" The bus"

[HazMatt]

I'd advise staying out of cold water.
Just sayin'...
(Apologies to the both of y'all. I really can't help it)

[Ronnie]

We have had our water tank in plain view which is convenient to see how much water we have, but not the prettiest thing. So made a screen to dress it up a bit.

[ol trunt]

Nice job. The finish on the wood looks great!
Jack

[Ronnie]

Spent the last two days changing the right rear storage compartment. There was an original compartment built long and thin, good for water hoses, power cords and such but not much else. Plus it was badly rusted out. So removed it.

I had a new truck storage box with locks and keys. A bit shallow only about 15" deep but otherwise a close fit to where the old one was. I cut off the back of it and with some aluminum diamond plate I had left over from another project bolted the pieces in to make the box full depth from the outer skin to the frame of the bus 29 1/2" . Still needs a few details and paint, but fully serviceable now.

Here are some pictures.

[LazyLeg]

Where did you get your solar panels? How did you find out how much power you needed? I've got the 72 International and I want to put solar panels on, but I have little to no knowledge on how to gauge how much I need.

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by LazyLeg

Where did you get your solar panels? How did you find out how much power you needed? I've got the 72 International and I want to put solar panels on, but I have little to no knowledge on how to gauge how much I need.

You need to list every electrical item that will be used in the bus. Check the usage requirements of each and how often during the day you plan on using said item. That will get you ballpark of the required amount of power you will need. Then add solar panels enough to meet those requirements. There's an intense science that goes with building a solar system.

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by LazyLeg

Where did you get your solar panels? How did you find out how much power you needed? I've got the 72 International and I want to put solar panels on, but I have little to no knowledge on how to gauge how much I need.

I bought the panels, charge controller, and all the electrical connecters from Renogy. It was a "kit".


You will find either wattage rating or amperage usage on all electrical appliances. Even 12 volt appliances will have it listed. Often it will give amps, so you need to convert that to watts. The formula is amps X volts = watts. As an example my ceiling fan uses about 3 amps on high. So 3 X12volts =36 watts. Now run it for 8 hours while sleeping, and you get 288 watts total for the day. So do that with everything you plan to use in the bus, and add it up. Again this gives the total for the day. Solar panels are listed by wattage per hour. Figure about 5 maybe 6 hours per day of good output. As the sun angle gets lower the wattage will drop a lot, so for planning do not really count all the hours in a day.



I then doubled it to get the size of panels, because cloudy days, rainy days or being in a northern latitude in the fall or winter, all greatly reduce the amount of watts a given panel will do.

[JackE]

Nice work Ronnie! It's great to see so much vintage equipment being put to use! My son recently found an old bus he has decided to do the leg work to get in his shop to restore. I'll start a thread for it one of these days.

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Most of my childhood and until I moved out from my folks was around scouts!! Our first one was a 345 scout II with a 4 speed ..
Christopher

I have a little experience with the early '60's Scout, although it was only about half Scout...….(See pics below)

Originally Posted by Ronnie

My Dad had one of the "half" engine 4 cylinder ones he bought new. Dark green. Think it was a 67. I remember many a times stuck in thick mud...... So learned on a Subaru .

All my earliest days learning to drive were in a Subaru. The first vehicle I bought was a '80 Hatchback for $65. I drove it home about 60 miles and got to work making it as cool as a Subaru can be!

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Well looked up Red green, he sure is entertaining.

Growing up in Northeast Wisconsin the days of 4 TV channels, I got to know Red Green and all the cast of SCTV very well!

[LazyLeg]

That's the best advice I've gotten. Thanks!

[Ronnie]

The latest addition or change I should say to our bus, headers. Yes I put exhaust headers on. Better exhaust flow and get the exhaust heat out better. So far better fuel mileage, will see long term what the average is, but it is a measurable difference already. Sound is a bit different too. not louder just different, clearer really. Got the headers from "Stan's Headers" . Nicely made and ceramic coated. Plus they are made for the International 1700 chassis including school buses. How neat a stock item for this bus.


As far as power it seems more responsive but if there is an overall power gain it must be small. At higher rpms there is a noticeable sound change were the come into tune.

[cadillackid]

Headers are huge . I love em, I w not put them on my 392 yet but I always used em on my Chevy small blocks and the engine just overall ran better.. cooler, little peppier on the low end and sounded cool as hell.. would be fun to run true duals all the way back !

[Ronnie]

I am running true 3" duals, but exiting just in front of the rear wheels. This is my first time using headers, so far liking them.