The Murder Bus...

[yugogypsy]

Don't take that much footage off your bus or you won't have room to move up front and your Mrs won't have a decent sized kitchen. I have a 1965 ex-schoolie, ex-BCFP crummy (crew bus), no front end so it's going to be an outdoor living area + extra guest house. I'm going to put a small counter unit in it and I've got a tent stove for heat for it.

[Artor]

If you plan on serving parties out of your bus, consider cutting a side window or larger entry into it. Then you can carry extra seating and accouterments in your garage space and your party can expand into the space around the bus. A pull-out awning would make it extra-awesome.

[banman]

Originally Posted by Artor

If you plan on serving parties out of your bus, consider cutting a side window or larger entry into it. Then you can carry extra seating and accouterments in your garage space and your party can expand into the space around the bus. A pull-out awning would make it extra-awesome.

The awning is an absolute -- as I doubt I'll ever have a/c in the bus hanging out in the shade next to the bus will be a needed thing on hot daze...

And how better to use the 10' by 19' flag I brought back from my last deployment -- drinking a beer under the shade of the flag...

[banman]

With the bus running nicely again I noticed a couple things...

1) either the radiator fluid is extremely rusty or it's filled with dex-cool or some other type that's redish-brown?

2) It appears I have DRL's (day running lights) that are turned on by releasing the parking brake. Wiring I will eventually eliminate...

3) I have two switches on the gauge cluster right above the headlight switch; one says RPM control, the other RPM1/RPM2.
My operators manual doesn't mention them -- maybe they're CAT specific?

[Native]

Originally Posted by banman

With the bus running nicely again I noticed a couple things...

1) either the radiator fluid is extremely rusty or it's filled with dex-cool or some other type that's redish-brown?

Wow, your bus really is a twin to ours! I think CAT put a rust generator inside the engines. I flushed the coolant system for 6 or 7 WEEKS (fill, drain, fill drain, fill, run, drain, etc.) and still got rusty water out. I also performed the Mercedes Benz citric acid flush which really helped. However, it still generated more rust. At one point I had a hose putting water in the reservior, the radiator drain plug out, and ran the engine to flush it out. I also had removed the thermostats to get the whole coolant system involved. I ran it for over an hour this way and only decreased the rustiness a little. Mind you, it was not thick with rust, just a murky yellow to orange color. All the reading I have done indicates that the extended life coolant with OAT (organic acid technology) will continue to clean the engine over time.

Originally Posted by banman

2) It appears I have DRL's (day running lights) that are turned on by releasing the parking brake. Wiring I will eventually eliminate...

Ours are like that too. However, we like it that way.

Originally Posted by banman

3) I have two switches on the gauge cluster right above the headlight switch; one says RPM control, the other RPM1/RPM2.
My operators manual doesn't mention them -- maybe they're CAT specific?

Those are GREAT to have and use. To use them, start your engine, engage the "RPMControl" switch, then hit the "RPM UP" side of the rocker switch. This will take the engine speed to 1200 RPM. Hitting it again will take it up to 1600 RPM. Hitting the down side of the rocker switch will take it from 1600 RPM to 1200 RPM or 1200 RPM to low idle (750 RPM).


Note that if you have the "RPM Control" switch on and try to drive the bus the "Range Limited" light will come on as soon as you put the transmission into gear. No worries, just flip the switch to the off position. You CAN NOT use it as a poor-man's cruise control. However, it comes in handy when flushing the coolant system or when you want to warm up the engine.

[banman]

Originally Posted by Native

Wow, your bus really is a twin to ours! I think CAT put a rust generator inside the engines. SNIP...

Ours are like that too. However, we like it that way.

Those are GREAT to have and use. To use them, start your engine, engage the "RPMControl" switch, then hit the "RPM UP" side of the rocker switch. This will take the engine speed to 1200 RPM. Hitting it again will take it up to 1600 RPM. Hitting the down side of the rocker switch will take it from 1600 RPM to 1200 RPM or 1200 RPM to low idle (750 RPM).


Note that if you have the "RPM Control" switch on and try to drive the bus the "Range Limited" light will come on as soon as you put the transmission into gear. No worries, just flip the switch to the off position. You CAN NOT use it as a poor-man's cruise control. However, it comes in handy when flushing the coolant system or when you want to warm up the engine.

Thanks so for much for that!
Kinda hate to deal with the flush business with winter temps but I can't stand leaving crud in place that I know about either...

In other good news: I found an on-line signup for the DTNA! We'll see how long it takes to get sent a password but I'm very hopeful -- the site does look very useful.

[nords]

If you want some ideas on how to combine a rear hauling area with a social area, along with an outrageous top deck, check out my friend's on-going conversion. He has some very serious building skills. https://www.instagram.com/gordofromearth/

[o1marc]

Originally Posted by Native

Note that if you have the "RPM Control" switch on and try to drive the bus the "Range Limited" light will come on as soon as you put the transmission into gear. No worries, just flip the switch to the off position. You CAN NOT use it as a poor-man's cruise control. However, it comes in handy when flushing the coolant system or when you want to warm up the engine.

