the DEV RANDOM

[Docsgsxr]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I tried a bison burger once.. didnt care for it.. was at a restaraunt..
im adventurous in many ways but food is NOT one of them.. I want plain jane all the way... if I eat a burger its with cheese and bacon, no pickles,sauces,lettus,mayo or any of that junk...

im definitely a product of the take-out-world we live in.. when I travel i do try and hit up local restaraunts as opposed to chains all the time.. but I tend to pick them carefully and read the menu on the door if its posted...

I rarely drink alcohol.. the occasional whiskey unless ive got to drive even a block within 8 hours then nada..

I drink a lot of espresso, water, soda(pop in ohio), and Iced tea...


-Christopher

Along with funyuns, cheeto's, and Cool Ranch Dorito's......sounds like a programmer's diet right there!

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Docsgsxr

Along with funyuns, cheeto's, and Cool Ranch Dorito's......sounds like a programmer's diet right there!

you got it!! and cant forget the late-night Pizza!!

and on the road its Free "embassy suites endless breakfast buffet..."

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

I tried a bison burger once.. didnt care for it.. was at a restaraunt..
im adventurous in many ways but food is NOT one of them.. I want plain jane all the way... if I eat a burger its with cheese and bacon, no pickles,sauces,lettus,mayo or any of that junk...

im definitely a product of the take-out-world we live in.. when I travel i do try and hit up local restaraunts as opposed to chains all the time.. but I tend to pick them carefully and read the menu on the door if its posted...

I rarely drink alcohol.. the occasional whiskey unless ive got to drive even a block within 8 hours then nada..

I drink a lot of espresso, water, soda(pop in ohio), and Iced tea...


-Christopher

One thing you don't have to worry about with me and Roxanne- we DON'T use ANY condiments. Two people... hating ketchup, mustard, mayo, even ranch dressing, man.

We're also big on tea and coffee. Rarely drink. A sixer a month, MAYBE.
I do have some REALLY nice corn liquor stashed away, though. For that once or twice a year I'm really in the spirit.

Don't do restaurants too much any more. I've been entirely gluten free for years now and don't even look back. I'm a Celiac sufferer and its brutal. Been making ridiculously dank food at home and feeling better than ever.
Once in a while I get a bit wistful when I pass a Krystal burger, but I prefer not having migraines and some really disturbing digestive symptoms.

The hardest part of my return trip with the bus was finding anything I could eat while on the road. None of the deliciously horribly truckstop food is edible to me and I'd run low on provisions.

[Josiahdr]

Nice looking bus! Paint job looks good, I like the brown. Looking forward to your build.

[cadillackid]

Hot an email from ProAir that my Air-conditioning system is now ready and awaiting my Pick up in Elkhart indiana.. depending on how my bus runs wen I begin my trip back I may just drive from florida to elkhart indiana, pick up the A/C system parts in the bus then head to Columbus Ohio..

after some back and forth, and thanks to the folks at BGA school busses for letting me take pictures of another DT360 bus that has A/C, I was able to get the correct Compressor bracket ordered, and it will be at my house before I arrive home.

also got a nice height adjustable High back Driver seat for the bus.. Not asn air ride seat.. ive been told by more than one professional bus driver that guys like me with short legs dont do well in air seats so i didnt opt for that route.

its red / brown and not green like the rest of my seats, However I plan to SEM my green seats read anyway..

I cant remember when carpenter changed from tan walls and red / brown seats to the green / green that my bus is.. but it was likely the redesign in 1986.. I liked the red seats better..

I think mine are called "Blackgreen" which isnt bad but i like the warmer colors better..

I also got a couple cheapie 4 leg seats to use in my pseudo dinette / booth area.. since this area will be in front of my wheelchair door (purposely..ill explain in a moment).. I needed 4 leg seats as theres no chair rail here..

why place a backward seat and a table in front of my large side door? when i stop and am sitting working on the laptop, if its a sunny day, i'll align the bus so I get siun in te nice large windows.. AND if its warm out that door will be opened.. im going to have a roll-up retractable screen made that will slide across the opening when im parked and the door is open.. thus giving me the feeling of being on a patio but still indoors next to my work stuff.. (and the heat or A/C as needed.. yes with the door open)..

since the dinette will convert to a Nap-spot i can also leave that door open, screen closed and have the effect of sleeping with the windows open.. should work nicely..

