First time you drove a school bus.

[the_experience03]

Dumb question, Jaraxle. Now I know you swapped the 460 in, but you probably will know anyway. Is there such a thing as an industrial version of the 460 like the tall deck 427 BBC? I've done some searching and haven't found anything about an industrial specific 385 series other than the 370 and that monsterous thing (500 some inches) that every small volunteer fire department seems to have in an old tanker...and I don't even know if that is a 385 series or not.

[boojiewoojie]

I love driving mine. It feels more comfortable than driving my car cause you can see so well. At work as a stand-by driver I regularly drive buses for the first time and they all have there quirks. Especially the new ones. The computer will adjust to driving habits (like flooring it all the time or easing out from a stop) so it's interesting to see where the shifts happen when I first start driving. I know which drivers dog their buses!!!

[arfisher83]

My dad once had a '73 International and he let me drive it on the country roads. Other than that, I've had no prior experience. I drove my '88 Carpenter over an hour to get it home and everything went well. My friend, who used to drive a bus professionally had one piece of advice - take your turns wide. I listened to him and haven't hit a curb once thank god.

-Adam

[Roasting8]

First time I drove my bus my bus was to test drive my bus. It was an experience having a driving instructor telling me not to cut the corners too close.

After that, I drove the bus from Santa Clara, CA to Apache Junction, AZ (about 30 miles east of Phoenix).

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted by the_experience03

Dumb question, Jaraxle. Now I know you swapped the 460 in, but you probably will know anyway. Is there such a thing as an industrial version of the 460 like the tall deck 427 BBC? I've done some searching and haven't found anything about an industrial specific 385 series other than the 370 and that monsterous thing (500 some inches) that every small volunteer fire department seems to have in an old tanker...and I don't even know if that is a 385 series or not.

Just noticed this post, sorry it took this long...

AFAIK, there's no HD 460...I sorta built my own with a core from an old F-350 stake-body. There were HD 370's and 429's (sometimes referred to as the 6.1 litre and 7.0 litre respectively) in trucks up to the F-800, and the totally-unrelated 534ci gasser I've actually seen in a couple semi tractors. (!) AFAIK, the big-truck 370's and 429's had stainless valves, rotators, heavy pistons, etc. Some also used different mounting systems.

We don't have any in either firehouse here, though...the tankers have a Mopar 360 gasser (Dodge Power Wagon) and a 465ci White-Continental turbo diesel (Diamond-REO military 5-ton, both ex-Forest Service). The ladder trucks (both old Autocars) have an 855ci Cummins (Ladder and a roaring, smoke-belching, flame-throwing 500+HP 12V71 Detroit (Ladder 12, nicknamed "The Buzzin' Dozen"). Until recently, both also had twin-stick 15-speeds (now have 13-speed Road Rangers). Ladder 12 will go up hills right along with the cars...and the engine at full-bore is louder than the siren (straightpiped exhaust, no mufflers).