73 Superior-Time to bring it back!

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by magnakansas

Ya know I am hopin you put aluminum 22.5 buds on that international. I am finding them for about $150 for one rim. I want to “bling” my 94 tc2000 and add alloys.

William

Problem is it’s stud pilot and big hub, most modern Alcoa rims are hub pilot , lots more work if I need to re hub it.

[magnakansas]

Yea, the ones I am talking about are stud pilot.

My 94 is also stud pilot.

William

[warriorJaymi]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

the allison AT540 is the likely unit it has and while its not as great
mountain transmission, the original AT540 vs the later mid 90s AT545..
the 540 is a MUCH BETTER unit.. mine has the AT540 in it and works
great. I rebuilt and re-jetted the carb..  the edelbrock 1405 on the 392
runs way too rich so I jetted it down a couple sizes and then I run a small cap HEI distributor so I have no points..i run the initial timing at 5 before TDC and then a mechanical of about 18 degrees brought in by 2200 rpm. with a vacuum advance of 7, I like to run a pretty healthy vacuum advance as it does a good job of backing down the timing under load and supressing pre ignition. Im glad for manual choke asd the engine does like to be a bit rich for a while when its cold..


electric choke tends to open too quick. with smaller main jets I get decent fuel economy for a bus at 5-7 or so running 65 MPH..at 55-60 ill get a solid 7 or 8. it had a 6.17 rear end and I regeared to 4.78, my rears are switched from 9R20s to 11R22.5s,

i still need to find a couple budd 22.5's for the front and get rid of the 2 piece rims..
im lucky the bus came with Powered steering and air brakes..I added a front high capacity (32000 BTU) air conditioner to make it nicer for me to drive in summer. it has a retro style to it and I used the period-centric York 210 compressor which barely has enough juice to run that big evaporator..my condensor is hidden under the bus out of sight.


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Another good looking bus....I hope to get mine looking stout soon....mechanicals then appearance...

[Seriousracer]

As much as carbs are getting to be some of the new efi units are reasonably priced and give some aids in drivability.

[La Camioneta]

Mr Kid is brilliant. Love his IH and what he did with it.

I will caution you to read and heed the timing stickers for IH. They time off #8. They will run for a while timed off #1, until they don't. Had a friend time one incorrectly and it eventually cost me that engine. And when she gets hard to start its time for plugs/cap/rotor. Makes a world of difference. Pertronix ignition is worth the money for sure.

Originally Posted by cadillackid

the allison AT540 is the likely unit it has and while its not as great
mountain transmission, the original AT540 vs the later mid 90s AT545..
the 540 is a MUCH BETTER unit.. mine has the AT540 in it and works
great. I rebuilt and re-jetted the carb..  the edelbrock 1405 on the 392
runs way too rich so I jetted it down a couple sizes and then I run a small cap HEI distributor so I have no points..i run the initial timing at 5 before TDC and then a mechanical of about 18 degrees brought in by 2200 rpm. with a vacuum advance of 7, I like to run a pretty healthy vacuum advance as it does a good job of backing down the timing under load and supressing pre ignition. Im glad for manual choke asd the engine does like to be a bit rich for a while when its cold..


electric choke tends to open too quick. with smaller main jets I get decent fuel economy for a bus at 5-7 or so running 65 MPH..at 55-60 ill get a solid 7 or 8. it had a 6.17 rear end and I regeared to 4.78, my rears are switched from 9R20s to 11R22.5s,

i still need to find a couple budd 22.5's for the front and get rid of the 2 piece rims..
im lucky the bus came with Powered steering and air brakes..I added a front high capacity (32000 BTU) air conditioner to make it nicer for me to drive in summer. it has a retro style to it and I used the period-centric York 210 compressor which barely has enough juice to run that big evaporator..my condensor is hidden under the bus out of sight.


Attachment 68856


Attachment 68857


Attachment 68858

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by La Camioneta

Mr Kid is brilliant. Love his IH and what he did with it.

I will caution you to read and heed the timing stickers for IH. They time off #8. They will run for a while timed off #1, until they don't. Had a friend time one incorrectly and it eventually cost me that engine. And when she gets hard to start its time for plugs/cap/rotor. Makes a world of difference. Pertronix ignition is worth the money for sure.

this is an excellent point to time it off of cylinder #8 and not 1 (like every other engine)..



mine is timed off of #8 indeed. . I remember that from being a kid and dad stressing that scouts timed differently than our 69 GTO..



if your over-time an IH it will definitely let you know.. it will ping.. and that you want to stop immediately. pinging can and will destroy an engine if its severe enough or lasts long enough...


theres more than one IH out there with burnt valves from being mis-timed..


I found 5 degrees base to work great on my 392.. at 7 it pinged, at 0 or 3 it was lethargic.



I doi run 7 vacuum advance so it will back the total timing down when you put it under load which is when engines tend to ping the most.



when I was setting it up, it was most helpful to drive the bus with the dog-house off so I could hear everything the engine was doing..


