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Old 04-09-2018, 11:59 PM   #1
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
Desert Sands AKA The Window Lickkin Good Bus

So I think its about time I gave this bus its own build thread.

About three weeks ago or so me and my wife bought a 1996 Thomas Vista 3600. After lotsss of research we decided this was the bus for us. We wanted a full bus style body (no van conversions front end ) but it had to be under 25 feet. Our goal is to live and travel to rock climbing destination in the bus and many of these destination have max 25 foot truck trailer combo size limit. So after looking at different options we landed on this odd duck. Its sort of a full size bus sort of short bus and perfect for us.

Picked it up in Hemet California ( so far literally no rust on the bus not an ounce. lots of sand but no rust! yeah california ). Started driving it back to flagstaff that night. made it all the way to joshua tree ish before it mysteriously started only going 35mph. well after a few hours of going super slow on the 40 we pulled off in Kingman. Next day after diagnosing ripped the DPF filter off and was on our way again .Click image for larger version

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Since getting it home we have done an oil change (rotella 5w 40) new oil ,gas and transmission filter. Also put a external derale racing hyper cool transmission cooler on. Put on a Magnaflow straight through muffler to take the place of the DPF filter and quiet down the straight pipe . and lastly we are working on tearing out the inside and prepping it for its new life!

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Old 04-10-2018, 05:05 AM   #2
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Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Indiana
Posts: 176
Year: 2002
Coachwork: International
Chassis: AmTran
Engine: DT466
Rated Cap: 54
nice looking bus! what kind of engine/trans specs does it have?
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Old 04-10-2018, 09:16 AM   #3
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Welcome...and that is a great start. Get the running gear and engine in shape before investing time and money inside.
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Old 04-10-2018, 09:22 AM   #4
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Year: 1991
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Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
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nice!!!! but 5W40 in a 444E? Im hoping thats a typo and you are running 15W40?

-Christopher
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Old 04-10-2018, 10:10 AM   #5
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Year: 1996
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Engine: T444E 7.3L
Sweet bus! Thanks for sharing.
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Old 04-10-2018, 10:14 AM   #6
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
15w40! That was a typo .
And it has the 7.3 international engine with 80xxx original miles and a AT545 behind it. I could have waited out for a better tranny but with the short nature and lighter weight of the bus I'm hoping the at545 will do just fine.
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Old 04-10-2018, 10:21 AM   #7
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
I'm also thinking about changing the rear differential oil while im on the fluids train . still trying to decide if its worth buying that much 80w90 . the stuff in there appears fine....
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Old 04-10-2018, 10:54 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mikerob643 View Post
I'm also thinking about changing the rear differential oil while im on the fluids train . still trying to decide if its worth buying that much 80w90 . the stuff in there appears fine....
Send a sample to Blackstone Labs and have it tested. They will tell you if it is fine, and also be able to let you know the general condition of the unit.
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Old 04-10-2018, 11:36 AM   #9
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
That sounds like a good idea . if I am going to send a sample in I would like to send in a engine oil sample too. I just changed the oil though so I would guess I need to put some Miles on it before I can send it in for an analysis
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Old 04-10-2018, 11:38 AM   #10
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Originally Posted by mikerob643 View Post
That sounds like a good idea . if I am going to send a sample in I would like to send in a engine oil sample too. I just changed the oil though so I would guess I need to put some Miles on it before I can send it in for an analysis
Yes, the more miles the better. It allows them to make a more accurate assessment of bearing wear and coolant in oil.
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Old 04-14-2018, 12:21 AM   #11
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
So were coming to a hiccup in the destrution phase of our build . the L tracks on the ground are the turning into quite a nightmare. They are held down by tonnnns of Allen head bolts that are held tight under the bus with a 7/16 nut . the Allen head bolts are terrible and strip about 50 pierce of the time .
I know,others have had this problem and it was suggested that they angle grind down the center of the L track so they can get to the bolts and grind them off.

This sounds like a good solution and I tried it but after three cut,off wheels in a matter of feet and having the angle grinder start smoking ( i really hope i didn't break it ) I thought something was wrong ans,then it hit me I was attempting to angle grind aluminum.... A big no no .

These dang L tracks are aluminum

So now I'm stumped . I have though about grinding off the bolts from below. But it makes me cringe. Angle griding above you're head doesn't seem like a way to have a long life .

