Lane Conversion

JakeC · 04-17-2010, 07:48 PM

Just to give you a price comparison, my bus is an international wayne, dt466, Allisonn mt643 tranny, and underbelly storage. Differences are that it doesn't have A/C, it has air brakes (which I personally would highly recommend), and didn't have a wheel chair lift. It is a 91 with 144,00 miles and I paid $1500 for it. I would be shocked if you can't find what you are looking for for less than $5000. Are you only looking at newer busses? Anywho, I think your price limit is more than reasonable. Good luck!!

JakeC · 04-17-2010, 09:17 PM

Yeah, you probably will have a lot more difficulty with the parameters than the price, finding that exact combo. You might have trouble finding one with hydraulic brakes. Most international with the DT466 seem to have air brakes, at least that is what I have noticed. Thanks for the compliment on my bus! It has been a LOT of fun and I have been very blessed. I can't wait to see the finished product

dentedvw · 04-17-2010, 10:02 PM

Don't be discouraged, it will likely take a while to find just the right bus for you. You may need to compromise on one thing or another. We compromised on the engine we wanted, and in return got a pretty good price. We also compromised on the make, and have no complaints, we wanted Bluebird, but found a very similar Thomas.
Keep looking, and I made a thread about all the most likely places to find a bus, you might want to check it out, and watch those sites. There are a few big places to keep on your speed dial/favorite sites list for a while until you find it. Do a search for it, I asked for it to be stickied but it never happened. It is a pretty comprehensive list, and I will edit it at anyone's request.

Here, check it out. It should maybe be in the classifieds section, not sure.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=5597

Duckf00t · 04-19-2010, 11:17 AM

Hi and welcome-

We wanted a Thomas but wound up with an Amtran 444. Got it for 2000, has needed some repairs all said and done about 3000 in it. Take a look around your area after the school year see whats out there. Maybe even contact first student. In your area it shouldn't be hard to find one that is retiring. I can point you to our bus dealer. They are in New Jersey if you want to take a road trip, http://www.roxburyauto.com/bus/bus.html

Call them up ask for Manny- they will take the seats out for you, Bring 3k with you walk around the lot, pick one you like and drive it home... great people to deal with. It is a scrapyard so you can get parts- and all kinds of goodies while you're there. Check them out.

Sojakai · 04-29-2010, 02:35 AM

Dont forget to haggle on price. Most of the time they will list a high price, but settle for a bit less. It never hurts to ask how firm them are on price.

bus-ted · 06-09-2010, 03:30 PM

It sounds like a good set-up, and depending on how heavy it's been used/mileage- I don't think the price is out of line.
It's no steal, but the seller wouldn't be taking you for a ride, either.

Will · 06-30-2010, 10:15 PM

I wouldn't run WVO in it. An indirect-injection motor (which I also wouldn't run it through) does the real injection event when the mix is blasted out of the prechamber vent by a bit of the combustion. The injection system is more crude--pressure is low, spray angle doesn't matter as much, parts are cheaper, whole engine is cheaper. That 466 is direct injected and the injection system is at a much higher pressure, spray angle and pattern matter and so the fuel needs to be as thin as diesel when it injects. Heating it might work, but does it stay at the correct viscosity all the way through the injectors? If it doesn't you can have leftovers in the combustion chambers. I wouldn't be surprised if the acids in fat don't eat some engine parts as well. Or if the stuff doesn't gum up delicate parts.

I would WVO an old Rabbit, but not a $5,000+ DT466. You might have gotten the bus cheap, but screw up anything in that engine and you'll realize that you bought a very expensive vehicle at a very low price. If you do a conversion and invest thousands, then suddenly the motor junks out, what are you going to do?

I would give it only diesel fuel, but taste the fuel before pumping it into the tank to make sure it isn't poisoned. It's the most valuable part of the bus. And it's not like you are going to commute with it. It will sit and rot in your tank and the racoons and 'possums will be crowing under the bus worshipping it.

Will · 07-06-2010, 09:51 AM

I'm sure you'll research the WVO thing extensively, but even if you do it, it would probably be wise to do it a year after completion it to see how much you drive it.

I think you'll get 10mpg or better.

Diesel Dan · 07-06-2010, 12:14 PM

Many, many people have put many thousands of miles on engines converted to WVO, both direct and indirect injected. The important thing is to do a lot of research and make sure you fully understand what you are doing, otherwise you will likely encounter problems. I've been running my indirect injected Mercedes on WVO for at least 30,000 miles and it runs as good as ever. I have a couple friends who run Ford powerstrokes, which are direct injection, on WVO and have also done so for at least as many miles as I have. I plan on converting my DT466 bus, and have already started to gather the necessary parts for the conversion.

Diesel Dan · 07-06-2010, 02:19 PM

It's not easy to find WVO sources. I've found that your best bet is to find small mom & pop restaurants that are less desireable for the big rendering companies to deal with and pay. You will probably get less oil from each restaurant, so you may have to line up several sources. This varies depending on what part of the country you live in. Whether or not rendering companies offer to pay restaurants or vice-versa seems to vary quite a bit depending on where you live, and even varies within any given city.

Will · 07-06-2010, 08:45 PM

I've been reading about WVO, not having looked into it before really. Sounds risky to me still and better suited to a throw-away engine. Horror stories of nozzles getting clogged and streaming fuel into the piston instead of atomizing it and burning a hole through it. Apparently there are kits with nozzles available for WVO conversions and the injectors should be occasionanlly pulled and tested. Also, with WVO being closer the the sg of water it's easier to get water into the fuel and needs more attention paid to keeping the filter drained. Otherwise rust in the injector spring can cause failure through rust and burn up the piston. Also, wvo is acidic and I believe there are additives to help with that, but it still requires more frequent oil changes.

Like with anything it appears to me there are a few hard-core enthusiasts for it that seem to know exactly how to not encounter trouble; a few haters who claim it eats everything it touches; fence sitters who don't know what to think and watch the fights bebtween the other two.

I'm a fence sitter, but if I had lots of family in the deep-fry restraunt business and a P30 with a 6.2 GM diesel, I would do it with the understanding that I may ruin the engine and have a backup because they are cheap. Not on my bus though. Good luck with it and I hope it works out.

You may also like: