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Old 12-24-2018, 09:42 AM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Arkensaw
Posts: 35
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
1991 carpenter

Hello fellow bus enthusiasts.

I finally got my bus, 1991 carpenter 11 window with int 360 and a 545 with 127,000 miles. I've gutted her found only minimal rust. Before I treated the rust I recycled my interior sheet metal to sheet the complete outside removing all windows. Our end goal is a rv\camper to travel non interstate around the South and southwest basically Florida to Texas from our home station in west central Arkansas, woo pig. I don't ha e any before pics but I'll post some current pics. Please any advice of problems or heads up much appreciated. We currently plan on making her the "round and round". Has anyone ever performed a automatic to manual swap on one of these?
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Old 12-24-2018, 12:29 PM   #2
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,753
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
ive not donr an auto to manual swap. a friend of mine did on his DT360.. the thing to remember is that the DT360 uses the same flywheel bolt patterns as the Mechanical DT466.. (dont get paerts from a DT466E for the clutch and flywheel as they differ from the DT360. there were a lot of 4700 trucks built as manuals which have a very similar setup as the 3800 school bus chassis. a lot depends on which transmission you want. the most common found in these was the spicer 5 speed.. (non overdrive).



-Christopher
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Old 12-28-2018, 11:19 AM   #3
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Join Date: Dec 2018
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Posts: 35
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
Thanks for getting back with me, gonna keep the 545 as I think it more than fits our needs and the manual swap is just more than I want to get into mechanically. Any advice on roof coatings, want to stay white in color and need something that will work to seal as well, currently can't decide between thermoelastic or custom coat bed liner?
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Old 12-28-2018, 11:31 AM   #4
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Seam sealer is the only "fix" for leaks. Paints/coatings are just a bandaid.
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Old 12-28-2018, 02:47 PM   #5
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Join Date: Dec 2018
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Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
What is your application method on the seam sealer? My leaks appear to be around a few rivets and not comming from the sheet metal lap. So I guess my question is did you remove rivets and apply between the sheets an rerivet?
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Old 12-28-2018, 05:45 PM   #6
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Year: 1996
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Stele james View Post
What is your application method on the seam sealer? My leaks appear to be around a few rivets and not comming from the sheet metal lap. So I guess my question is did you remove rivets and apply between the sheets an rerivet?

We used seam sealer on the roof of our 11 window bus. I laid a bead over each seam where the panels overlap, then kinda smoothed it out with wet fingers. Next, I cut the caulk tube nozzle to the largest diameter and put the nozzle right on the rivet and gave the trigger a squeeze. I did this on every rivet on the roof, and I think it only took like 20 minutes to do the rivets, less than an hour for the whole process. I made sure that each blob covered the rivet head. Our bus roof was painted beforehand but luckily the sealer matched the color almost exactly. If you've not painted yet, seal it first then paint over it. It was dead simple and took care of our roof leaks.
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Old 12-28-2018, 06:03 PM   #7
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Year: 1991
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew Bru View Post
We used seam sealer on the roof of our 11 window bus. I laid a bead over each seam where the panels overlap, then kinda smoothed it out with wet fingers. Next, I cut the caulk tube nozzle to the largest diameter and put the nozzle right on the rivet and gave the trigger a squeeze. I did this on every rivet on the roof, and I think it only took like 20 minutes to do the rivets, less than an hour for the whole process. I made sure that each blob covered the rivet head. Our bus roof was painted beforehand but luckily the sealer matched the color almost exactly. If you've not painted yet, seal it first then paint over it. It was dead simple and took care of our roof leaks.
Man I appreciate that any specific brand of seam sealer, and did you use implement/ag equipment paint?
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Old 12-28-2018, 06:18 PM   #8
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Man I appreciate that any specific brand of seam sealer, and did you use implement/ag equipment paint?

Sure thing. We used Sikaflex-221 for the sealant. We've also used 3M Dynatron 500 for our windows. That can be bought at Autozone, the Sikaflex we got on Amazon. Dynatron is gray, FWIW.
We used Rustoleum protective enamel for our paint.
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Old 12-29-2018, 06:00 PM   #9
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Join Date: Dec 2018
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Year: 1991
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Chassis: International
Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
Quote:
Originally Posted by Drew Bru View Post
Sure thing. We used Sikaflex-221 for the sealant. We've also used 3M Dynatron 500 for our windows. That can be bought at Autozone, the Sikaflex we got on Amazon. Dynatron is gray, FWIW.
We used Rustoleum protective enamel for our paint.
Thank you, do to weather, temp, and time I Ultimately had to choose between a duplicolor product and 3m. Money well spent I hope.
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Old 01-06-2019, 09:39 AM   #10
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Join Date: Dec 2018
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Year: 1991
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Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
Seams sealed

So after 2 hand washes and a considerable amount of surface prep my seams and roof rivets as well as my side sheet metal are sealed 7 tubes in total. So it's not as smooth and sleek as I hoped but I doubt it leaks. Prime roof today and after storms Monday when I verify no leaks we'll move forward with construction.
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Old 01-06-2019, 09:51 AM   #11
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Chassis: Freighliner FS65
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Nice, its always good to eliminate the leaks.

