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Old 02-11-2010, 09:29 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Well, the Crown Coach didn't make it back, so it is now sold. I am now looking for a shorter bus, a Bluebird TC Special Ed bus that has a very short wheelbase of 132", a flat nose, roughly 23 to 26 passengers. I have attached a photo of what it looks like. Hopefully I can find one nearby in the midwest (close to Nebraska). If anyone knows of anything, let me know on here or email me at bberan@tubingandadventures.com.
Thanks everyone,
Brock Beran
Tubing & Adventures
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Old 02-11-2010, 01:59 PM   #2
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

hey mightybus! The Crown ran perfectly, I have no complaints about it. Unfortunately, the tires on it weren't in as good as shape as I was hoping. When the tire blew up, it damaged the exhaust, some air hoses, and some coolant lines. When it tore out the air hoses, it cracked the air tank. No air tank = no air brakes. The repair shop took forever trying to find a replacement for the tank, but finally I had a guy weld the crack. The repairs for all of that were $1500. The tow cost me $720. It was a short tow, only a few miles, but it took forever for them to figure out a way to hook it up. And at $180 an hour for a bigrig tow truck, it adds up quickly. But I have no regrets, it was a great roadtrip, and I got my money back out of the bus. Now onto the next bus...
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Old 02-11-2010, 03:57 PM   #3
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

The trip was with 2 other buddies, so we made sure to have a good time, plus we broke down near vegas

The bus was a midship engine, and it was one of the rear tires that blew.

The ones on ebay are pretty spendy. I found a few others for a decent price, but they are quite the distance away. They are pretty funky looking though.
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Old 02-12-2010, 02:35 PM   #4
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Dang! Where is Ocala? It could be a fun roadtrip!!! Is it a person or a dealer selling it?
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Old 02-13-2010, 06:42 AM   #5
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

It's in Florida, and it's on a used car lot, so it's a dealer selling it.
That is essentially the bus I was looking for too, but once I added up all the things we "need" in a bus, it turns out we "need" a full size rig.
So much for parking it at our house.
The short bluebirds are great, they will practically turn around in their own shadow.
Check here, I can usually find one like that from these folks.
http://www.midwesttransit.com/Bus-Search.asp?a15=N&a0=0
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Old 02-14-2010, 03:23 PM   #6
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

That is funny, because I thought I wanted a full sized bus, and now I think I need a midsized bus. And you are exactly right, I need a bus that turns on a dime, so it sounds like this is the bus for me. And that is a great website, there are some good bus there for a decent price. Do you think there is a huge benefit for having a handicap lift on a bus for tubing? The only thing I can think of is to easily lift coolers and stuff into the bus. How much can they lift? Think they could lift a motorcycle into the bus??? Hmmmm....
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Old 02-15-2010, 06:06 AM   #7
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Yeah, can definitely lift a motorcycle in. Might be hard to get a huge cruiser on one, as they can be somewhat short, but you could probably find a way.
How much can they lift? Depends on the model, and they have a plate or sticker on them listing max weight. I haven't inspected one yet, but probably 600lbs easy.
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Old 02-17-2010, 01:29 PM   #8
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Cool! My bike is a bobber, so I stripped off a lot of the stuff, so it isn't as big and it doesn't weigh as much.
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Old 02-22-2010, 10:35 PM   #9
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

FWIW, I have been emailing you about big bird, but no reply.
Sorry to hijack.
Lots of GSA buses on ebay, but the sellers want big dollars for them. Pretty proud of them i guess.
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Old 02-23-2010, 05:34 PM   #10
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Errr... never mind.
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Old 02-26-2010, 07:02 AM   #11
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Never mind that one, that's way too much.
Check this out. In Kankakee Illinois, Midwest Transit has a LOT of the shorter buses, and almost all of them are at 2900.
http://www.midwesttransit.com/Bus-Search.asp?a15=N&a0=0
I was just shopping there for our bus.

It's a lot closer to you too.
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Old 02-26-2010, 02:09 PM   #12
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Oh, and you might want to avoid the Thomas buses they have. I was informed that many of them have "issues". Stuff like busted brake lines, dead batteries, etc. I guess they were parked for a few years, and not maintained. They have a lot of them currently.
So, unfortunately, that may rule out a lot of those you would be interested in. They are super friendly though on the phone, they were willing to tell me straight up what is going on with them. There is probably a few of them that are fine, but they will need going over with a fine tooth comb, because of the time they sat unmaintained.
For someone with some time, and a bit of money, replacing the stuff will be no big deal, but I am too far away to consider those units. Towing from Illinois would be expensive.
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Old 07-08-2010, 09:06 PM   #13
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Re: Wanted: Bluebird TC Special Ed Bus

Thanks for all of the info, this is great. I am already looking for a second bus for the business, so things are going well.
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