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Old 03-03-2015, 02:12 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 10
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: 429-4V Lima
Talking Hello from Bend, Oregon!

Hello everyone! I've been lurking on the forums for a bit over a year, but only recently registered for an account. Due to me moving around a lot, I wasn't actively looking at a bus until I moved to Oregon.

Now I know nobody wants a gasser, but I found a bus in Idaho that was in good shape for it's age, and the best part is that I got a steal of a deal! My new bus is a 1989 F-600 Thomas school bus with the Ford 429-4V Lima engine. Almost ZERO rust on the whole thing (the worst of it is some light surface rust on the top of the bumper), and runs quite well. It's got 22 seats, so not quite as long as some of your buses, but it's no short bus either. It currently has one fairly large storage bay on the right underside (hopefully I can rig up one or two more along the way).

I've got many dozens of pages bookmarked from this site and will be nabbing some of your useful ideas that I've come across. While this will be the most carpentry work that I will have done, I'm a little familiar with wrenching on things and have some basic plumbing, pipe fitting, and welding knowledge; also, I used to be an aircraft mechanic, so hopefully some of those skills will be useful in the bus build.

I do have a couple of questions right off the bat that hopefully someone may be able to answer:

1) Does anyone know what the switch labeled 'Pump' does that is located on the left side panel with the lights, heater, audio controls, etc? I hear a pump running when I turn it on, and it seems like it is coming from the right side under the dash, but I can't notice a difference from the heat output of the vents, or any difference for that matter.

2) It seems that my floor doesn't have any plywood between the metal floor and the rubber, is this normal? I haven't tried to pull it up yet to see how the rubber is secured. I just noticed it as I started to remove a few seats (which luckily are SUPER easy to remove on this bus).

3) Just from peeking through a couple of holes in the interior ceiling skin, where I assume some racks used to be, the insulation seems dry and pretty well intact. If I pull one ceiling skin down to get a better look at the insulation, and see that it still looks in good condition, is it even worth taking down the rest of the skins to put in different insulation, or is the 25 year old insulation's R value likely not worth keeping in?

I will try to include some pictures, but since this is my first post, I apologize if I fudged it up. I'm super excited to jump into this project, and will keep lots of pictures to post my progress as it happens.






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Old 03-03-2015, 02:59 PM   #2
Bus Geek
 
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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
Pump could be for the heating system.
My bus didn't come with plywood, either. Neither did my last bus, which was virtually the same bus you have.
This is purely opinion-
Pull that ceiling down. The "insulation" that is in there really doesn't do much. Its a lot of work, but any rust or crud that's hiding up there can be addressed. Just my two cents.
I go heavy handed on the demo end of things.
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Old 03-03-2015, 03:08 PM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Central Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1993
Coachwork: AA Blue Bird
Engine: Cummins 5.9 Allison 545 A
Rated Cap: 78
im in bend the nights here stay freezing for about 4-5 months in the winter. i want to full time in my bus so the added expense of insulation seemed worth it to me. i went ahead and pulled all the skins off and used two inch pink foam from homedepot. if i did it again id spend the extra 4-500 to have it sprayed. the 2in isnt flush with the support rails so it took some germen engineering to get my walls and roof mostly wavyness free. i havent posted pictures in about a year but i will in the next couple days. the only reason i came up with to leave the skins and old batting in place was to keep the structure of the bus stronger and to be easy, quick, and save money. i took it all down because i dont plan on driving this bus enough to worry about a collision and i wanted to take extra steps now rather then find out in a year that i wished i had more insulation. the pink stuff cost me over 500 to do the floor wall and roof.
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Old 03-03-2015, 03:41 PM   #4
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Posts: 258
You might want to see if you can get a manual for this thing, but the pump switch is almost certainly for the heater. The engine water pump is really designed for circulating coolant through the ENGINE. The pump switch controls an inline booster in the hose to the heater core that heats the cabin (or maybe more than one). It's a separate switch because you're not supposed to activate it until the engine has fully warmed up, and on mild days you may not need it. These heaters don't have thermostats like a car - they're kind of "on" or "off". Think of it like an additional "high"/"low" option.
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Old 03-03-2015, 04:05 PM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 10
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: 429-4V Lima
Thanks everyone for all of your quick answers. I assumed the pump was related to the heating, but just wanted to double check before I drove it around with something set how it shouldn't. I'll do some research later and see if I can find any manuals for this thing.