Any suggestions ? Below are photos Click image for larger version

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Old 04-14-2018, 12:23 AM   #12
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
Looking at the photos above I realise that its hard to tell but I am certain that these are Allen head bolts and not torx or star drive.
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Old 04-14-2018, 10:13 AM   #13
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Location: Bremerton Wa.
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Year: 2002
Chassis: Thomas
Engine: Dreaded 3126 - 545
Mike,

What worked for me is to grind every fastener with a carbide burr to make the Allen portion round that makes it easier to drill out from above. Make sure you remove all the facets of the fastener or you will get an interrupted cut on your bit and destroy it. Get a very good drill bit the same size as the shank of the fastener and if I am correct I believe they are 1/4 as that was the size of mine. You only have to drill down a little and then smack the ever loving s$%t out of them with a drift punch and poke them thru to the underside of the bus. I again struggled just as you and there are really no instructional videos of the removal of those so I improvised and utilized my somewhat good machining practices to get the job done.

If all goes well you will be able to remove the tracks undamaged as I did and re-purpose in your build somewhere. I intend to bolt the long portions to my roof and attach my solar array to them.

If there strong enough to hold down children the they are strong enough to hold a solar panel.

Dan.
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Old 04-14-2018, 10:38 AM   #14
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
Awesome thanks so much for the reply! I'll give it a try. I was about to give it up and think about building the floor with those just still under it. I knew it would be half ass but I was stumped on how to get them out. Right now I have all the Allen bolts soaking in PB blast so hopefully some of them will come out the normal way and lessen the workload
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Old 04-14-2018, 11:20 AM   #15
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Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
I would drill em oiut rather than grind them off.. drill off with a size near the shank of the bolt and the head will spin off.. then you can pound the bolts through the floor.. theyll fall out the bottom...
-Christopher
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Old 04-14-2018, 05:53 PM   #16
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
Drilling them out seems like the best option . I'm going to have at it this evening and let everyone know how it goes. I also had a question about the AC units in the bus. I want to save both of them but I also want to take the whole roof off and insulate and build a roof behind it I'm wondering do people usually take the AC down build the roof and then bolt them back up and build a new box for them? If I drop them it looks like I have to take the pressurised a.c. cables out of the back one,to drop,it... I guess the other option would be to leave them in place and not insulate behind them that seems sort of half-assed
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Old 04-15-2018, 09:28 PM   #17
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
So spent some time today working on getting the L tracks out . all the solutions worked well enough combined to get the tracks out at a slow pace . about four or five hours to get half of them out.

Super soaking the nuts below the bus with pb blast and letting them soak overnight helped immensely ! I would suggest anyone having trouble with these to start with that period. After that the stubborn ones,left over were either drill out or verrrry carefully angle grinder from below.
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Old 04-22-2018, 02:23 PM   #18
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
So I'm over my head completely lost in the electrical cluster of our bus . like I'm sure most people have delt with I have been gutting the bus and decided to start it one after noon and got nothing . it was running fine and,only thing that has changed,is I pulled the door buzzers and wiring so I am assuming / hoping its the starter lockout safety thing . the bus has a sticker,that says it is equipped with the starter lockout so I think its a good chace its it. After searching and looking here I though it would be a piece of cake to fix there's a video posted of a guy doing it in seconds it seems like. Well mines not so . the ignition has about a thousand wires going to it none of which I can find in the wiring box also the relay in the wiring box has a lot of wires going to it also unlike the simple one in the video . any one here solved this problem,on a system that looks like mine??
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Old 04-22-2018, 02:27 PM   #19
Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Mar 2018
Location: Flagstaff AZ
Posts: 149
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Vista 36pp
Engine: 7.3 L diesel
Below are photos
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Old 04-22-2018, 03:28 PM   #20
Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Brunswick, GA
Posts: 150
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: TC2000
Engine: 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 84
Since I've been unable to locate an accurate electrical diagram for my bus thus far, I have been removing my unneeded wiring from the far end and working back toward the source. For safety interlocks, since there was a single wire going from the front to roof hatches and emergency exits - it meant identifying with an ohm meter whether grounding that wire bypassed the interlock, or activated it. Then, until I got all the way to the source and bypassed that, I grounded the wire to satisfy the interlock. For other systems such as cameras, stop signs, etc - I traced and eliminated as I went along. I haven't cut/removed anything yet that I haven't identified what it was, and whether removing it would adversely affect operation (safety interlocks).
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