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Old 12-23-2013, 08:11 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Join Date: Nov 2013
Posts: 23
Year: 1968
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: Super coach
Engine: Cummins
Rated Cap: 79
The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

I picked up my 1968 Crown in central Washington state Nov 25 and my son and I started our trip. Got a late start to drive it back to the Chicago burbs. Well I got to know my bus fast, the plates were not current and it was a Monday and the DMV was closed, fuel guage don't work, speedometer was not acurate and only went 60 MPH becuase it has a govenor set for 2200 RPM. That made me miss Thanksgiving with my family and got home Friday morning. I drove back with expired plates and would play dumb if pulled over. I also found out the hard way it wasn't a 100 gallon fuel tank and since the fuel guage didn't work I had to gauge it by milage. Well, on Thanksgiving night at 11 pm, outside Des Moines, and 11 degrees outside, I ran out of diesel. 20 gallons of fuel, deliveried on a holiday...it cost me $303 bucks. The transmission is geared for the mountains of the west coast states and meant I ran throught the gears quickly and got up to 60MPH or should I say 2200 RPMs slowly.

Drove for 24 hours on Thanksgiving. I wish I knew how to adjust the govenor. I had to stop at I 80 truck stop, the worlds largest, at 2 am. Worth it. Since I got on I80 in Salt Lake City and saw that sign, I80 forever. So in a Clark Griswold moment from the movie Vacation at 4 am, decided to take a keepsake from our trip. I pulled over and ran over a large I80 sign next to the road and snap it off at the base. I got out and hearing coyotes behind me, took my cheap Wal-mart pliers, took the 3 bolts out and took the sign. Of course hide sight told me that was dumb but I laugh to look back at my state of mind that early morning of driving 22 hours.

A headlight went out and the stores don't stock old seal beam headlights so I couldn't change it. I drove with my brights on from mid Iowa back. So I am 1 town away from mine and a cop turns around and follows me. So, here is an old school bus, that looks very odd since Crowns were exclusivly used on the west coast, driving early morning after Thanksgiving, with the high-beams on, blinding the county cop, expired plates with a '06 sticker on Washington plates. I think, "great! after 2200 miles I'm gonna get pulled over with 4 miles from home". I see the business where I'm gonna park at and the light turns red. The cop has the plates right in front of him, high up the back of the bus at eye level. It turns green and I pull into the lot and he drives by slowly. The good lord was with me. So I stand up and open the door and get a big blast of cold air and have to pee NOW. So I did what any guy would do, I went right there in the doorway. Well, the cop had turned around drove by with with me hangin in the breeze, stopped and then kept going. The bus was turned off, the wife picked us up, went home and slept for 6 hours, woke up and made the whole Thanksgiving meal myself and spent the day with the family.

In the words of Jerry Garcia, "what a long strange trip it's been".

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Old 12-23-2013, 08:32 AM   #2
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Year: 1968
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

I'm calling it Hot 4 Teacher becuase I am a HUGE Vah Halen fan. I will be fun to tell everyone "sit down, Waldo!", from the hot for teacher video from Van Halen.
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Old 12-23-2013, 09:27 AM   #3
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Location: Houston, Texas
Posts: 8,462
Year: 1946
Coachwork: Chevrolet/Wayne
Chassis: 1- 1/2 ton
Engine: Cummins 4BT
Rated Cap: 15
Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

Welcome to Skoolie and to the weird & wonderful world of bus nuts! --- Sounds like a great unit. There are several Crowns here and the folks who have them are very knowledgeable and helpful. Don't hesitate to ask questions. And hey...if we don't know the answer, this bunch can always make up something nearly as interesting as your trip home.

Welcome aboard! And just remember...we like pix here.
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Old 12-23-2013, 09:58 AM   #4
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Year: 1968
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

He's a great tip for everyone. Go to salvagebid.com. You can buy a RV camper for next to nothing and it has everything you are gonna need for for your bus conversion. They have been totaled out by the insurance companies and cost anywhere from 500 to 1000 dollars. They have rollover, flood or other damage. Tanks, all the lines, toilets, sinks, plumbing, appliances, windows, propane, A/C units, generators, wiring. You gut it and move it into your bus.
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Old 12-23-2013, 02:53 PM   #5
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Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: Danville, California
Posts: 345
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Crown
Chassis: Supercoach
Engine: DD6-71T
Rated Cap: 78
Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

Congratulations on joining the madness. You made the best choice getting a Crown. I am also converting one of these yellow tanks. Mine is a 1988 Crown. My thread is here on Skoolie.net. Allweatherrider is also converting a Crown. Also check out the thread from Brown Crown. His Crown conversion is an inspired creation.

