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06-04-2015, 10:24 AM
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#21
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Something like this
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06-08-2015, 06:22 AM
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#22
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Made some progress this weekend. We put new tail lights on the bus. I used a grinder to grind off the aisle bolts for the seats. I had to use a socket wrench to disconnect the bolts from the wall (my knuckles are pretty busted now). I still have one seat left that I'll have to drill out the allen bolts. There's also a really long allen bolt by the stairwell/handrail on the front most divider/seat-back thingy that I'll have to drill as well.
It looks like I may be able to make use of some of the scraps. I took the padding/vinyl off of the seat backs (bundled it up and put it on the curb. We'll see if it's still there after the garbage men come today). There's a fair amount of sheet metal that I may find useful. We cut down the seats so they'd store better in my garage. I'm thinking I may be able to make some basement type storage under the bus using some of these scraps. I also thought they'd be good for making mounts for the tanks.
The plasma torch doesn't cut down the scraps as fast as the sawzall.
I'm thinking of removing the heaters entirely. Those strips along the base of the walls get in the way. Has anyone done that before? What are the challenges with that?
I also got some pics of the wheelchair lift working for Craigslist. I'll probably drop the price a bit and hope someone wants it in the next week or two before I take it to the scrap heap. I don't want it taking up too much space in my garage. The guy that owns the storage unit I'm parking at has a forklift that I'll be able to borrow.
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06-08-2015, 06:45 AM
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#23
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: EHT New Jersey
Posts: 1,134
Year: 2003
Coachwork: AmTran
Chassis: International 3000RE
Engine: T444E/AT545
Rated Cap: 75
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Bring lots of buckets, because you'll have around 40 feet of coolant in the hoses. Some of the builds have left the heater and built around the hoses.
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06-08-2015, 07:37 AM
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#24
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Dowdy Lakes, Colorado
Posts: 1,444
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner ER
Engine: 3208 CAT/MT643 tranny
Rated Cap: 87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by austin1989us
I'm thinking of removing the heaters entirely. Those strips along the base of the walls get in the way. Has anyone done that before? What are the challenges with that?
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If you do, I'd make the trip from Katy to get them. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a bus to convert into our tiny home. We'll need heaters to keep warm in the winter.
Let me know, and I'll drive up there.
Thx,
M1031
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06-08-2015, 08:52 AM
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#25
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M1031A1
If you do, I'd make the trip from Katy to get them. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on a bus to convert into our tiny home. We'll need heaters to keep warm in the winter.
Let me know, and I'll drive up there.
Thx,
M1031
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Sounds good. We'll see what happens when we get to that point. It may be easier to just work around it. I think this week we'll be worried about getting those last couple seats and the wheelchair lift/anchors out. I'll probably get it weighed after we take the lift out, but before we pull up the floor.
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06-08-2015, 09:21 AM
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#26
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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M1031 --- So...you have the sweetheart in the bunch picked out?
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06-08-2015, 10:58 AM
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#27
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Sep 2014
Posts: 546
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I gave my WC lift to a gentleman that needed it. He attached it to his front deck on his house and runs a solar/battery setup. He can barely climb steps so it's a big help.
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06-08-2015, 07:57 PM
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#28
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: Gainesville. Georgia
Posts: 544
Year: 1992
Coachwork: bluebird
Rated Cap: 72
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We pulled the heater from the rear of the bus. Cut down the hose and looped it back onto itself. We didn't really loose much anti-freeze at all.
We also kept the electrical wires hooked up that went to the rear heater. I'm not sure of Hubby's plans for it though.
This way we still have the heater up by the drivers seat to keep the driver warm and if push comes to shove I have plenty of blankets to wrap me & the dogs up with. Though the dogs generate enough heat all by themselves.
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06-08-2015, 09:26 PM
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#29
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Dowdy Lakes, Colorado
Posts: 1,444
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner ER
Engine: 3208 CAT/MT643 tranny
Rated Cap: 87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Tango
M1031 --- So...you have the sweetheart in the bunch picked out?
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Yep, it's in California. Praying the bidding doesn't go insane......
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06-09-2015, 06:23 AM
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#30
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by M1031A1
Yep, it's in California. Praying the bidding doesn't go insane......
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I saw on Craigslist a while back that someone had some CFISD buses. There's a slight chance that I rode one of those years ago.