I used a CRT electronic distributor.. I first did a pertronix however my distributor bushings were done and the mechanical advance weights were also worn and elongated..



DUI HEI is an option but requires moddingthe water neck.. so I tried this new one which is small cap and used their high energy coil..



I think i still have the pertronix laying around in a garage drawer..

[warriorJaymi]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

this is an excellent point to time it off of cylinder #8 and not 1 (like every other engine)..



mine is timed off of #8 indeed. . I remember that from being a kid and dad stressing that scouts timed differently than our 69 GTO..



if your over-time an IH it will definitely let you know.. it will ping.. and that you want to stop immediately. pinging can and will destroy an engine if its severe enough or lasts long enough...


theres more than one IH out there with burnt valves from being mis-timed..


I found 5 degrees base to work great on my 392.. at 7 it pinged, at 0 or 3 it was lethargic.



I doi run 7 vacuum advance so it will back the total timing down when you put it under load which is when engines tend to ping the most.



when I was setting it up, it was most helpful to drive the bus with the dog-house off so I could hear everything the engine was doing..


I used a CRT electronic distributor.. I first did a pertronix however my distributor bushings were done and the mechanical advance weights were also worn and elongated..



DUI HEI is an option but requires moddingthe water neck.. so I tried this new one which is small cap and used their high energy coil..



I think i still have the pertronix laying around in a garage drawer..

haven't gotten that far yet, but I want to make the 345 run as efficiently and effectively as possible....I opted for this over diesel because I just could not pass up the bus...

[Ronnie]

I am also using the DUI HEI distributor, although the large cap one. The 350 cfm 2300 carb is ok but chokes the engine a bit, take vacuum readings at full throttle, and load and let the rpms climb, it will start pulling vacuum , and have a good bit of vacuum at 3000rpms. This is how you tell a carb is small. The 500 cfm is better, and that has worked out well for me. Kind of a bummer but Stan's headers has retired, the headers alone made a real difference.

[cadillackid]

Superior is what I grew up riding.. brand new ones in the late 70s… last one rolled off the line in the USA factory in 81, I think it was lie 84 or 85 for Canada superior to die..

Mine is identical to one I rode new .. international has been in my roots.. from the 3 scouts we had, to getting to ride in the family friend”s new IH combine on the farm somewhere around 1980.. a cab and A,C was a big deal back then.

For me the superior represents a good portion of my childhood.. of course I fondly remember the Waynes too.. we had a few carpenters and schools didn’t get bluebird until 86.. though I’d already driven an all-American at 12 years old ..

Busses are in my blood.. a lot of extended family members were into busses.. drivers, trans directors for schools, or sales reps for them .. so they fed right into my geeky interest in busses as a teen. My dad couldn’t understand it and even forbid me to have a bus of my own … lot of good that did him…

[Ronnie]

1970's Waynes on International chassis is what we had as a kid. I know of several in the woods around here still

[BarnYardCamp]

"Your 2bl holley will be fine for getting it going. When I was eyeing that loadstar, I had plans to swap a 392 intake on it with a quadrajet. I've always been told a quadrajet will get better fuel mileage then a holley or afb, but maybe that's because they don't burn much sitting in a trash can "

The quadrojet has smaller "primary" than a normal 2 brrl carb..you'll get better mileage until you open up the secondary's, then you can watch the fuel gage drop.
Maybe you could explore an aftermarket Fuel injection system (throttle body) That would probably improve the mileage a bit.

[Ronnie]

Originally Posted by BarnYardCamp

"Your 2bl holley will be fine for getting it going. When I was eyeing that loadstar, I had plans to swap a 392 intake on it with a quadrajet. I've always been told a quadrajet will get better fuel mileage then a holley or afb, but maybe that's because they don't burn much sitting in a trash can "

The quadrojet has smaller "primary" than a normal 2 brrl carb..you'll get better mileage until you open up the secondary's, then you can watch the fuel gage drop.
Maybe you could explore an aftermarket Fuel injection system (throttle body) That would probably improve the mileage a bit.

I tried the Holley pro jection unit, and have used it on several other International engines. On the bus it did not improve mileage, or hurt it. Nice for cold starts, and drivability in the cold, but otherwise not an improvement over a carb. Now the pro jection is an older first gen throttle body injection. I am sure the newer stuff would be more tunable. I did bore out my 2 barrel manifold to allow a larger 2 barrel carb, or the pro jection unit.


I do have a 4 barrel manifold off a 392. It is not in great shape though. The 392 was in the bus when I got it. Had cooling troubles and blew two pistons, so switched to the tried and true 345, and put a manual trans in at the same time. Same fuel mileage either combo, and about the same power. A newer improved cooling 392, with a few mods and a manual trans, would be a nice combo. At this point enough engine swaps... it runs good and have it reliable. Now if I find a shorty of the same vintage....

