" The bus" - Page 5

Ronnie · 01-25-2019, 08:00 PM

Did some paint work this evening, so the front clip will be ready to be put back on once I take care of a few more details. The purple now comes all the way to the firewall, and have the inside of the fenders painted.

Pinion angle is unchanged, but the driveshaft to tranny is about 1 degree. I have the mounts at the same height as with the other engine, maybe it was always off just a little. I could lower the front of the engine just a little. Seems 1 degree should be ok?

I did check run out on the driveshaft after it was installed with a dial indicator, and it is running within about .002"

Ronnie · 01-28-2019, 06:00 PM

Other then a few little odds and ends we have the bus back together. Started the engine today, and did a bit of tuning. Runs nice, will give it a test drive this week.

Tango · 01-28-2019, 06:59 PM

Congrats! Must feel good to go from a "sitter" to a "runner".

Yukon Cornelius · 01-29-2019, 02:13 PM

nice, great feeling when you fire get to fire her back up eh.

Ronnie · 01-29-2019, 06:49 PM

The hood going on. Drove it out of the shop today and took a spin around the block. Really pleased with the Manuel trans, and the engine too.

One interesting thing to note is the exhaust has quite a bark to it, and much louder then the 392. Think it might wake the dead... so need to quiet it down some. Really feeling like the 392 was never quite right.

cadillackid · 01-29-2019, 07:07 PM

if your exhaust note is stronger on the 345 then your 392 was sick.. my 392 is a deep throaty sound and thats in a bus where the pipe is way behind me..

im guessing since that motor came apart it probably was tired all along.. a fresh 345 will beat a tired 392 all day long..

-Christopher

Ronnie · 02-08-2019, 05:56 PM

Gremlins have been having fun with the bus. New exhaust gasket/donuts failed after 100 miles, then a return hose on the power steering gave up, and other little annoying things. I made new donuts out of bronze, supported the exhaust system better, and did some other odd and ends.

Also fixed an engine stumble.Two problems, the advance on the dirtibutor was stuck, and it turns out I was using ported vacuum for the distributor, not manifold vacuum. Switching to manifold vacuum cured that.

So another trip this weekend, and see what happens. Short local drives it is running as it should now.

Ronnie · 04-18-2019, 06:23 PM

Two trips to Florida from Virginia, one of them towing our boat, and a bunch of local trips. Still not fully happy with the ignition system. The centrifugal advance has failed. So enough of old distributors. I bought a DUI( Davis unified industries) HEI distributor. Installed it today. Very tight fit, the thermostat housing had to be modified, and a different neck on top of it , and the temp sensor needed to be moved as well. Bought new wires, and changed plugs too. They recommend .055" spark plug gap. I did .050", never have I gapped a plug that much.

Results, it is smooooth, and no more missing at full throttle. Missing at full throttle did not always happen however at times I think i was drowning out the original ignition, I had to tip toe it sometimes, now it can be put right down no problem. Also needed to lean my fuel mixture a little and reset idle back down.

Just trying to dial it in to perfection or at least as close as I can get.

cadillackid · 04-18-2019, 06:51 PM

hey ronnie, where did you get your DUI ignition? I need to do that for my 392.. I still have the factory points distributor and it seems hard to keep it in time... same issue as you.. .. well mine seems like my advance curve is Lazy...

also what do you set your initial at? the tag on. my 392 says 0 BTDC, im used to the chevy world where you run a lot more.. I have mine set at 0 now since the engine is tagged that way..

ive still go to richen my micture up a little more.. I went to a bigger jet and rod.. but im at a "just in range" setting for what people online say.. I always liked a little richer mixture and dialed a couple degrees timing to heat things up a bit if needed..

do you like leaner and slightly retarded timing for these engines? or a tad rich and tad advance?
-Christopher

Ronnie · 04-18-2019, 07:49 PM

I got my DUI at Summit racing. about $450 or so and that included the modified thermostat housing, and gaskets. $100 more gets the wires, they are worth it.

I set timing at 10 btdc. These engines do like a fair amount of advance, total timing on the 392 should be around 37 degrees, the 345 41 degrees. I am right about 40 total now. I am not getting any ping or knocking. Will see how it does for a bit and might go a little more. Need to use the bus weekend after this, and might pull a plug or two and see how they look.

0 degrees does not work to well in any of the International engines I have had, 8-10 has been about right in my others, a 304 in a pickup and a 345 in a 1600.

Fuel yes a bit rich, but I was a bit too rich. You may want to get the ignition where you want it first. The coil on the DUI is 55,000 volts. It really makes a difference.