Sounds like I'll probably take down the ceiling panels and just do it right the first time.

Freaky, I'd love to see your setup some time if you're in town! I'm also willing to help out if you ever need an extra set of hands. My schedule stays pretty busy, but I do get free days every once in a while. I can provide some beer too!
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Old 03-03-2015, 04:10 PM   #6
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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
Help that also brings beer is a pretty good offer!
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Old 03-03-2015, 04:55 PM   #7
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Central Oregon
Posts: 18
Year: 1993
Coachwork: AA Blue Bird
Engine: Cummins 5.9 Allison 545 A
Rated Cap: 78
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kafkaesque View Post
Freaky, I'd love to see your setup some time if you're in town! I'm also willing to help out if you ever need an extra set of hands. My schedule stays pretty busy, but I do get free days every once in a while. I can provide some beer too!
i assume you meant funky? check out my thread gonzo look at the pictures i just posted. i can line up a walk through for ya no problem just be warned its still work in progress not a finished skoolie. if completeness is what you want to see ill have a much more livable bus by the end of april.


and thanks for the offer! i have been needing someone to help me with a project. i need somebody to help me empty the fridge in the bus....




haha
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Old 03-03-2015, 08:07 PM   #8
Bus Nut
 
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Snowflake, Arizona
Posts: 343
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American Rear Engine
Engine: C-8.3-300 Cummins MD3060
Rated Cap: 40 Prisoners
pump

On your heater control panel they are showing under seat heater, those
are mounted further back in the bus which requires a pump to push the coolant back that far as the engine mounted water pump doesn't have the
pressure to push hot liquid that far and back again. With a gas engine you will have heat from the engine quicker that you would with a diesel because
the diesel is more efficient at utilizing the heat from the fuel so at an idle a
diesel won't keep a bus warm. In order for a diesel to produce heat they have to be working, the harder they work the more heat they produce.
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Old 03-03-2015, 11:27 PM   #9
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 10
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: 429-4V Lima
Lol, I indeed did mean funky. Whoops! And Widmer Bros Hefe is one of my local favorites!

Seeing a work in progress might help me even more than seeing a completed project. I'll shoot you a PM with my info and I really am more than happy to give a hand if you ever need.
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Old 03-03-2015, 11:30 PM   #10
Almost There
 
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: Oregon
Posts: 87
Welcome fellow Oregonion I'm in Portland, so I can't really help ya, though I do know more about gas engines than diesels, I can at least still give advice like everyone else here: online only.
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"Courage is not the absence of fear. Many couragious people have been terrified out of their wits. They are just tired and can't take anymore" Cptn. 'Hawkeye' Pierce.
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Old 03-04-2015, 10:08 AM   #11
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Littlefun, CO
Posts: 49
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DT466
Rated Cap: 66
Welcome kafkaesque, I'm from Oregon too, haven't been back in years but plan on a trip up there as soon as my skoolie is done. Is the Passat in the pic yours too, it's from Colorado, is that where you're from? That's where I'm at. I like that your suspension/drive has the heavier 10lug setup, never was a fan of Dayton hubs (sorry Dayton hub fans)
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Old 03-04-2015, 11:46 AM   #12
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Bend, OR
Posts: 10
Year: 1989
Coachwork: Thomas
Engine: 429-4V Lima
I'm not originally from Colorado, but that's where I called home since I separated from the military in June 2013. And I just moved up to bend on Jan 1st of this year. So far I really like both states a lot, it's hard to pick which one I like more!
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Old 03-04-2015, 01:13 PM   #13
Bus Geek
 
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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
I'm headed for Oregon in the next year or two.
But we fell so in love with Colorado that we may stop there for a long while first.
Beautiful scenery and great people out there.
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