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Old 05-24-2016, 08:51 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1974
Engine: 432 V6 Slanted 60°
Greetings from Oregon...

Just purchased a 1974 Blue Bird with a 432 slanted 6 @ 60°. Looking forward to the new adventure, also looking forward to meeting other likeminded folks within the state.

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Old 05-24-2016, 09:43 PM   #2
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Location: Willamina, Oregon
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Coachwork: 97 Bluebird TC1000 5.9
Congratulations from Oregon
Oh, we're going to need to see pictures of that slant in your old Bird.

I've got a '72 Ford 5 window with a 300 6cyl. It's kind of a take the old highway kind of thing, but it works. Now I bought something more capable of interstate travel I'm hoping.
Where do you hang your hat?
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Old 05-24-2016, 09:57 PM   #3
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Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
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wow cool!! an old classic!! is thast slant 6 a gas motor? who made the chassis on that bus?

-Christopher
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Old 05-24-2016, 10:02 PM   #4
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Oregon
Posts: 16
Year: 1991
Engine: 7.3 L
Are you in Silverton? Because I saw a new bus addition to a driveway this morning in Silverton.
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Old 05-25-2016, 08:39 PM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1974
Engine: 432 V6 Slanted 60°
@Robin97396- Greetings! At the moment my hat hangs 8 miles north outside of Monroe. Or 7miles south of Corvallis....lol... We're a family of 4 living in a 18ft 5th wheel. So needless to say the 35ft BlueBird should accommodate us better. It needs a bit of work, nothing impossible tho. She runs at the moment and is in need of a mechanic that has worked on the type of motor we've got. I'm willing to bet all she needs is a good tune up. We're looking to renovate so that we can live in it year round. The housing market isn't going down and it hasn't been easy to find something within our budget. Buying a piece of land that we can work into our own seems to be the most logical way to become homeowners, eventually.

@Cadillackid- It is a slanted V6 @60°, running on gas. Not sure yet about the chassis. Will gather more pictures and info this weekend.

@Maffei- Nope not in Silverton. The bus is near Jefferson. On a property tucked away.

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Old 05-25-2016, 11:46 PM   #6
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Welcome from a fellow Oregonian!
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Old 05-25-2016, 11:47 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maffei View Post
Are you in Silverton? Because I saw a new bus addition to a driveway this morning in Silverton.
I'm right down the road in Marquam. 37' Thomas pusher.
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Old 05-26-2016, 01:25 AM   #8
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
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Year: 1991
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Originally Posted by DT Rutledge View Post
I'm right down the road in Marquam. 37' Thomas pusher.
Awesome! We bought a shorty back in August and are almost done converting it into a weekend camper.
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Old 05-26-2016, 01:28 AM   #9
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Oregon
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Year: 1991
Engine: 7.3 L
We bought our bus in corvallis, and I believe there is another skooler in corvallis with a shorty similar to mine. We are everywhere around oregon....
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Old 05-26-2016, 02:34 AM   #10
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The most likely engine would be the big block GMC V-6. Blue Bird put that engine in a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT of buses in the '60's and '70's.

I am trying to remember the sizes. 401 and 478 come to mind but not 432.

If it is the big block GMC V-6, those were not bad engines but they had some odd quirks.

First off, they had an extremely narrow power band. They didn't lug well and once you went out of the top of the power band all you were doing was making more noise and burning up more gas. I never drove one with an automatic. With just a 5-speed you spent a lot of time going slow up hills. A 5-speed with a two speed rear end gave a little more flexibility to stay within the power band.

Second, they had some real balance issues from the factory. They were famous for breaking ears off of the intake manifolds, cracking air compressor/alternator/power steering pump brackets, and shaking the carbs to pieces.

Third, they tended to run hot. It was partly due to the fact they were made out of a LOT of cast iron. And it was partly due to the way in which the combustion chambers were designed in relation to the water jacket. On a long hard pull on a hot day you could get the exhaust manifolds cherry red if you weren't careful.

