It R HAZ begun!!!

[Azuleslight]

I bought my bus today . I have it in my work/storage spot already and I am all set!

2003 IC CE 33 pax with lift assist bus

I think T444 engine
It can hit 72, so no retarder to deal with.
153k miles

8600 work hours

Pictures and youtube links to follow

*thanks to everyone who has already helped me in deciding what to buy and what to look for*

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Azuleslight

I bought my bus today . I have it in my work/storage spot already and I am all set!

2003 IC CE 33 pax with lift assist bus

I think T444 engine
It can hit 72, so no retarder to deal with.
153k miles

8600 work hours

Pictures and youtube links to follow

*thanks to everyone who has already helped me in deciding what to buy and what to look for*

Sounds good... but a retarder is a wonderful thing, fwiw. I think you mean governor, possibly?
CONGRATS on the bus, you'll be flying past me putting along at 63.

I think you posted some pics pre-purchase, but post up some current ones when you can!

[Robin97396]

That sounds like a nice setup. You got one of those good transmission I take it?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

That sounds like a nice setup. You got one of those good transmission I take it?

that bus should have a 5 speed allison 2100 in it.. I havent seen any yet that were 6 speed unlocked IC's .

I looked at a couple similar busses and thats what they had..

they drive almost like cars

-Christopher

[Robin97396]

Didn't someone say you could get that sixth gear unlocked when by having the transmission recoded? That sounds cool with that much power.

I love the floor space in my FE bus but I don't like the way it drives very much. Since it sits about 99% of the time the floor space wins out. When I bought it I was thinking about using the Alaska ferry system where length of vehicle costs big money. Second thought driving to Alaska sounds fun.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Didn't someone say you could get that sixth gear unlocked when by having the transmission recoded? That sounds cool with that much power.

I love the floor space in my FE bus but I don't like the way it drives very much. Since it sits about 99% of the time the floor space wins out. When I bought it I was thinking about using the Alaska ferry system where length of vehicle costs big money. Second thought driving to Alaska sounds fun.

Ive never driven a Flat-nosed bus (RE or FE).. I sat in the saddle once and played around in a parkinglot and it seemed wierd...

when im down to florida picking up my bus ive been promised to take a couple flat-nose LOOONG busses out just for fun.. I do Love the big open space inside them... though for where I drive the short bus is very much welcomed.. some of the city streets ill be on would be tough in a Big bus

-Christopher

[Docsgsxr]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Ive never driven a Flat-nosed bus (RE or FE).. I sat in the saddle once and played around in a parkinglot and it seemed wierd...

when im down to florida picking up my bus ive been promised to take a couple flat-nose LOOONG busses out just for fun.. I do Love the big open space inside them... though for where I drive the short bus is very much welcomed.. some of the city streets ill be on would be tough in a Big bus

-Christopher

That's why you tow a car or truck behind it!!! park the bus, drive the gas machine!

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Docsgsxr

That's why you tow a car or truck behind it!!! park the bus, drive the gas machine!

I suppose I could tow my smart but I really like driving a bus..

[Azuleslight]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Sounds good... but a retarder is a wonderful thing, fwiw. I think you mean governor, possibly?
CONGRATS on the bus, you'll be flying past me putting along at 63.

I think you posted some pics pre-purchase, but post up some current ones when you can!

Will do

[Robin97396]

Could you charge your smart car from your bus alternator while towing? That's kind of like a towable battery bank.

[Azuleslight]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

That sounds like a nice setup. You got one of those good transmission I take it?

Define "good" lol, my buddy is a CTA driver and he knows the good from the bad and he basically begged me to drive the skoolie again lol. He has all the needed CDL's and extra's to drive the skoolie all legal like lol.

side note i got a temp tag and it will last until july...a bit longer than the 7 days i was initially told lol

[Robin97396]

Good, as in not a 4 speed Allison 545. Like the one I have.