Pictures once i get the bus, get it home and mock up with cardboard and paper...

-Christopher

[cadillackid]

And my friends, My little Bus LIVES again!!..

as some of you all know, I embarked on my journey from St pete to Columbus ohio.. and got about 450 miles in when i lost Air Pressure in the Air-brake system...

having been totally unprepared to personally try to work on, diagnose, and fix any issue like this.... the only prep work I did was to save some links in my tablet for mobile repair services, should I have a break-down.. well that happened on weds..

in the mid morning driving, I got an alarm that my compressor was no longer outputting air..

on my bus the air Alarm sensor and the air gauges are sensed in different spots.. the air alarm is right after the air dryer.. at the "wet" tank.. at this point my pressure over a few minutes dropped from the normal 120--110 and about to 100 and then the alarm went off and the air pumped back up to 120 and I got the "swoosssh!" from the air dryer...

wierd fluke?? maybe... or.. maybe not!... so I kept running... and about 3 hours later.. I got the alarm again... and the pressure continued to slowly drop... once I saw 90 I headed for the next exit... got the bus pulled off safely completely out of the way at a gas station... before I reached 60 PSI... at 60PSI your brakes wiill begin to stop you whether you want or not... I think I was at 70 or 75 so i cut it close!..

having no knowledge of air brakes.. I enlisted the help of truckdown.com and got a mobile repair service out... their tech changed the governor... no change... we took the air output line off the compressor and guess what... NO AIR.. so he deemed the compressor as SHOT!..

he called his office with some numbers and then proceeded to remove the old compressor from the bus.. even before getting confirmation from his office that they could find one..

well they couldnt find one anywhere... finally one was supposedly located and ordered.. (I had already book a room at the hotel as soon as I broke down..)..

oh but wait now they call me back and tell me they cant locate the part... or they did but its a week out... they ordered it anyway.. really?

so im out there googling... my bus dealer is helping out with cross referencing me part numbers we can use.. but bam. past shipping hours..

thursday comes along and ive found several part numbers and locations where htey could be ordered from.... I hand all that to said service company... later in the day they call and say "yep we got parts coming"..

friday AM, i get a call at 830 or so and think "yes lets go".. OOPs.. sorry the part never got shipped... the part number didnt reference so they didnt ship it..

so I call Bendix directly (they make about all the parts on my bus air system).. talk to a GREAT guy there who confirmed what i did that the correct part was in fact ordered and would work perfect.. oh and then explained how he knew exactly what was wrong with my old air compressor and that it could be made to work rather easily until i could get home and rebuild the head on my air compressor.. Grrr!! because the service tech had removed my old unit and taken it with him.....

since it was friday now everything had to be ordered saturday delivery.. and alas today a new COmpressor arrived.. .the exact part number I SPEC'd out.. the tech put it on and bam! i have beautiful air pressure once again!...

through all this the wonder of my career really shines... that being I can work anywhere I have internet access.. so I unbuttoned my suitcase and set up my Mobile DEV lab in this very nice comfort suites hotel... which even has a bar that kept me calm with a crown royal or 2 throughout this adventure...

and hail to the Shoneys next door with a fantastic breakfast Buffet (including crispy bacon!)..

in effect only thing I was missingthat I really wanted was ESPRESSO!.. I'll be getting one someplace very soon!..

oh yes I believe I need a DRINK... and the lady behind the bar obliged



my Mobile DEV lab setup in the hotel yep work as usual for me and my TWO mobile hotspots..



Ok lets get this bad boy fixed up!!!



and yes.. we have AIR!!! never thought id be so glad just to have Air in a rusty old tank under the bus as I am today!



this has been an adventure.. and yes my friends the BIG GRIN on my face is back as I put that little bus in D and headed off for a test ride... I just LOVE driving a bus!!
-Christopher

[Robin97396]

Glad you're up and running again. That'll slow down your work for a while.

