actually work.


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new floor is in order.. I start out by measuring roughly the dimensions of the new piece.. then I "flop" it in the bus and do a cut-to-fit with textile shears (extra big scissors) and very sharp utility knives..



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onto the next post before the forum messes me up yet AGAIN by auto-refreshing..
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Old 05-31-2021, 07:18 AM   #12
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,757
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
dropped in the new floor and cut it into place.. I choose not to glue the floors down.. i find with the cutouts around the pedals, heaters, wires, and the threshold pieces they dont move.. and if i ever need / want to pull it apart, its a relatively easy task without destroying the material.. if you glue it down its a one-time-use you will ruin it to take it apart..


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installed the restored right-side heater.. the plastic shroud was a mess.. I did the best I could with superglue and flex-tape (behind it) to reinforce its cracks.. these are not made any more and are too thin to 3D print effectively..



I did find brand new Defroster vents.. likely the last 3 in existence anywhere as they were pretty dusty when I got them..



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restoring old badges is part of what I love about vintage vehicles... so i keep them rather than paint over them..



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along the way i figured i ought to fix the oil pressure gauge.. the engine is an IH 392 which is a hydraulic lifter engine. . so if you ever question whether you have oil pressure.. you listen.. if it sounds like a clackety sewing machine you likely dont have oil pressure.. well mine ran quiet as a purring kitten, smooth and clean.. I found a Stewart Warner gauge that is similar to the OEM gauges (SW doesnt make the orange needle gauges anymore.. they were OEM to IH)


so now I can see i have good oil pressure..



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Next will be about paint.. oh yes this bus has FOUR!! coats of paint on it.. perhaps thats a reason why she isnt rusty (OK and she lived in the desert all her life).. it has 2 coats of yellow, a coat of Blue (?) and then the ugly church bus cream.. it will be black and white when done.. a little preview of what im attempting to do.. yes put a 5th coat on.. media blasting the bus isnt in the cards right now.. (I want to drive the damn thing not spend 2 more years restoring it)..


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yes the school-light holes are there on purpose as New school lights will be installed.. Superior's school light system is iconic in its own way and something i love so it will be restored to operational.



-Christopher
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Old 05-31-2021, 08:11 AM   #13
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Join Date: Nov 2010
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Good job Christopher, thanks for the update.
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Old 05-31-2021, 09:31 AM   #14
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Engine: 317 ci/tid / Isuzu
As always you are doing a

.

job restoring your bus. Keep the pics coming.
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Old 06-01-2021, 05:04 PM   #15
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Great thread and nice to put a face on the name!
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Old 07-10-2021, 04:04 PM   #16
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Sooo… not to be nosy, but how’s this one going? [emoji16]
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Old 07-10-2021, 04:12 PM   #17
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Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
Slowly is how its going... we have had a TERRIBLE weather summer.. it is always raining and havent had the hot weather that I thrive on emotionally, mentally, and physically.. the back is all painted now and im to the stage of putting new lights on and making the school-lights work again soon, the rain makes it tough even under a canopy to paint with oil paint as it needs at least 16 - 24 hours before getting wet and our rain this year has largely been accompaniued with cold winds.. today is rainy and 74.. normal should be 87... the rest of the country gets summer and we are stuck with fall..



it puts my emotional state into severe depression as everywhere i go i just shiver.. all the places i like to hang out still keep the air conditioner on max cold like its 90 out when its 70 out.. ugh!!



so slow progress it is.. I got new seat covers ordered so I can get back at the interior on those days I dont get to work outside..



im hopimng at some point the pattern flips and gives the west some cold and rain and us some dry and heat...then I can get this thing wrapped up.


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Old 07-10-2021, 10:55 PM   #18
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Join Date: May 2018
Location: topeka kansas
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Year: 1954
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cadillac

Nice work. I like the way you do things.

william
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Old 07-11-2021, 02:39 AM   #19
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Join Date: Jun 2020
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It sure looks like coat #5 of paint came out well. All shiny and new looking. It also looks like you're starting some black accent work? It's going to be a fancy ride
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Old 07-11-2021, 07:11 AM   #20
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Join Date: May 2009
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Year: 1991
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Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
thanks guys.. im my own worst critic lol maybe we all are on these projects. since im a bus enthusiast the black is what the Ohio Spec was for school lights. (the school lights will go back on and be functional simply because the Superior had an Iconic flasher system).


unfortunately the fiber Optic Light monitors on this bus have Long been destroyed so I have little hope of ever making those work again.



if anyone remembers the old Cadillacs of the late 60s through about 93, they used fiber optics to markers on the hood and up above the rear window (that you saw in the mirror).. the superiors had the same.. (yep you looked in the student mirror all the way at the back of the bus to see the little red dots for the brake lights)..


my Superior junkyard has of course been robbed of any of those monitors still functional.. and sadly enough obviously by teen enthusiasts who just wanted them (and the badge plates) for novelty as the fibers were cut on the ones I found in the yard.


if I ever find the actual rear monitor piece (they were plastic and stuck out from the rear panel inside.. easily knocked off if loading anything in / out the back door).. I may try to build a light monitor using LED's so at least it looks cool still.



im kind of just designing as I go along.. wait thats what we are all doing here designing building and learning.. thus why its a journey even before the bus leaves the garage!
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