[warriorJaymi]

Originally Posted by Ronnie

1970's Waynes on International chassis is what we had as a kid. I know of several in the woods around here still

too bad they are relegated to woods status only!!

[warriorJaymi]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Superior is what I grew up riding.. brand new ones in the late 70s… last one rolled off the line in the USA factory in 81, I think it was lie 84 or 85 for Canada superior to die..

Mine is identical to one I rode new .. international has been in my roots.. from the 3 scouts we had, to getting to ride in the family friend”s new IH combine on the farm somewhere around 1980.. a cab and A,C was a big deal back then.

For me the superior represents a good portion of my childhood.. of course I fondly remember the Waynes too.. we had a few carpenters and schools didn’t get bluebird until 86.. though I’d already driven an all-American at 12 years old ..

Busses are in my blood.. a lot of extended family members were into busses.. drivers, trans directors for schools, or sales reps for them .. so they fed right into my geeky interest in busses as a teen. My dad couldn’t understand it and even forbid me to have a bus of my own … lot of good that did him…

seems like people from the midwest and northern areas mostly are bus geeks....I almost bought the 78 Bluebird Loadstar i rode daily when it was being retired....my parents about strung me up! needless to say, a loadstar bus is my fave and that is why I got this one and if I had room for more, I would prob grab at least 3....

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by warriorJaymi

seems like people from the midwest and northern areas mostly are bus geeks....I almost bought the 78 Bluebird Loadstar i rode daily when it was being retired....my parents about strung me up! needless to say, a loadstar bus is my fave and that is why I got this one and if I had room for more, I would prob grab at least 3....

the midwest at one time was where ltos of busses and chassis and engines were made..



you had Carpenter in mitchell indiana, wayne in richmond IN, superior in lima ohio, flxible in loudonville ohio, IH made bus chassis in springfield OH, GMC made new looks (fishbowls). near detroit (and just over the border in canada).
bluebird had a factory in iowa (along with georgia and a couple others)..



so yeah busses in the mid west were the deal.. of course the west coast had a lot of gillig and crown that we never saw here in this area till much later (gillig city busses)...


the evansville Bus show had over 100 busses and who knows how many people (2017).. an impromptu gathering thats really not been advertised much upcoming in columbus here.. really just talked about among some of us bus geeks.. is up to 10-12 people bringing busses and like 50 people saying they are coming... since its 10 minutes from my home ill bring all 3 of mine.. the hobby is definitely alive and well..

[warriorJaymi]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

the midwest at one time was where ltos of busses and chassis and engines were made..



you had Carpenter in mitchell indiana, wayne in richmond IN, superior in lima ohio, flxible in loudonville ohio, IH made bus chassis in springfield OH, GMC made new looks (fishbowls). near detroit (and just over the border in canada).
bluebird had a factory in iowa (along with georgia and a couple others)..



so yeah busses in the mid west were the deal.. of course the west coast had a lot of gillig and crown that we never saw here in this area till much later (gillig city busses)...


the evansville Bus show had over 100 busses and who knows how many people (2017).. an impromptu gathering thats really not been advertised much upcoming in columbus here.. really just talked about among some of us bus geeks.. is up to 10-12 people bringing busses and like 50 people saying they are coming... since its 10 minutes from my home ill bring all 3 of mine.. the hobby is definitely alive and well..

Wsh i was closer! I know of at least one other Superior Loadstar for sale not too far from me as well as a Wayne Loadstar....Not many down here to hang with for the older buses....

[jibronee]

So cool!! I have a 68' Superior Ford. It's all original. 330MD with 4speed, but have a 391FT with 5 speed that needs to be swapped in. Good luck with your project!!

[cadillackid]

That’s a bad ass little superior !!! Love it!!
I have a fishbowl in storage I haven’t started yet, a Wayne is on the list of busses I’d love to own. Preferably IH loadstar or s series.

Like any hobby “old” is relative, fortunately we have quite a few young people into busses .. to then my 91 carpenter is quite classic even though it’s newer style than any I ever rode. My 00 bluebird was on a daily route when a friend of mine was in school at that district.
To some of our youngest members the IH 3800 chassis was gone by the time they went to grade school.. replaced by IC and the Thomas C2 / bluebird vision.

The names carpenter Wayne ward amtran and superior are all names of distant past classics like people in my age group (early 50s) marvel at cars of packard, dusenberg, Edsel and others as before our time..

[jibronee]

Yeah, the Superior is a 24'. I do have a 60 Chevy Wayne, 20', that I'm going to turn into a skoolie. Have one ton ford axles, 7.3 with turbo, 5 speed + GV overdrive unit. It should be a good cruiser!! I've been waiting to start on this project for 11 years now!! LOL!! I'll probably get rid of my Superior; I just can't see myself storing and maintaining two running buses!!

[cadillackid]

I love that superior!.. im into shortie busses.. my superior is full size but really I couldnt pass up a nearly 100% rust free superior for under 3k so I snagged it up.and its been a great bus