Priced right?

[EastCoastCB]

I have a hard enough time finding anyone to work on my common buses. Be real careful getting rare, uncommon, obsolete, or otherwise unobtainable stuff.

[Tango]

"...rare, uncommon, obsolete, or otherwise unobtainable..."


I think you just summed up my avatar/project ECCB!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Tango

"...rare, uncommon, obsolete, or otherwise unobtainable..."


I think you just summed up my avatar/project ECCB!

I should have said... Unless you're a really competent Hobbit!

[cadillackid]

anything old is going to take time to find parts for.. and if you are not near home base, gonna take $$ as welll. ive seen people withy vintage busses layed up for a week or more looking for parts.. it just goes with the territory.. though I hadnt considered an MCI as rare, however its not going to be something love's truck stop can do more than a fuel filter on if it breaks down..



the AC could be easy or hard to fix.. missing belts can be anything from the belt wore out and broke, to the compressor or its bearings are destroyed.. or it spriung a leak, lost its freon and quit working so they never replaced the belt when maintenance was done.. older bs AC systems can sometimes be tough to find parts for. unless you are able to modify it and convert it to more modern system.
-Christopher

[cowlitzcoach]

At one time nearly 100% of all transit buses and well over half of all highway coaches were running Detroit Diesel 2-cycle diesel engines and Allison V-drive transmissions.

When GM stopped making buses of any kind no one else kept making buses with V-drives.

In other words, V-drives went out of fashion more than 30-years ago.

The V-drive came with less than four different 4-speed manual transmissions and fewer automatic transmissions. Most of the transmissions were 2-speed with a few were made with a 3-speed with 3rd an OD gear. The lack of transmission choices makes repairs or swaps extremely $$$ because of the lack of used parts still being available and even fewer new parts available.

The rear end ratios were also very limited. The transit Suburbans, 4104, and 4106, and newer GM highway coaches generally had highway gearing. All of the transit buses used city gearing and had top speeds of about 50-55 MPH. A new set of V-drive rear gears or faster rear gears are growing into the unicorn status.

The real problem more than anything else is finding someone who really knows how to work on that old stuff. You can still find some people who say they know but those power packages left frontline service so long ago that unless the tech is an old timer most techs only know from book learning and not actually wrenching experience.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

I can't jump in on the powertrain discussion except I wish I had the engine.
What I see in your description must be a typo? 280- gallon hot water storage? Is that cold water storage?
Description wise you have no domestic water storage and an extra heater and storage on the shower?
Must be a domestic/fresh water 280- gallon tank?
If that's true then you only have hot water to the shower and none to the kitchen sink?
If you're post is true and you either have a water heater feeding a 280- gallon tank stick somewhere or you have a good sized water heater In the living space and no domestic,fresh water tank? Can only assume a city water hook up? Sorry for all that.
Most important.
You have 280-gallons plus the 14-gallons at the shower that your holding tanks?
Black at 100-gallon.
grey at 100 gallon.
Now you have 94-gallons of extra water which could account for an outdoor sink or spigot or shower that just dumps on the ground?
Unless the tanks have a monitoring system to let you know when they are full then you're not going to know until you're toilet don't go nowhere when it's flushed or the grey tank backs up into the shower while your washing dishes?
Even if I bought one with something someone else has done I would probably make a clean slate and re-use what I am comfortable with?
I am dealing with an aging dinosaur as far as mechanics to work on my engine but I live on the coast and many older boats still run my engine so I can get a few of the old bus mechanics to talk to me and a few boat mechanics.
The older ones know it and the younger ones don't want to cause they were taught the computerized mess.
I want to replace my 8.2 Detroit with the 8v71 and a stick shift tranny.
Looking at the old school power trains more and more.
I just did some work for Clark power services in NC and they are strictly DETROIT AND ALLISON specified and they do work on the other stuff also.
Good people at least to me cause I put heat into the mechanics bays for them.
that's where my 86 is going for a repowering when I kill what I have?

[CarreAnn]

Hey guys,

Just wanted to thank you all again. We ditched this bus .. scared off by mechanical issues that could have really started piling up. All you input is extremely helpful along the way.

I'm sure I'll jump on here with more questions for the next bus. We're gonna go with something that's ready to go over doing it myself.

Thanks!