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Old 01-21-2020, 05:37 PM   #1
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
Posts: 21
2008 International build

I've been wanting to build a skoolie for several years but didn't have the money or time. About a month ago I found a bus auction site and was out bid on the first several flat nose buses so I put a bid of $800 on a 2008 international CE 200 bus figuring I would never win it and they called the next day and said I was the winner. I flew out to Pennsylvania and drove it home to Maine over 900 miles without a single problem. Now the fun begins.
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Old 01-21-2020, 06:30 PM   #2
Bus Nut
 
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Join Date: Jun 2018
Location: Claremont, NH
Posts: 480
Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DT466E (195hp, 520tq)
Looks clean! What are the specs on it - engine, tranny, rear end ratio, etc? Was it a PA bus? The price sounds great!
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Old 01-21-2020, 06:55 PM   #3
Mini-Skoolie
 
Join Date: Jun 2019
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Yes it was a Pennsylvania bus, the specs are:
• Milage is 148400
• Motor is V8 6.0L 365 CID International/Navistar VT 365 Diesel
• Automatic Transmission
• Air brakes
• GVWR 29,800 lbs
• GAWR front 10,000 lbs
• GAWR back 19,800 lbs
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Old 01-21-2020, 07:13 PM   #4
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Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Ashtabula, Ohio
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Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International
Engine: T444E 7.3L
Welcome to the madness! Glad you got a bus and ready to live your dreams. I am not going to poop on your parade, but the VT365 6.0L diesel engine is not known for it's reliability, but if you take care of it then it will last many years. Truthfully in today's world of diesel engines, working on a 6.0L Powerstroke or VT365 is a blessing compared to later engines.

Keep the oil changed and keep it maintained regular and it should be good. I assume you have an Allison 2000/3000 variant and they are pretty trouble free. What speed did you travel on that 900 mile journey?
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Old 01-21-2020, 07:25 PM   #5
Mini-Skoolie
 
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I'm not sure what the transmission is yet. They didn't say in the specs and I haven't crawled under to check it yet the weather hasn't been the best the last few days. On flat ground i was able to maintain 70 mph but on hills it would slow downt to about 60mph
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Old 01-21-2020, 09:03 PM   #6
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Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 1,259
Year: 2001
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: All American
Engine: 8.3 Cummins ISC
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I will take a VT365 over a Maxxforce any day of the week. For $800 OP can't really go too wrong.

Just make sure you drive it a lot and make sure it all looks good before you start conversion work. Oh and keep 8-10k stashed away for repairs
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Old 01-22-2020, 09:23 AM   #7
Skoolie
 
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Year: 2004
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE200
Engine: T444e
I bought a 2008 IC 300 with a MaxxForce DT back in September and have had no issues with it. The bus starts right up and drives great. And, being newer, the bus was in great physical shape with nothing more than some minimal surface rust behind the back tires (despite being a CT bus). Anxieties with it being a MaxxForce are being offset by the fact that the conversion is going easy because I'm not encountering any hidden rust or other mechanical issues.

Luckily mine had the EGR cooler replaced in 2018, which made me feel good that I'll avoid that $10,000 repair. And, with brand new Continental tires, I couldn't pass it up. I just plan to keep doing oil changes every 3000 miles, and regularly get the oil tested and hopefully all will be good!
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Old 01-22-2020, 09:32 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dj349 View Post
I'm not sure what the transmission is yet. They didn't say in the specs and I haven't crawled under to check it yet the weather hasn't been the best the last few days. On flat ground i was able to maintain 70 mph but on hills it would slow downt to about 60mph
90% sure you'll have an Allison 2000 or one of its variants such as the 2200 or the 2500. That was pretty much the only bus transmission you could get after 2003-04. That or its beefier sibling the MD3060.
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Old 01-22-2020, 02:04 PM   #9
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Quote:
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90% sure you'll have an Allison 2000 or one of its variants such as the 2200 or the 2500. That was pretty much the only bus transmission you could get after 2003-04. That or its beefier sibling the MD3060.

I crawled under it today but the only plate I could find was unreadable. next warm day I will have to try to clean it off.
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Old 01-22-2020, 06:16 PM   #10
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All the seats came out today. It went better than I thought after we tried a few different ways grinding the heads off seem to go the quickest and much warmer than laying under the bus in snow. The rubber flooring doesn't look like it's going to come up as easy.
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Old 01-22-2020, 06:19 PM   #11
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Location: Claremont, NH
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Year: 2003
Coachwork: Bluebird
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DT466E (195hp, 520tq)
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Originally Posted by Dj349 View Post
All the seats came out today. It went better than I thought after we tried a few different ways grinding the heads off seem to go the quickest and much warmer than laying under the bus in snow. The rubber flooring doesn't look like it's going to come up as easy.
It never is easy. Peel and scrape it up as best as possible and then rip out the plywood (assuming it's there) that is under it to deal with the inevitable rust on the floor. Seems like everyone always gets to this point in the middle of the winter....
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Old 01-22-2020, 06:47 PM   #12
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Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 6,995
Year: 2003
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE 300
Engine: DT466e
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The rubber flooring doesn't look like it's going to come up as easy.
Don't even try. Use a circular saw with a demo blade set to just less than the depth of the plywood. Make a series of cuts in the floor from side-to-side and front-to-back, dividing it into a grid of squares (I cut my floor into one-foot squares but you can go bigger for less cutting). Then use a huge pry bar to easily pry up each square. You'll have a nice neat stack of plywood squares, still with the rubber mat attached.