When I was a kid MacGuyver was my hero. I still have my first Victorinox multi-tool.
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Old 01-06-2019, 10:18 AM   #12
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Year: 1991
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Super !! And yeah carpenter has bad rust issues around rivers. Even more than the 80s bluebirds. Glad to see you fixed yours!!
Christopher
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Old 01-06-2019, 11:16 PM   #13
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Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Arkensaw
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Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
Awaiting rain

Since im basically in a holding pattern until a rain, I decided to get on with the driver compartment, will pressure wash and repaint and reassemble driver area/front tomorrow. In removing everything I found some broke wires and an oil leak on the valve cover along with a couple other maintenance needs. Gotta get some parts heading this way tomorrow.
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Old 01-07-2019, 08:37 AM   #14
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Join Date: May 2009
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Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
get underneath your bus and make sure that the body and chassis floors are mated properly.. on my carpenter after fighting hot summer feet for 2 summers i finally figured out that the floors were mated incorrectly leaving gaping gaps between the engine compartment and the cabin, and betweem the metal and wood.. I rebuilt mine, but havent driven in summer yet.. but the en gine heat was oppressive.. since yours is all in pieces, its a great time to check it..



also if you plan to re-install the large driver heater, replace all of the motors in it while its out of the bus.. turns out the ONLY way to replace motors in that heater is when its removed from the bus... bergstrom-junk!! I gutted and re-fitted that box oin mine with new heaters and driver A/C!



the motors on the right side unit can be replaced with it in the bus.. just not the driver unit..

-Christopher
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Old 01-12-2019, 09:45 PM   #15
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Arkensaw
Posts: 35
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
What ratio rear end do you run in your bus? Mine is a 4.78 I'm thinking 3.42.
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Old 01-12-2019, 09:53 PM   #16
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Year: 1991
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Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
Mine with 11R22.5 tires is a 4.78 and it tops st 68 or so but runs most comfortable at 55-60. 3.42 is oretty tall unless you have small wheels. My red bus has 225/70r19.5 wheels and topped out at just below 70 with 3.54 gears on the at545 trans. With 11r22.5 my carpenter would be perfect with 4.44, I think 4.10 would cause me issues climbing hills in that bus.
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Old 01-12-2019, 10:13 PM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Dec 2018
Location: Arkensaw
Posts: 35
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International
Engine: Dt360
Rated Cap: 11 window
I've also got 22.5 inch rims at 545 and 4.78 and at 2700 im getting 53mph maybe 3.42 is pretty tall but 3.73 or 4.10 because I don't think I'll see that much out of 4.44 vs 4.78 will I?
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Old 01-13-2019, 04:28 AM   #18
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,753
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
What tires do you have? I’m guessing low profile vs 10r or 11r?
Seems like you have smaller tires than I do and def want to go at least 4.10 or 3.73 like you mention.
Our speeds are much different for having the same gears.
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Old 01-13-2019, 06:20 AM   #19
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Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Eustis FLORIDA
Posts: 23,764
Year: 1999
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: Freighliner FS65
Engine: Cat 3126
Rated Cap: 15
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stele james View Post
What ratio rear end do you run in your bus? Mine is a 4.78 I'm thinking 3.42.
3.42 is pretty tall. my bus has a 4.10 and its silly. I'm probably going to have to regear to run 11r's. With a bus like yours I'd stick with something like 4.44.
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Old 01-13-2019, 06:29 AM   #20
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Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,753
Year: 1991
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Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
Quote:
Originally Posted by EastCoastCB View Post
3.42 is pretty tall. my bus has a 4.10 and its silly. I'm probably going to have to regear to run 11r's. With a bus like yours I'd stick with something like 4.44.

id say 4.44 for him if he had 11R's but at 53 MPH woth 4.78's and 2700 RPM it sounds like he has low profile tires on it, if his tires are good, its probably cheaper to re-gear than to get new tires.. or maybe its a flat floor so has to use low-pro's
-Christopher
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