worth saving??

snowteller · 11-14-2016, 11:47 AM

hello,

Im new here but i guess this would be the best place to ask this question....

The crown bus in the picture is one in my backyard. It belonged to my father in law but he doesnt want it anymore. It has been sitting since 2004. The last time it ran but it needed a starter. The interior has been gutted for conversion. It has a international engine. But it the front steps have been rusted out

I enjoy classic things but my wife wont let me keep it (she hated riding in it growing up.) The local scrap yard is offering me $1100 for the bus. Is there any chance I can get that to see if someone wants to try and save it?

snowteller · 11-14-2016, 11:49 AM

it is in west texas

cadillackid · 11-14-2016, 12:52 PM

Nice looking bus... i loe the old crowns.. I already have 2 busses..

scrap the wife save the Bus!

-Christopher

jazty · 11-14-2016, 01:03 PM

It'd be a shame to see it go to the scrapper.

Can you change the thread title to read "worth saving?? Crown for sale" or something similar? This thread will grab more attention that way..

Where are you located? I can't make out the state on the license plate

Dapplecreek · 11-14-2016, 01:06 PM

I vote to keep the wife and put the bus on Craigslist for $1200. If it doesn't sell, scrap it. Use your proceeds towards a recently-retired bus.

Tango · 11-14-2016, 01:11 PM

I believe there is a market for the older Crowns and it definitely looks worth saving. A starter & stairs are nothing any home builder couldn't handle.

SAVE THE CROWN!

(this has nothing to do with "Brexit" BTW.)

snowteller · 11-14-2016, 01:12 PM

it was a california bus but it is now in el paso. I enjoy classics but not sure I can get into the whole bus thing.

thru the window

DoubleO7 · 11-14-2016, 01:56 PM

I would bet if it spent all of it's life in Cali or Texas, the dreaded word "rusted" is nothing to scare a bus enthusiast away

"Rusted out" has huge swings in definition depending on if your from the upper Midwest to New England versus from the southwest & west.

cadillackid · 11-14-2016, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snowteller

it was a california bus but it is now in el paso. I enjoy classics but not sure I can get into the whole bus thing.

thru the window

you dont have to make it a camper or house... you can keep it a Bus and have it as a classic... ive seen more than one classic Bus at a car show and believe me they get tons of attention... and a Crown is defiitely one of those that in Bus circles that draws attention!!

-Christopher

AlleyCat67 · 11-14-2016, 02:52 PM

She looks like she needs a little TLC but nothing someone with a little mechanical inclination couldn't handle. Noticed what looked like a little surface rust around the back windows and on the drip rail above the side windows but it could just be where the paint flaked off.

I'd move on it if I had somewhere to park it... paying storage for one bus is enough.

cadillackid · 11-14-2016, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AlleyCat67

She looks like she needs a little TLC but nothing someone with a little mechanical inclination couldn't handle. Noticed what looked like a little surface rust around the back windows and on the drip rail above the side windows but it could just be where the paint flaked off.

I'd move on it if I had somewhere to park it... paying storage for one bus is enough.

and I think 3 busses would be too much for my little brain to handle..

-Christopher

Bluespoet · 11-14-2016, 03:24 PM

Unless you have some sentimental attachment for Crown Busses, I would sell it. Looks like a money pit to me and a nightmare to convert. As a bus compared to other busses, you will put in thousands of dollars and it will be worth hundreds of dollars when done. This is only my opinion, but then people fix old VW busses and pay thousands for them, but then it is not about the bus, it is about nostalgia and I think this bus fits into that category. A bad choice for a bus, but if you have money and time to burn and want specifically an old bus project that is different. Just remember no matter how much money and time you put in, it likely will be only worth a couple of thousand dollars at best when done.

Brad_SwiftFur · 11-14-2016, 04:00 PM

First - where is it?

Second - any idea what IH engine it has?

Third - transmission?

Stu & Filo. T · 11-14-2016, 08:33 PM

Keep the bus, rotate out the wife.

PNW_Steve · 11-14-2016, 08:59 PM

PLEASE do not even consider scrapping it. It IS a classic.

I am sure that you can find someone who will love it. I would suggest putting it on Ebay with an $1100 reserve. I am sure that you will find a taker.

I lived in TX for some years. If I was still there I would be on your front porch with $1200 in a flash with a tow truck right behind me.

Please give it a chance. I would look at it like an unwanted '57 Chevy in the back yard. You may not want it but somebody does and they aren't building any more.

.

AlleyCat67 · 11-14-2016, 09:18 PM

Like I said I would love to have it myself, but I just don't have the fundage available to restore it to the condition it needs to be in.

Agreed it would be a money pit, in that it will take a lot more $$$ to restore it than it would be worth at the end.

But it IS a classic, and someone who loves Crowns and has the time and money to put into it would certainly make sure it is restored to its former glory.

Iceni John · 11-14-2016, 09:35 PM

What year is it?

That bus doesn't have a trunk, and it looks like it doesn't have the usual Crown Dry Wall construction either. It looks maybe like a budget-buster, produced so Crown could compete on price with other brands. One more thing - does the engine still have its distributor and cap? A while ago I had the opportunity to visit Deacon Ray's yard in Riverside CA where he has at least half a dozen old Hall-Scott Crowns (and a whole load more of everything else!), and not one of them still had its distributor. Apparently they get BIG money from the Hall-Scott cognoscenti, especially the fire truck crowd who'll go to great lengths to assure originality when they restore old Crown fire trucks. Is it the same with this old Cornbinder engine? Without a distributor it's not going anywhere.

Much though I love Crowns, I'd say that this is worth scrap value at most. If it were in California where most Crown collectors are, it could be worth something to someone there, even if only as a source of parts. I'll put the word out on the Crown Coach Junkies forum, but I'll be surprised if anyone there is interested. A friend of mine has a '57 and a '55, the latter the first ever three-axle school bus (complete with V-belt dual drive and military top-loader axle), but I don't think he's looking for another oldie right now.

John

milkmania · 11-14-2016, 09:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Nice looking bus... i loe the old crowns.. I already have 2 busses..

scrap the wife save the Bus!

-Christopher

I approve this message!

milkmania · 11-14-2016, 09:47 PM

You send it to a scrapper, and I'll bet $20 he flips it!

Bluespoet · 11-14-2016, 10:43 PM

I don't think so, from the sound of things the mechanical and physical rot, age, lack of parts all conspire against it, then you put thousands into it, what is it worth? Just a fraction of the money you put into it. Then on top of that, the wife has bad memories of it. I would not take it even for free due to all the cost and effort involved that is bypassed with a newer bus that doesn't have those problems.

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