Interior Height Rules of Thumb

[OD_Vegan]

So I am 6' 2" and looking to complete my build without a roof raise, if possible. Do you know of any general tips or rules of thumb in looking for a bus with an interior center height of 75 inches and higher? Makes, styles, years, exterior tips or indicators?

Thanks for the help!

[milkmanchip]

A lot of buses come in a lot of different sizes but traditionally a bluebird will be taller the closer you get to the windows from the center more of a square tube where a older Thomas body will be taller in the center and get shorter faster towards the window, I think what I'm trying to say is there's different shapes of roof lines in the interior of buses also that you may want to watch also my old 71 Bluebird was 6-2 almost out to the edge and my 92 Thomas is 5/11 in the middle and gets shorter faster towards the windows.

[joeblack5]

transit bus... 92" in the front and 76 in the rear.

Later J

[OD_Vegan]

Thanks! I know a transit bus would fit the bill for height, but I don't know if I want to give up that much ground clearance. Also, the way those motors are crammed into those things... I would love to find a high-roofed, front engine bus.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by OD_Vegan

Thanks! I know a transit bus would fit the bill for height, but I don't know if I want to give up that much ground clearance. Also, the way those motors are crammed into those things... I would love to find a high-roofed, front engine bus.

Careful... I think one of you is implying a city bus.

School buses (Blue Birds at least) come in a "transit" model... simply put, they have storage lockers in the sides. The skirts are no lower than a non-transit. To the best of my knowledge, BBs come in 74" and 78" interior heights. Mine is of the 74" variety and has the storage lockers. I'm doing a roof raise.

[OD_Vegan]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Careful... I think one of you is implying a city bus.

School buses (Blue Birds at least) come in a "transit" model... simply put, they have storage lockers in the sides. The skirts are no lower than a non-transit. To the best of my knowledge, BBs come in 74" and 78" interior heights. Mine is of the 74" variety and has the storage lockers. I'm doing a roof raise.

You're right, I was referring to a city bus/terminal bus/shuttle variant. Do you know any tricks for determining if the BB is a 74 or 78 from pictures?

[CaptSquid]

I've a 2003 Thomas HDX Transit-style. I'm 6'2" and I STILL have >8" in the aisle. No danger of me smacking my coconut.

[Rusty]

Check out former bookmobiles. I'm same height and I have 6" next to walls of 2003 Front-eng as BlueBird raised roof at factory 12".

Not to mention they professionally installed Onan 10K diesel genny and 100 amp shore power, closed cell sprayfoam insulation, no windows and thicker body skin (16ga), and 2 15K Air Cond units w/ heat.

And they have crazy low miles, driven by librarian- mine has 26K mi.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by CaptSquid

I've a 2003 Thomas HDX Transit-style. I'm 6'2" and I STILL have >8" in the aisle. No danger of me smacking my coconut.

I still can't get over your 6'10 interior height. THat's more than mine after a roof raise.
What brand of tape you measure with!?

[joeblack5]

Yeah , ground clearance can be an issue, but time and money in a roof raise are no peanuts either.
Pick your poison.
later J

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by OD_Vegan

Do you know any tricks for determining if the BB is a 74 or 78 from pictures?

Lol, this question is asked a lot. No worries, I asked it too. And I'll give you the same answer...

No, ignore the passenger count or at the very least use it as reference only. The seats can be configured differently so they are the same exact bus from probably 72-90. My bus is "13 windows" and 84 pax. I just noticed (just paid attention???) this week that my bus actually is a 14 window bus but the last row of windows are sheet metaled over by Blue Bird. That row of windows would be behind the last row of snot-lickers (RE so no seats there), would be one more row of leaks, cold air, etc. so why bother?

So, count the window rows but realize that some of the windows are 25" wide and some are 32" wide. If you really REALLY want to know, grab the VIN and run it on the Blue Bird website.

Unit Dashboard | Portal

Originally Posted by Rusty

Check out former bookmobiles. I'm same height and I have 6" next to walls of 2003 Front-eng as BlueBird raised roof at factory 12".

Not to mention they professionally installed Onan 10K diesel genny and 100 amp shore power, closed cell sprayfoam insulation, no windows and thicker body skin (16ga), and 2 15K Air Cond units w/ heat.

And they have crazy low miles, driven by librarian- mine has 26K mi.

I think I'm going to have to hate you now.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by joeblack5

Yeah , ground clearance can be an issue, but time and money in a roof raise are no peanuts either.
Pick your poison.
later J

a roof raise CAN be done in a couple of weekends. I'd say if you did the work yourself you could do it for maybe a thousand bucks.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Lol, this question is asked a lot. No worries, I asked it too. And I'll give you the same answer...

No, ignore the passenger count or at the very least use it as reference only. The seats can be configured differently so they are the same exact bus from probably 72-90. My bus is "13 windows" and 84 pax. I just noticed (just paid attention???) this week that my bus actually is a 14 window bus but the last row of windows are sheet metaled over by Blue Bird. That row of windows would be behind the last row of snot-lickers (RE so no seats there), would be one more row of leaks, cold air, etc. so why bother?

So, count the window rows but realize that some of the windows are 25" wide and some are 32" wide. If you really REALLY want to know, grab the VIN and run it on the Blue Bird website.

Unit Dashboard | Portal


I think I'm going to have to hate you now.

I coulda swore I'd sent you a link to a bookmobile for sale at auction when you were bus shopping.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I coulda swore I'd sent you a link to a bookmobile for sale at auction when you were bus shopping.

I dunno if it was that one or one of the vet ones. At the time I didn't have the cash for the "higher priced" buses. $5k for all the extra goodies is well worth it if you have the extra money upfront.