Delores: my 1973 Gillig build

[RyanM]

Well, I did it! After 2 years of searching for "The One" I finally found her and brought her home. She's affectionately referred to around our place as Delores.

Before I started my search I set strict requirements for consideration. If the prospective bus failed to meet any of my requirements, it was cut from my list of possible purchases. It had to be mechanically sound, needing not one single thing to run itself down the road safely. I wanted a Gillig or a Crown, because the wife said it needed to "look as little like a school bus as possible", and I'm a sucker for the classic appearance of these busses anyways. And, finally, it had to be a completely functioning school bus, seats and all, in case we decided to sell it, because sometimes life just happens.

Delores has a super clean 6V-71 Detroit, brand new steer tires, a brand new air dehydrator and was very reasonably priced at $3k, 25 minutes from home, too!

It will be a while before I start any part of the project, as I intend to spend the next few months nailing down a plan of attack by reviewing other builds, new ideas and the space I have available to work with.

Here she is: Everyone, meet Delores!

[RyanM]

[RyanM]

[RyanM]

[wunderhut]

That is a good looking bus. I'm a little jealous.

[RyanM]

Originally Posted by wunderhut

That is a good looking bus. I'm a little jealous.

Thanks, my patients really did pay off.

[EastCoastCB]

I'm a bit jealous as well.
hey- how many patients do you have?

[RyanM]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

I'm a bit jealous as well.
hey- how many patients do you have?

Enough to battle a smartphone that thinks it knows what I really meant to say......... Lol

[M1031A1]

Y'all are WAAAAAAY ahead of the rest of us on the paint job too!!!! BEAUTIFUL score!!!!!!

[RyanM]

Originally Posted by M1031A1

Y'all are WAAAAAAY ahead of the rest of us on the paint job too!!!! BEAUTIFUL score!!!!!!

Yeah, the paint job was icing on the cake. The church that owned it for a number of years had it repainted when they bought it from the school district. It's definitely not perfect, more of a 20ft paint job, but it keeps the eyesore factor to a bare minimum.

[green giiligan]

We have a '74 that is 32' with a Cat 3208 and five speed. Yours is very clean looking and a bargain as well. Congrats.

[RyanM]

Originally Posted by green giiligan

We have a '74 that is 32' with a Cat 3208 and five speed. Yours is very clean looking and a bargain as well. Congrats.

I looked at a few with the 3208's in them, they were all automatics though. Delores has a 5spd too, though I haven't figured out if its the Fuller or the Spicer just yet. I figured it didn't really matter, as all my research hadn't turned up any reason to insist on one or the other.

[Alan N]

Looks like you found a nice bus.
Enjoy!

[ii_amnt]

How's the top cruising speed?

Delores is the first bus I've seen that legitimately made me jealous... Good find!

[RyanM]

Originally Posted by ii_amnt

How's the top cruising speed?

Delores is the first bus I've seen that legitimately made me jealous... Good find!

Thanks, like I said, I looked for a very long time. My wife wasnt completely sold on the idea, so I knew I had to find the right candidate to sell her on it.

I haven't really tried to push her yet, and the speedo is a little bouncy at higher speeds. I tried to stay with the flow of traffic on the highway coming home, and the wife said I was doing the speed limit every time she looked at her speedo in the Silverado. I know she'll do 55MPH, but that was around 1650 RPMs, so there's still a little more engine speed I could capitalize on if I wanted to. I've only driven her twice now, the test drive and the drive home, and it was snowing during both of those adventures. We'll open her up when the weather gets better.

[RyanM]

Well, I poked around the bus today for a bit. It's really hard not to just dive into this project, but I'm trying to do little things that make the bus better without disassembling anything.

I went through today and fixed all the windows that didn't want to close fully, cleaned the heater vents under the dash and ran it for about an hour just to keep things limber. I did notice that the radiator has shutters, and they are closed. It's not a problem now, being winter and all, but I didn't notice anything to open them.

Any thoughts as to where I might locate the shutter mechanism?

[M1031A1]

The shutters are for when the bus is under load and they will open automatically. It's to help the engine warm up when idling. Rule of thumb - after the first ten minutes of warming up bump up the engine idle speed from the 650 or so r.p.m. to about 900 or so r.p.m. This will help prevent damage to the engine.

[EastCoastCB]

Yep high idle is standard if sitting more than five or ten minutes.

[RyanM]

I know modern vehicles have automatic shutters, it just seemed a little far fetched for a 1973 school bus. I guess I'll just have to watch it this summer to satisfy my curiosities.

[Underground_Bear]

Wow......I am jealous also!

I just request more pictures so I can be extra jealous....