Buying: School bus for conversion.

farmerSmurf · 02-20-2015, 03:45 PM

I am in CO but can travel to most places.

I am looking to buy a good running condition bus, for RV & WVO conversion.

Engine wanted: DD 2 stroke, 6v71, 8v71, 12v71, or 16v71.

Flexible on body style.

Is it reasonible to expect to find this costing in the $3k range?

can be reached at
sloth.burger.whoop@gmail.com

Thanks!

charles_m · 02-20-2015, 11:12 PM

Lots of older MCI coaches have the DD 2 stokers in them, look for MC9's, 8's, and 7's.

Are you joking about the 12 and 16v71s?

Id love to see a bus with one of those in it!

Do you have an aversion to the v92 series? the 6v92 was pretty darn common. Not trying to be rude, but it sounds like you might not know exactly what you're talking about.

Harder and harder to find parts and people to work on these motors... I'm assuming you're familiar with them?

I buy a lot of buses from Roller and they are right down the street from my company. I see MCI's there every few months.

Colorado Auctions - Denver Equipment Auctions | Roller Auctions

Don't get me wrong, I love those DD's and still own a bus with an 8v71, but I wouldnt want one if I didn't already know how to do almost everything on them myself, which I don't.

farmerSmurf · 02-21-2015, 01:15 AM

No offense, as you can tell from my post count I am newbie here. I have been researching, and had selected that 12 series DD because I have read it handles conversion to WVO operation due to the injector type.

what I read was that DD 2 stroke diesels are very happy running wvo with one significant advantage over other engines.....each injector has it's own built in injector pump. If one or more injectors fail the engine will continue to run. And DD are prob the cheapest engines to buy parts for. All the engines in each series use exactly the same parts. So a 6v71 uses the same injectors, pistons, rings, heads, etc as the 6v71, 8v71, 12v71,and 16v71.

so thats what has me looking for aschool bus, with 2 stroke DD. however having a hard time finding them except in coaches.

EastCoastCB · 02-21-2015, 04:29 AM

I've seen Cummins WVO conversions too.
If you're an eco-consious type then be aware that the DD engines can be very smoky and leaky. And get less mpg's.
Emissions is they were replaced with the series 60's and 50's.
Just my two cents.
Welcome to the forum!

charles_m · 02-21-2015, 10:08 AM

I see what you're saying. I have run veg with success in many engines. May favorite was a DT466 with a bosch inline-style injection pump but Im not into it anymore for economic reasons. Its very hard to come by in my area.

Regarding the DD engines, its worth going over the nomenclature for naming. The first number indicates the number of cylinders, the v-if present-denotes a v configuration, and the last number is the cubic inches per cylinde. If there is a T after that, its a turbo.
You can see why I laughed about a 12 or 16v71 because that engine would be super large and not fit in a bus without heavy mods.

You will most likely find 8v71, 6v92T, 8v92T in buses. They all use the same engine technology. My dream car would be an old Scout with a DD 453T (4, 53 CI cylinders)

Good luck out there. I love the way the old dds sound. Theyre like dinosaurs on the highway.

farmerSmurf · 02-21-2015, 04:57 PM

thanks for the advice, I really don't care about leaks or emissions, I would like an older engine that does not have all the computer stuff, as I want this bus to be a off grid survival vehicle as much as possible(very attracted to how the 2 stroke can fail on one port and still keep running). but only if its easy to source parts and labor for.

Primary reason for veg oil conversion is to have a dual purpouse fuel system for after the collapse of our fuel economy. besides I run a food cart, so I have veg oil to dispose of.

I do see a lot of DT466 engines available in buses, if they have a bosch inline-style injection pump then I think that would be the same process I was looking at for converting the DD. as that seems to be the main concern for ease of adaptation.

EastCoastCB · 02-21-2015, 06:40 PM

I'm a big fan of the mechanical dt466's.
Very common and robust. Parts and service are everywhere.

charles_m · 02-22-2015, 08:35 AM

I highly recommend the dt466. Anything before 1995 should be mechanical. My last wvo bus was a dt466 and drank the veg like a charm. I dont think ive ever seen a dd 2stroker in a school bus before but it would be cool.
I live in denver and could give you a lot of advice/help with converting a bus to Veg. My last system was fully mechanical with manual 3-way valves for switching. It worked very well and easily heated oil to 180 at the pump using heated in tank pickups, heated filterheads, and a burly flat plate heat exchanger.

Keep us posted!

Veganvegabond · 02-22-2015, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_m

I highly recommend the dt466. Anything before 1995 should be mechanical. My last wvo bus was a dt466 and drank the veg like a charm. I dont think ive ever seen a dd 2stroker in a school bus before but it would be cool.
I live in denver and could give you a lot of advice/help with converting a bus to Veg. My last system was fully mechanical with manual 3-way valves for switching. It worked very well and easily heated oil to 180 at the pump using heated in tank pickups, heated filterheads, and a burly flat plate heat exchanger.

Keep us posted!

I asked about the DT466 in the wvo section of the forum.....did you use a block heater too or just a tank heater?

Timelord · 02-23-2015, 11:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by charles_m

...Anything before 1995 should be mechanical...

1997 was the last year for mechanical.

elkoskoolie · 02-25-2015, 10:36 AM

The last years of Crown skoolies commonly had mid mounted DD 6-71's with both manual and auto trannies. Not sure if Gillig offered the DD also (I think so). They have both gotten harder to find though. I think the later, square bodied Crowns may have had DD V configured two strokes?

farmerSmurf · 02-27-2015, 09:44 PM

DT466 is the one for me then, thanks so much for everyones feedback. especially charles_m I look forward to talking with you when I get ready to do a conversion, thank you very much for the offer.

EastCoastCB · 02-27-2015, 10:26 PM

Can't go wrong with the DT.
I like mine.

charles_m · 03-02-2015, 06:39 PM

The DT is a fantastic engine. As close to a unanimous standard for MD Diesel applications as you will find. A block heater isn't going to do anything for you, in terms of WVO, unless you are going to retrofit it somehow to heat oil. The temp of the block is not important. It's about keeping that oil viscous and heated. Make sure that the DT has an "Inline" style injection pump. The rotary pumps (much older technology) are not as good with veg. My current bus has the rotary style which I will someday upgrade to the inline style, but if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Good luck out there, feel free to PM me or whatever with questions. I saved a lot of headache by having someone to bounce ideas off of for my first conversion, which was also on a DT466.

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