What are you going to do with your conversion? Any ideas as yet? Are you going to be a full timer or use it for weekend trips and vacations?
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Old 12-23-2013, 06:39 PM   #6
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

I watching and learning from you mistakes so I'm right there with ya.
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Old 12-23-2013, 07:16 PM   #7
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Location: Bakersfield, California
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Year: 1976
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Engine: Detroit 6-71 Mid-Ship Mounted
Rated Cap: 79 at Birth
Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

Welcome!!! Enjoyed your story of your trip and look forward to seeing your conversion...let the fun begin!
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Old 12-23-2013, 10:43 PM   #8
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Location: Southeast raleigh
Posts: 221
Year: 1974
Coachwork: Crown
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Engine: Detroit Diesel 6-71
Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

Welcome and congrats on saving another Crown!!

Sounds like you had an interesting trip so far, looking forward to seeing how it comes along!
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Old 12-24-2013, 12:49 AM   #9
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Location: Eastern Washington
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Year: 1986
Coachwork: Bluebird
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

Welcome VH fan (great group). Look forward to watching your progress. Highway sign to boot...lol! And as was already mentioned, pictures are appreciated. And how did you find a '68 here in WA? Good pick! Hope your Christmas will bring you lots of stuff for your bus.
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Old 12-24-2013, 11:59 AM   #10
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Location: Vacaville, Ca
Posts: 1,634
Year: 1988
Coachwork: Crown / Pusher
Engine: 8.3 Cummins
Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

Quote:
Originally Posted by gmarvel
Congratulations on joining the madness. You made the best choice getting a Crown. I am also converting one of these yellow tanks. Mine is a 1988 Crown. My thread is here on Skoolie.net. Allweatherrider is also converting a Crown. Also check out the thread from Brown Crown. His Crown conversion is an inspired creation
Congrats on your crown my bus is named Senza Legno, Senza Pontilli , hopefully will be posting some updated photos later today & you can start the East Coast chapter of the Crown Rollers
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Old 12-27-2013, 09:38 AM   #11
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

To find my Crown I Google'd it. I found it on Craigslist in Seattle. The guy was in central WA state which I had to take a Greyhound to get there. Oh, and the first Greyhound station I ever went to was in Seattle and it lived up to what I thought it would be....God aweful.
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Old 12-27-2013, 09:42 AM   #12
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Year: 1968
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

I love the pics on hear too but, I'm trying to figure out how to put pics on hear but I can't figure it out. I treied many times for my avatar and the samllest pixel'd pic I had was my VH symbol. I'll keep trying.
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Old 01-11-2014, 08:44 AM   #13
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

The weather here in the midwest is killing me. -16 without windchill is bad. I want to work on it but weather is everything.
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Old 01-11-2014, 10:52 AM   #14
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Year: 1988
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

Quote:
Originally Posted by coakes69
The weather here in the midwest is killing me. -16 without windchill is bad. I want to work on it but weather is everything.
I grew up about a 100 miles west of Chicago back in the 60's & 70's, I remember back in the mid 70's we had wind chill -60 deg, Can't say I miss it
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Old 06-20-2014, 04:58 AM   #15
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Location: South/North Dakota
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Year: 1989
Chassis: Ward
Engine: 6.6L Brazilian Ford
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Re: The birth of Hot 4 Teacher

I feel your pain! South Dakota here. I've been working on
mine slowly by jerks. In sub zero temps it takes a long time
to heat, even an insulated, space up. I finally resorted to leaving
an electric space heater in mine over night; when I'm working on
mine. It the only takes an hour or so to heat it up. Costs $$$ tho!


Quote:
Originally Posted by coakes69
The weather here in the midwest is killing me. -16 without windchill is bad. I want to work on it but weather is everything.
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