[Robin97396]

Oh, I was going to ask if you took 75 or 77? I really had to refresh my geography on the right coast since I live on the left coast.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Oh, I was going to ask if you took 75 or 77? I really had to refresh my geography on the right coast since I live on the left coast.

I took route 75 since the bus came from the west coast of florida.. it takes me up through many major cities... route 77 is what I often take if im going up from the east florida coast.. daytona, launderdale, etc.. it tends to be faster... in a car that is.. but much slower in a truck or bus because the mountains have much taller hills to climb...

driving route 75 you run into a few mild hills in the tennessee and southern kentucky but otherwise its pretty flat.. theres more cities so you can get hung up in traffic... I plan on taking off about beginning of daylight tomorrow morning and running as long as I can before I get sleepy.. I may make it to columbus, I may not..

of course psychology plays a part.. you know how it is.. you fix something and you then fixate on that for the next XX number of trips or miles.. even though that is now the LEAST likely thing to break... but its psychology...

in a regular car I can drive florida to ohio in one shot... However in the Bus.. im attentively listening to every sound, watching every needle, noting every movement, etc.. which means the brain and body wear out more quickly.. of course that gets less and less the more I drive.. and really i should just crank up the bluetooth speaker and just drive...

it definitely feels GOOD to be back in the driver seat of a bus again! not just after the breakdown but in general...

I really have no idea why I pretty much let the last bus sit... it spent almost all of its time in the garage after I got it... psychology played a big part in that bus... everyone including my parents said I was crazy for wanting to just "drive around in a bus"... I gave in.. and parked it except for the rare occasion where a "need for a bus" arose... like a group picnic or a parade or a classic-commercial vehicle cruise-in...

this time my attitude and excitement are different... and thus perhaps I have different friends now too that are all about "oh cool a bus... this is gonna be fun... ".. even down to me driving it to the Classic christmas decorations convention in New york this summer all decked out interior in vintage christmas.. even that group is pumped about it...

Pizza outings, IKEA trips, ball games, amusement park outings, the christmas show, Trip to Bronners in michigan, Parades, all things my group of friends and family members are all talking about how fun it will be in the bus...

I find theres a lot more bus enthusiasts than I ever know.. I watch youtube video after video of people excited about just having a bus.. many of them bought the school bus they rode to high school in.. one guy has the GMC transit bus he rode to work in for 10 years every day..

and of course all of those here that are building up busses into something you just cant buy anywhere... from mild to wild.. minimus to maximus...

-Christopher

[Robin97396]

I still like to listen to the engine while I'm driving too. It sounds like a well oiled machine.

Well here's hoping you make it home so you can relax finally.

[aaronsb]

That's a good story to have. I like the hotel room itops station.

[REDD]

Paint turned out great! ...any more pics?

[skoolie_n00bie]

That is a great looking bus!
A little jealous of your paint job
Can't wait to see the mockups with the cardboard. I love your idea of the "patio" setup.
I wanted to so something similar on mine from the back emergency door, but the bed is now there. Maybe in the future....

Safe travels!

[cadillackid]

Ok, I got the air compressor fixed and drove my bus 650 miles home yesterday without issue... for all the fuss about AT545's and a small engine like a DT360.. I ran 65 on flat ground without issue.. up in the mountains of tennesee the slowest I ever got was a brief 53 MPH.. topped the hill and no issues coming down the 6% grade.. I dropped the 545 down to L3 and it grabbed a hold of the engine nicely and slowed the bus right down on the curves.. I never even touched the brake pedal..

oh yes I feel at home in the driver seat... (dont worry the bus was stopped).



duct tape really is good for everything!



Bird Strike!!! only casualty was a mirrot that was no good anyway.. it was cracked.. oh and ther wires came unplugged, the terminals didnt even rip off!



takin a Break to sit on the ground in the sun and write some code.. give the Bus a rest in the hills..



