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Old 02-19-2018, 09:08 PM   #1
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Year: 1990
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Engine: 6.6 New Holland Diesel
Rated Cap: 60 kids, 10 window
1990 Ford Bluebird Conversion (No Name Yet)

Hi,
We picked up this 1990 Ford Bluebird, 10 window bus on publicsurplus auction. Drove down to Coral Springs and picked it up on 2-17-18. She ran great on the way back to the Space Coast. Heck, she even hit 62 mph on the downslopes of the overpasses. She has a 6.6L diesel and I'm not sure which transmission, but I assume it's the Allison AT545 since she has 1,2,3, and regular drive. She is a bit more rusty than I had hoped for but I guess that's what you get when you buy something site unseen... I knew better but I had to pull the trigger. I will have this conversion done before the end of August, but hoping to be able to finish by the end of July. Once May ends, I'll have everyday to work on her. I'll add to the thread as I take more pictures and come upon the gazillion problems I'm bound to have. Thanks for having us here!
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Old 02-20-2018, 02:09 AM   #2
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The 6.6L engine is a Brazilian Ford diesel engine. It is a pretty nice engine but not very powerful. Most likely HP rating is probably no more than 190 HP. Parts and pieces are a little hard to find and pretty much non-existent at a Ford truck garage. The same basic engine was used in Ford/New Holland farm equipment so you might be able to source some parts at the tractor garage.

I hope you don't have the Girling brakes. Those parts are made of unobtainium and they are priced accordingly.

Once Ford got out of the medium duty truck business they sold all of the NOS parts and pieces and pretty much walked away from all of their medium and heavy duty trucks.

Good luck and keep us posted as to your progress.
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Old 02-20-2018, 05:14 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach View Post
The 6.6L engine is a Brazilian Ford diesel engine. It is a pretty nice engine but not very powerful. Most likely HP rating is probably no more than 190 HP. Parts and pieces are a little hard to find and pretty much non-existent at a Ford truck garage. The same basic engine was used in Ford/New Holland farm equipment so you might be able to source some parts at the tractor garage.

I hope you don't have the Girling brakes. Those parts are made of unobtainium and they are priced accordingly.

Once Ford got out of the medium duty truck business they sold all of the NOS parts and pieces and pretty much walked away from all of their medium and heavy duty trucks.

Good luck and keep us posted as to your progress.
Thank you for the information. How would I be able to tell which brake system I have?

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Old 02-20-2018, 07:30 AM   #4
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Love the front end on these!
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Old 02-24-2018, 06:14 AM   #5
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All the seats are out except drivers seat. That will get done today as well as pulling up the old floor. I'm already seeing a bunch of rust but I don't think it's a deal breaker.

So the air breaks squeal pretty loud which I believe is normal. They worked like a champ on the way home. However, we are not all in agreement about how cool that noise is. Now, while I'm in the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it group," is there a way to get the brake system to not be as loud?

I wouldn't do it myself, just wondering if anyone else has had anything done to their air brakes to make them quieter? Thanks!

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Old 02-24-2018, 11:33 AM   #6
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Well, actually my air brakes don't squeal at all.

In automotive (cars) there are small tabs that produce a squeal when the brakes are getting to thin. My understanding is it's a warning that your brakes are almost done. Getting close to metal on metal.
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Old 02-24-2018, 12:48 PM   #7
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It's not normal for air-brakes to squeal.

STart by checking the thickness of the liners. You should be able to see them without taking anything off, and they should be at least 1/4" thick ... We can start there.
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Old 02-24-2018, 02:12 PM   #8
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Quote:
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It's not normal for air-brakes to squeal.

STart by checking the thickness of the liners. You should be able to see them without taking anything off, and they should be at least 1/4" thick ... We can start there.
Thanks Twigg. I'll look tomorrow and take some pictures and maybe a video. She's stationary at the moment. I personally don't think it's a break pad squeal (but what do I know, it's my first bus) but I'll start her up in the AM and have the wife listen and tell me if it's one of the noises it makes when I push the break.

Either way, I'm sure I'd feel more comfortable with an all around tune up before we go cross country, especially the breaks.
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Old 02-24-2018, 02:23 PM   #9
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They are brakes.
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Old 02-24-2018, 02:25 PM   #10
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They are brakes.
Yeah, I see that now. A bit tired after pulling up flooring.

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Old 03-03-2018, 03:53 PM   #11
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Haven't had a chance to take a video of the brake sound. Sorry. I have the battery unhooked as I'm deleting the heater system. Didn't want to leave a chance to shock myself. I'll post some more pictures tomorrow.

I have all of the subfloor out now. I'm waiting on a battery shut off switch so I don't have to in hooked the batteries every time I want to mess with the wiring. I will update more tomorrow.

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Old 03-04-2018, 06:09 PM   #12
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Sunday funday! Just some quick pics. I'm not very good at capturing all of my progress. Floors all out. Heaters out a few panels out.

Accidentally slipped with the center punch and popped a window. Oh well, I plan on removing then all anyways.

Question about heating. I bought a new heater for when the bus is running that hooks up to the coolant. However, the in and out lines are smaller than the 1 inch lines from the original heater. Am I going to have a problem if I run this heater from the 1 inch hose (with a step down) that already is through the firewall and in the bus or do I need to run new hose all the way from the coolant supply shut off valves?