Ronnie · 07-13-2019, 05:38 PM

Now that summer is here a/c is on my mind. Have two rooftop units that work great on shore power, so just need a very long extension cord... The bus did have in dash air however in the engine swap I did not put it back in, and because I moved the radiator forward the condenser no longer fits.

I tried playing with a portable generator and as long as it is not in the generator compartment its works fine. In the compartment it must get to hot for it and trips the circuit breaker. So kind of useless on the road.

Well looked on craigslist and found an RV generator, Onan microlite 4000 real cheap. Installed it today and that really is the way to go, smooth relatively quiet and intended to run rv rooftop a/c plus a few smaller appliances. Since we have solar for everything else the a/c is all it needs to do, and be a back up in case of to many rainy days. I am thinking if we put a curtain behind the front a/c it will keep the driving area cool. We have insulated and plugged air leaks in the firewall, so our heat gain there is reasonable.

I need to set up a fuel tank for it and do some final wiring details before driving it. Looking forward to being cool on our next trip.

Ronnie · 07-13-2019, 05:40 PM

Oh by the way we have now put 11,000 miles on the bus since getting it running. It has been trouble free for a while now.

plfking · 07-13-2019, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Oh by the way we have now put 11,000 miles on the bus since getting it running. It has been trouble free for a while now.

{Montgomery Burn's voice} "Excellent." {/Montgomery Burn's voice}

That's got to be a satisfactory feeling.

Yukon Cornelius · 07-15-2019, 05:58 AM

Outstanding on both counts, a comfortable driver compartment is key for running any kind of distance

Ronnie · 07-15-2019, 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Yukon Cornelius

Outstanding on both counts, a comfortable driver compartment is key for running any kind of distance

Yes it is, I will be trying it out this weekend. Supposed to 100 degrees friday and saturday. So good testing weather. Oh my god if it does not work I am going to melt.... But at least stationary it works well.

Did finish the generator installation yesterday, so all is ready to go.

BlackJohn · 07-15-2019, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Yes it is, I will be trying it out this weekend. Supposed to 100 degrees friday and saturday. So good testing weather. Oh my god if it does not work I am going to melt.... But at least stationary it works well.

Did finish the generator installation yesterday, so all is ready to go.

Sounds good Ronnie, did you locate a fuel tank for it of enough capacity? At least enough fuel for a couple hours straight run time, more hopefully.

I have a 30 yr old Onan 4000 in the rv and it does the job more than adequately still so if yours is newer you should have no problem in motion.
Did you get a remote starter with it nor is it a manual start?

John

Ronnie · 07-15-2019, 07:27 PM

For now a 3 gallon boat tank with a quick coupler for easy filling. It is in a seperate compartment. This is enough to get an idea of fuel usage. As long as the three gallon tank lasts as long as the main fuel tank that would be ok. Then will put a larger permanent tank in later.

Mine is a 96 model year. manual start.

Ronnie · 07-21-2019, 04:07 PM

A/c testing follow up. With a curtain behind the rooftop a/c so I am cooling just the front 8 ft is it works ok while driving. Not great but enough to be worth it. I do want cooler though.

Fual consumption is about 1/2 gallon per hour for the generator. I did run a battery cable to it from the house batteries instead of its own separate battery. It does not have a 12 volt alternator on it.

Ronnie · 07-21-2019, 04:42 PM

Now for more cooling. I really feel air flow is the problem rather then cooling capacity. Rooftop a/c blows air best to the rear. And if course I want it to go to the front. So a hole saw and some flex duct and now it blows very well to the front. And it looks so high tech complete with bungee cord.....

Yes I did look into the ac unit before drilling and put the hole right under the main air duct.

This week will try it this way. If it is still not as much as I want then a longer hose to get it past the curtain that is right behind the front seats. Really do not think I will have to do that. Once we have it working good then will make or buy some sort of nozzle that looks good.

Yukon Cornelius · 07-22-2019, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ronnie

Now for more cooling. I really feel air flow is the problem rather then cooling capacity. Rooftop a/c blows air best to the rear. And if course I want it to go to the front. So a hole saw and some flex duct and now it blows very well to the front. And it looks so high tech complete with bungee cord.....

Yes I did look into the ac unit before drilling and put the hole right under the main air duct.

This week will try it this way. If it is still not as much as I want then a longer hose to get it past the curtain that is right behind the front seats. Really do not think I will have to do that. Once we have it working good then will make or buy some sort of nozzle that looks good.

I think Red Green had a saying about this

love a low tech solution

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