-Christopher

[cadillackid]

when I picked up the bus and was driving it.. I thought the exhaust sounded a tad bit loud... and I could really hear the turbo...

so now that it was cooled down and at home.. I got under the bonnett.. and well i found the 2 rear exhaust manifold bolts just Missing!.. of course I thought the worst.. that someone had twisted them off in the head... but no!.. they were just.. well gone!..

so what are the chances that the manifold gasket was still intact there? well actually pretty good.. I put 2 new bolts in the holes, tightened them up and went for a drive..

awesome!! now I can Better hear the kickass whistle when the gear shifts from 1 to 2.. I LOVE that sound..!




so now the next little annoyance to catch is the fact my fuel pump Sometimes loses prime.. esp when the bus is hot and sits for a short time.. it will start right up.. run for about 10 seconds then falter.. sometimes it will catch itself up... other times I have to go prime with the hand pump.. then it runs like a champ!.. it will run for hours and hours ... in fact on the drive home after I had stopped twice and had to reprime.. I just let it run the rest of the trip...

this evening when I started it.. it had sat overnight.. and it missed a few beats but I never had to manually re-prime...

I did find one fuel line with a drop of fuel on it.. so I can assume im getting drain back perhaps...

since the DT360 most all of the fuel components are on the SUCTION side of the fuel pump you dont always see fuel where there are leaks... im going to try tomorrow reseating the fuel filter and water separator cans.. as this bus never lost prime the srveral times i drove it prior to picking it up.. I had a mechanic shop service it a day before I picked it up.. and the fuel filter and water separator were replaced then...

if I cant track it down I'll install a Low pressure electric pump coming from the tank which would allow me to re-prime.. and also to place those fuel components on a slight positive pressure to see if they might leak and show me where the issue is.. I could also place very light pressure on the fuel tank as a test.. you cant place much as you can damage it.. but enough that those parts may very well show a drop of liquid..

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Nice to have a face to go with the posts, man.

It's too bad our schedules didn't align while you were in town. Glad to hear you made it safe and had a great time though.

For a bus like yours a 360 and 545 do the job just fine. I'm shopping shorties on a major budget and have already accepted that whatever I end up with have one.

Keep the pics coming, its a nice bus man.

[cadillackid]

hey the good thing is im looking at apartments in florida.. so ill be back and forth quite a bit.. I look forward to when we can meet up even if I dont have the bus with me..

I saw a nice shortie blue bird for sale on my way home.. it was a 5 window.. i didnt even know they made a conventional that short.. I didnt stop to look at it as I knew i would have 2 busses!.. it was pre 90 since it had the hump in the hood so would be mechanical.. probably gas though... maybe 345? I think IH used the same engine as the scouts in some of their smaller truck chassis..

georgia and tennesee are decently kind weather wise to bus bodies.. at least looking at the age of some of the stuff I saw being run still for school while I was stuck in forsyth.. the bus drivers liked to lunch at the shoneys next to my hotel so i saw a lot of different busses.

-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

hey the good thing is im looking at apartments in florida.. so ill be back and forth quite a bit.. I look forward to when we can meet up even if I dont have the bus with me..

I saw a nice shortie blue bird for sale on my way home.. it was a 5 window.. i didnt even know they made a conventional that short.. I didnt stop to look at it as I knew i would have 2 busses!.. it was pre 90 since it had the hump in the hood so would be mechanical.. probably gas though... maybe 345? I think IH used the same engine as the scouts in some of their smaller truck chassis..

georgia and tennesee are decently kind weather wise to bus bodies.. at least looking at the age of some of the stuff I saw being run still for school while I was stuck in forsyth.. the bus drivers liked to lunch at the shoneys next to my hotel so i saw a lot of different busses.

-Christopher

When Ga sells a bus its often because they've beaten it to death. But nice weather most of the time.
Next time you're down- Mickey D's on me, man.

[cadillackid]

it sure looked like those middle ga busses were being run long.. they looked good from the outside but were definitely aged and sun faded.. at least that small county district..

I made the big part of my drive on sunday so I didnt get to see many school busses on the road.. other than some being transported as they had cars being towed.. (maybe BGS bringing busses back.. they said they had a bunch coming from tennessee i think)..they were headed opposite of me and I just got a glimpse..

saw one bluebird skoolie briefly.. it was white and hunter green ribs.. didnt recognize it from here.. it was a late 80s bluebird international.. I ran by it at a pretty good clip.. guy didnt wave back.. looked like a decent conversion.

-Christopher

[cadillackid]

Oh yeah baby!! Let the real cOOl fun begin!!!



-Christopher