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06-09-2015, 06:27 AM
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#31
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The-Breeze
We pulled the heater from the rear of the bus. Cut down the hose and looped it back onto itself. We didn't really loose much anti-freeze at all.
We also kept the electrical wires hooked up that went to the rear heater. I'm not sure of Hubby's plans for it though.
This way we still have the heater up by the drivers seat to keep the driver warm and if push comes to shove I have plenty of blankets to wrap me & the dogs up with. Though the dogs generate enough heat all by themselves.
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That sounds like a good idea. I may just pull the rear heater. I'll have to think up something cool to do with 12V power in my kitchen/bedroom area and a switch on my dash. Disco ball?
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06-09-2015, 06:30 AM
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#32
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooternj
Bring lots of buckets, because you'll have around 40 feet of coolant in the hoses. Some of the builds have left the heater and built around the hoses.
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I have a spreadsheet for this at work, but the line lengths are in miles. 0.0075 miles (39.6') of line with a 1" ID is about 0.216 cubic feet (1.6 gallons).
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06-09-2015, 06:40 AM
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#33
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dond
I gave my WC lift to a gentleman that needed it. He attached it to his front deck on his house and runs a solar/battery setup. He can barely climb steps so it's a big help.
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If I knew someone that needed one I'd give it to them.
I considered holding on to it to build a lift out of it. My dad enjoys filling deer feeders at his camp in the hill country. I figured as he gets older he'll have trouble standing on a 4-wheeler rack or tailgate to fill feeders. But he's putting in feeders at ground level now to solve that problem.
My father-in-law thinks I should make a motorcycle lift out of it and mount it to the back of the bus, but I don't think it's strong enough for that.
I used to work at a nursing home 8 years ago. Maybe they need one?
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06-09-2015, 12:47 PM
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#34
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Mini-Skoolie
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Washington
Posts: 25
Year: 1993
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: International
Engine: DT466
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Our bus had two valves on the engine that cut off the heater loop. If yours has them, open both before you cut into the heater system. Wish we had known this before we cut into ours, we ended up losing more coolant than we should have.
Don't try to unscrew a hose clamp and remove a hose...just cut the hose off as quickly as you can with a razor knife, and get the hose in a bucket ASAP. Have a shop vac and paper towels to catch any coolant that does spill.
We ended up removing the drivers side heater and the rear heater. We left the heater by the front door in place. We are probably going to put both heaters back in, but we're still glad we removed them because the rubber and plywood flooring under the heaters and hoses was some of the nastiest in the entire bus.
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06-09-2015, 12:57 PM
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#35
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
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And...do keep in mind that for whatever reason...dogs & cats seem to love drinking coolant. But they only do it once per lifetime.
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06-11-2015, 10:33 AM
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#36
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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Last night me and my father-in-law took out the last two seats and disconnected the wiring for the wheelchair lift. If I can't find someone to take the lift in the next couple of days I'll be taking it to be scrapped on Saturday.
This weekend I'd like to get the lift out and get the bus weighed. After it's weighed I'll be taking the bench over the passenger side rear wheel well out and start tearing up the floor.
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06-11-2015, 01:51 PM
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#37
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
Posts: 2,430
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
Rated Cap: Just the two of us.
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Quote:
dogs & cats seem to love drinking coolant
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It tastes sweet.
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06-11-2015, 02:48 PM
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#38
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Apr 2015
Location: Tomball, TX
Posts: 313
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC/2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9TA
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As I said in the insurance thread, just got my cancellation notice from Progressive. My insurance ends at 00:01 on June 21st. That's mildly frustrating. They said I can get a commercial policy for a little over $70/month.
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06-11-2015, 03:05 PM
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#39
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: Dowdy Lakes, Colorado
Posts: 1,444
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Saf-T-Liner ER
Engine: 3208 CAT/MT643 tranny
Rated Cap: 87
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Quote:
Originally Posted by somewhereinusa
It tastes sweet.
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Ethylene Glycol tastes sweet to animals...
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06-11-2015, 05:15 PM
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#40
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Andrews,Indiana
Posts: 2,430
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: AARE
Engine: 3116 Cat 250hp
Rated Cap: Just the two of us.
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Quote:
If yours has them, open both before you cut into the heater system
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I think you mean close them, that will isolate the heaters from the engine.
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