Do I need my battery unhooked to do this type of electrical? I unhooked the battery just to be safe but it would be easier to not have to in the future. There's only about a foot and a half between the battery compartment and my fence and I'm no skinny Minny. I'd like to hook it back up to make sure it'll still start... Only unhooked the heater switches and heater and also undid the door closer. I have the relay for that marked but not hooked up at the moment.

Thoughts, comments, and any ideas are welcome. Thanks!

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Old 03-10-2018, 02:48 PM   #13
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So Friday and Saturday are in the books. Friday morning washed and scrubbed the roof with TSP and it made a world of difference. Went from grey/black to almost white. I'll do it one more time before I tropicool it.

Finished removing the side panels and started working on the front door a bit. Got the first roof panel down. I'm going to have to rewatch the video on how to grind the chisel for the air hammer.

Friday evening the old air hammer gave up and I picked up a new one today and a larger compressor. The ceiling rivets where I started seem much thicker than the others.

I am also including some pics of my conversion place. I don't feel like you have to have a farm to do this, although that would be nice.


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Old 03-14-2018, 03:10 PM   #14
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Hey Nick!

Really cool bus and project! I am actually in Vero Beach and headed to pickup my shorty in Texas next week. I'd love to link up and maybe we can help each other on some bus projects on the weekends? You guys have a killer Indian buffet in Melbourne I'd love to visit again soon. Nice work so far!

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Old 03-18-2018, 06:06 PM   #15
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Hey Nick!

Really cool bus and project! I am actually in Vero Beach and headed to pickup my shorty in Texas next week. I'd love to link up and maybe we can help each other on some bus projects on the weekends? You guys have a killer Indian buffet in Melbourne I'd love to visit again soon. Nice work so far!

Jeff
What's up Jeff! We will definitely have to meet up. I've got some friends down that way.

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Old 03-18-2018, 06:16 PM   #16
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I got all the panels out now. Punched all the rivets I was taking out first. All the wall panels came out real easy with the air chisel. The ceiling panels used a combination of air chisel and chisel and hammer.

For me, it worked best to start with the air chisel to get the rivet heads away from the panel. I would do this to 8 of them. Then as I let the compressor build back up, I would chisel and hammer the heads off. It worked well for me, YMMV.

Removed a bunch of rust scale from the back half with a hammer. Tried using a needle scaler but it wasn't as effective as my hammer. Hammered all over the back half then started wire wheeling. Broke a paint scrapper trying to get the old see sealer out. Had to go get a bigger one. Back half of the bus wire wheeled.

Did some test cutting to remove some rusted out spots. Not sure what to use. The diamond blad wore out quick and the cut off blades dided fast as well. Maybe it's my technique?

Today (Sunday) didn't have the umph to wire wheel so I started pulling wires that I won't be needing and trying to figure out the wiring on this thing. Do I really need 3 busbars? I dunno. I'll do someore Google Fu and keep running and checking what's what. The bus still starts so that's good.

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Old 03-29-2018, 06:29 PM   #17
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Fisrt coat of rust converter is done. Will apply another coat tomorrow. Back hatch sealed with sheet metal and liquid nails roofing tar in the tub. Used stainless steel painted Tek screws. Removed front hatch and installed skylight. I used a flap disk to grind off rivet heads and remove frame. I scraped off as much sealant as I could, wiped withineral spirits and then gave up and just used the flap to clean around the whole thing. Primed the bare metal. Sprayed it white and mounted skylight with the same #8 screws from the patch and about half a tube of dicor. I'll post pictures soon.

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Old 04-04-2018, 07:49 AM   #18
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Progress has been at a crawl but I got the floor painted with Rust-Oleum rusty metal primer. I'll be putting a coat of Ford blue Rust-Oleum over it since I'll be doing work on top of it before I lay subfloor.

I have to finish putting together the kitchen on my class c so I can sell it over the next few days...

I think my next steps are to remove windows and skin the sides, install the four 350 watt solar panels, punch all the rivet bodies back into the drama from the interior panel removal, and prep the roof for paint before the solar install.

I am going to return that 5000 watt diesel generator. It's just too big. If I mount it under the bus I won't have much clearance between it and the road.. doh! Measure twice order once is the lesson I guess.

I know I am doing my solar bass ackwards but I'm a noob. I still need to get my charge controllers, batteries, inverters, etc. Here are the panels I ordered.

https://www.solar-electric.com/silfa...lar-panel.html

Any thoughts on how to run the panels and which controllers? I've read handybob once, I guess I'll read him again. I know I want MPPT controllers.

Thanks for reading.

Oh, I guess I need to take a picture of the painted floors. These are after two coats of converter.

The sticker I found in the engine bay.

That's the generator again. It's 353 lbs dry, guess I overlooked that when purchasing. Glad home Depot takes returns.

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Old 04-15-2018, 04:29 PM   #19
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Floor is painted. First skin is on.Click image for larger version

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Old 04-16-2018, 04:47 PM   #20
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A couple of more pictures. I used these ss screws #14's with red thread Tite. At the top of the windows I think I will add some 90 degree angles and use vhb tape to secure the top. I suppose I should have gone to that second row of rivets but I wasn't thinking about it when I ordered the steel cut... Maybe some 90 degree channel and I'll screw from inside out...Click image for larger version

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