That sounds great. I'll be looking forward to the time when you build passes up my build.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Could you charge your smart car from your bus alternator while towing? That's kind of like a towable battery bank.

my smart car is a gasoline model..

charging an EV from mthe bus alternator is still using fuel since it makes the engine work harder.. I do know of someone who made an adapter to charge his nissan Leaf from the solar array on top of his RV.. while driving he uses the engine for his A/C , heat, etc.. and uses solar when parked.. but when driving he tows his Nissan leaf and charges that..

the Leaf also acts as extra House power if he doenst want to run the generator...

-Christopher

[Robin97396]

That's pretty cool that someone is already doing that. Just goes to prove once again that if you can imagine it, someone else has probably already done it.

[Azuleslight]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Good, as in not a 4 speed Allison 545. Like the one I have.

That sounds great. I'll be looking forward to the time when you build passes up my build.

Maybe, my buddy said it only shifted three times to get to 70 mph. I do have alot of time on my hands. However my limiting factor will be money. I want to come out of this with as little debt as possible.

[Robin97396]

That sounds like you have the ever popular 545 then. Take good care of it and you should be fine. You can see where it would be advantageous to have one of those six speed automatics, but that's not worth thinking about unless your current transmission goes bad.
You're doing it the right way. Take your time and let things fall into place. Occasionally you have to stick your neck out financially, but most things come along if you can wait.

I consider myself to be a minimalist, slowly adding an occasional luxury.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

That's pretty cool that someone is already doing that. Just goes to prove once again that if you can imagine it, someone else has probably already done it.

im always seemingly getting into building cool technology stuff.. we took the easy way out of building his solar car charger and simply built a board that mimics the L2 EVSE charging protocol to tell the car's charger to only pull a certain number of watts..

the next piece we are working on is makeshift 'regen' braking using a pair of 200 amp alternators that are only engaged and switched on when the brakes are on or the Jake is engaged... while they wont provide much stopping power like regen in a hybrid, they will generate power to charge batteries onboard or go to the electric car battery ...

my design uses a low tension belt and an A/C clutch (with no compressor)to drive those alternators so their belts dont drag ..

whether it actually gains him anything or not who knows but the project is fun to design and see built as well as "bragging" rights to say we did it for the heck of it..

-Christopher

[Azuleslight]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

That sounds like you have the ever popular 545 then. Take good care of it and you should be fine. You can see where it would be advantageous to have one of those six speed automatics, but that's not worth thinking about unless your current transmission goes bad.
You're doing it the right way. Take your time and let things fall into place. Occasionally you have to stick your neck out financially, but most things come along if you can wait.

I consider myself to be a minimalist, slowly adding an occasional luxury.

Yay!!! Right? Lol
I am just happy the skoolie functions as well as it does for what i paid.

I have been planning for a bit now. I will take my time, but hopefully my time table of 2-4 months to be bare legal minimum rv status.

I am not a minimalist, but according to everyone i know i live like one lol.

[Azuleslight]

Day 1 of actual work, found out alot about my bus and my tools. One, i 1000% need a generator. As i am using miliwakee m18 tools. I get about 4-6 bolts angle grinded out per battery. All my seats have 8 bolts, thus my dilemma. I was considering buying a cheaper utility generator and 2000 watt pure sine inverter. Which i then hope to swap the inverter into my solar array eventually. Sadly, that will need to wait.

Oh things I learned :
Bus mechanics like to use whatever screws are around lol.

DO NOT buy the thinner angle grinder disks.

Buckets are awesome for putting bulk amount of screws.

Wear long sleeve shirts and jeans or work pants even if it is hot lol.

Wear a mask when grinding, as well as all other safety equipment.

I apparently have 3 heaters and 1 is like a legit home radiator in height. I might keep it.

There is nothing quite like getting your first set of seats out.

[Docsgsxr]

Originally Posted by Azuleslight

Oh things I learned :

Bus mechanics like to use whatever screws are around lol.

That should read, mechanics in general....... man I am glad my dad taught me to keep a mayonaise jar full of nuts, bolts and whatnot on the shelf!

Glad you're rocking along........ but like the old skoolie saying goes, no pics, no proof!!!