For a pry bar, you can't do better than this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Truper-Tru-...ng-Bar/3055437. It's almost 6' for leverage, and it has the wedge and the mass to allow it to (relatively) easily slide under each square.

(If you have no plywood and the rubber mat is applied directly to the metal floor, there's no helping you).
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Old 01-22-2020, 06:49 PM   #13
Bus Crazy
 
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Location: Ashtabula, Ohio
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Year: 1996
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Engine: T444E 7.3L
Winter time is the perfect time for this phase of the bus build. The heat is in the tools!
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Old 01-22-2020, 08:27 PM   #14
Bus Nut
 
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Year: 2003
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Chassis: TC2000
Engine: Cummins 5.9 24v
Rated Cap: 54 passenger
Quote:
Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
Don't even try. Use a circular saw with a demo blade set to just less than the depth of the plywood. Make a series of cuts in the floor from side-to-side and front-to-back, dividing it into a grid of squares (I cut my floor into one-foot squares but you can go bigger for less cutting). Then use a huge pry bar to easily pry up each square. You'll have a nice neat stack of plywood squares, still with the rubber mat attached.

For a pry bar, you can't do better than this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Truper-Tru-...ng-Bar/3055437. It's almost 6' for leverage, and it has the wedge and the mass to allow it to (relatively) easily slide under each square.

(If you have no plywood and the rubber mat is applied directly to the metal floor, there's no helping you).
This exactly. I kept telling myself I didn't need to cut it into squares, and I was miserable until I did. It's tough to get the blade exactly right, I sliced into my metal floor once! But that's fixed.

If you don't have plywood, you'll have to peel it up. I've been told several times a heat source aimed right at where you're working helps loosen the rubber and the glue.

Welcome and good luck!
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Old 01-23-2020, 05:22 AM   #15
Skoolie
 
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Location: Connecticut
Posts: 149
Year: 2004
Coachwork: International
Chassis: CE200
Engine: T444e
Quote:
Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
Don't even try. Use a circular saw with a demo blade set to just less than the depth of the plywood. Make a series of cuts in the floor from side-to-side and front-to-back, dividing it into a grid of squares (I cut my floor into one-foot squares but you can go bigger for less cutting). Then use a huge pry bar to easily pry up each square. You'll have a nice neat stack of plywood squares, still with the rubber mat attached.

I was trying to pull it up: spent a week on just one piece of the plywood. Once I read this tip, I got the rest of the floor done in one day. This definitely was one of the best tips I got on this site!
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Old 01-23-2020, 05:35 PM   #16
Mini-Skoolie
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by musigenesis View Post
Don't even try. Use a circular saw with a demo blade set to just less than the depth of the plywood. Make a series of cuts in the floor from side-to-side and front-to-back, dividing it into a grid of squares (I cut my floor into one-foot squares but you can go bigger for less cutting). Then use a huge pry bar to easily pry up each square. You'll have a nice neat stack of plywood squares, still with the rubber mat attached.

For a pry bar, you can't do better than this: https://www.lowes.com/pd/Truper-Tru-...ng-Bar/3055437. It's almost 6' for leverage, and it has the wedge and the mass to allow it to (relatively) easily slide under each square.

(If you have no plywood and the rubber mat is applied directly to the metal floor, there's no helping you).

Thank you for the great tip. I got about 1/4 of the floor up and half the ceiling down. The ceiling was a breeze after hearing so many horror stories about rivets I lucked out and got all screws.
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Old 01-23-2020, 05:41 PM   #17
Mini-Skoolie
 
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I'm not sure why my pictures are posting sideways? They are normal before I posted them.
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Old 01-23-2020, 05:46 PM   #18
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Year: 2003
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I'm not sure why my pictures are posting sideways? They are normal before I posted them.
Convert them to PNG format first. That's the only thing that works for me. Problem is that JPEGs include EXIF data that can contain a flag for orientation.
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Old 01-26-2020, 07:41 PM   #19
Mini-Skoolie
 
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It took 2 days but the floor is finally completely removed. I plan on welding all the holes up next.
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Old 01-26-2020, 09:20 PM   #20
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It took 2 days but the floor is finally completely removed. I plan on welding all the holes up next.
Doesn't look too bad, comparatively. Are there any large rust holes you're going to have to patch?

Are you planning on removing the rear walls on each side of the exit door? I was going to leave those in place on my bus, but they turned out to be hiding some real horrors.
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