Fourth, the plugs were in the valley between the intake runners. You had to be very careful when changing plugs that nothing was in the valley that could roll into the spark plug hole. Don't ask me how I know that can happen. The same basic block was used for the Toroflow diesel engine. The only differences were instead of plugs you had injectors, instead of a ignition distributor you had a distributor type injection pump, and there was no carb on the top of the intake.

By the '80's it was an obsolete motor and as a consequence the parts started to become hard to find. This many years later it could be a real hunt to find some of the engine specific parts like the water pump.

In order to make driveability better and the hunt for parts easier it might be a good idea to invest in a modern electronic ignition and fuel injection system. I know there are kits out there that would fit one of those engines. I have no idea where you would go to find some of the carb parts for one of those engines.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GMC_V6_engine

Good luck!
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Old 05-26-2016, 06:08 AM   #11
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will be in Florence around the summer solstice, staying till we cant eat any more salmon!!
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Old 05-26-2016, 10:37 AM   #12
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Location: Willamina, Oregon
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Coach, always fascinating to hear about these more rare engines. After parts hunting on old gasser buses for nearly the past 30 years, I took a decidedly different route in choosing something easier to get parts for this time. Hunting parts from home is one thing...

There are actually a lot of bus/skoolie owners here in Oregon. It seems most of them are independent, un-associated bus owners. Just guys that want a bus to play with, mostly younger mechanics.

It would be interesting to have a Willamette valley meet up for anyone that wanted to come. So few of you list your locations here that I was only aware of a few other Oregonians on this forum. Anybody interested?
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Old 05-26-2016, 11:01 AM   #13
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
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Posts: 16
Year: 1991
Engine: 7.3 L
Yes! We should start a willamette valley bus club! It would be fun to get a bunch together every so often. We are just a young family who randomly bought a shorty almost a year ago. We love it! We would love to meet up with like-minded and check out everyone's different takes on buses.
We are in Silverton if that wasn't apparent by my previous comment.
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Old 05-26-2016, 12:49 PM   #14
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maffei View Post
Yes! We should start a willamette valley bus club! It would be fun to get a bunch together every so often. We are just a young family who randomly bought a shorty almost a year ago. We love it! We would love to meet up with like-minded and check out everyone's different takes on buses.
We are in Silverton if that wasn't apparent by my previous comment.
I've got some friends up that way I'd really like to visit some time.
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Old 05-26-2016, 02:40 PM   #15
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CB, that would be pretty cool. Of course that kind of obligates us Oregonians to drop in on a FL gathering sometime. Then again we wilt easily in humidity.

Maffei, yes that was a pretty good indication of where you are. Didn't know you guys were that close. I'm on the other side of the valley just a little before the Van Duzer corridor.

jester, I haven't had that much salmon since I was in AK many moons ago. Move over. It may be necessary to convert my 4' bus garage into a smoke house.
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Old 05-26-2016, 08:50 PM   #16
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1974
Engine: 432 V6 Slanted 60°
Ah great..... I needed to hear that lol.... I don't really want to haul it cross country. Seattle would be my farthest destination north, south would be northern California. I was told by the seller that it doesn't get the best gas mileage or isn't actually the fastest, but that if I was alright cruising at 55mph, that I would be fine. Aside from maybe a good tune up, I'm hoping that's all it's gonna need to get me from point A to B. I wouldn't really move it at all if I could find a decent chunk of property to park it on and start building from that point on. The real estate market is proving it isn't very merciful to break into, as far as decent fixer-uppers go.
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Old 05-26-2016, 08:51 PM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1974
Engine: 432 V6 Slanted 60°
Thanks for the input cowlitz....
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Old 05-26-2016, 09:05 PM   #18
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: May 2016
Location: Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1974
Engine: 432 V6 Slanted 60°
I'd be interested in getting together as well. Things at work may get switched around abit for me here in the week's to come but I should be able to squeeze in a visit on a Saturday or Sunday. Definitely wouldn't mind heading up to Wilamina either to check out what you got going on your bus and to maybe share different idea's. The family could use a day trip out of the valley....
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Old 05-27-2016, 04:25 PM   #19
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maybe solstice at the dunes in florence?
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Old 05-27-2016, 06:08 PM   #20
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That sounds pretty cool. It's about time for a beach trip anyway isn't it?
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