Are those RPM's factory settings? On the International, you can set the "high idle" at whatever you want. It automatically disengages when you apply the brakes.

[banman]

The wheels on the bus DO go 'round n' 'round!

Brought the Murder Bus home today -- nobody died! It was pretty fun and easy to drive (except the mushy brakes but they held together -- now that It's at my house I can do a full tear down of the calipers and finish replacing the original lines -- there won't be an original piece of hydraulic plumbing when I'm done!)

At 1700rpm I was going about 55mph. I'm assuming this was in o/d.
I'll do some gear calculator magic later and see.

Now my wife will start thinking about the specs for the bar...

My goal will be to pull a couple seats a day inbetween real life -- we'll see how that goes...

[Native]

Congratulations on getting the bus home.


Let us know how the DTNA authorization goes. You'll also want a TBB Portal account for the bus body details.

[banman]

Kinda glad I'd read all the stories here about how much fun the seat removal process is...
Always good to manage your expectations...
Mind you I've been a military acft mechanic since the crusades started back in 1990... (no wonder I'm tired...)
I picked up welding for fun, I've got air tools, MIG, 3 different angle grinders, and if you know anything about IHC Scout's you know I'm not afraid of rust...

Now that the bus is at my house, I've got the wealth of 30 years of gathering tools and various implements of destruction and the trix to use 'em...

I just figured I'd torque the bolts off with a ½" impact -- nope, they all spin in the plywood...
Put a couple vise-grips down below -- they just fly off... and anyway, after the last row seats the next 3 rows are all covered by the fuel tank...

Okay, get the angle grinder with a cut-off wheel and...
With my Thomas seats, not only are the bolt heads inside a recess in the foot of the seat post but the bolts are flanged-head-bolts. Okay, everybody reading this probably already knew this -- now I know this...

So the grinder works but you have to cut into the foot of the seat and even still you can't get a clean shot to the whole diameter so you still have to beat the remains away with a cold chisel. Then use the leverage of the entire seat frame to pull the seat off the cut bolt... Slow process...

The blue flame wrench is clearly the way to go except I don't want to destroy the rubber mat just yet AND I don't wanna risk the cherry red remains falling through onto a fuel line or electrical wires causing new issues...

This may justify my buying a plasma cutter...
We'll see how the next grinding session goes...

[banman]

I really want to get the next couple seats out so I can work on the fuel tank access panel. I want to check the condition of the sender unit & wiring as well as how rusty the top-outside of the tank is. Good thing the fuel tank cage is as stout as it is -- I noticed one of my tank retention staps sheared it's clamp bolt...

When I get some better light, I'll get some pix of how rotten some area's are -- there's some 3" x 3" square tubing I have no doubt I could shove an ice pick clean through

The undercoating is peeling off in chunks -- good thing I like metal fab work...

Oh! and I found a dime in the bus today so now I've only paid .89cents for the bus... this might work out after all....

[musigenesis]

I took out two of my benches using a vice grips on the nuts underneath, but above I used an ordinary wrench and a hammer to get the bolt started and then a manual ratchet wrench to get it the rest of the way out quickly. I can see how an impact driver would send the vice grips flying.

You may be already doing this, but for leverage to pry off once most of the head is ground away, I had taken off all the bolts attaching the benches to the chair rail beforehand, so it was easy to lift the seat up on that side and lever the aisle feet off the bolts.

At least my bolts weren't flanged, whew.

Also: I found $8.35 in spare change in my bus. Something about the Buffalo area must put holes in kids' pockets.

[EastCoastCB]

I feel your pain!

FWIW you CAN get the ones behind the tank.
This last bus I pulled the seats from I decided I'd do it more or less myself with just hand tools. But this would be like the 7th or 8th bus I've pulled the seats in.

Keep it up man. This will be a fun build to watch!

[Mr4btTahoe]

Grinder and a thin cutoff wheel (.040) on the aisle bolt heads... Ratchet and wrench on the chair rail. 2 hours to pull all the seats using this method in my 11 row.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by Mr4btTahoe

Grinder and a thin cutoff wheel (.040) on the aisle bolt heads... Ratchet and wrench on the chair rail. 2 hours to pull all the seats using this method in my 11 row.

That's how I did mine. Maybe six hours labor total over a couple of days but compared to the horror stories I heard on here I was happy.

I got the cutoff wheel under the flange when I could and when the bolts were cut through I just had to wiggle the seats or sometimes rock them hard to pop them off. More than a couple I had a bad angle on. It took a little longer to cut downward through the bolt head. After the plywood floor came up most of the bolts fell through to the ground.

[banman]

Originally Posted by Mr4btTahoe

Grinder and a thin cutoff wheel (.040) on the aisle bolt heads... Ratchet and wrench on the chair rail. 2 hours to pull all the seats using this method in my 11 row.

Yup, that's how I got the two seats out. The chair rail bolts have minimal rust -- they're easy with the airgun -- zip,zip done.

The flanged head in a recess makes for a lot of extra grinding but I'll get a better pattern going with each one I do.

[JDSquared]

Originally Posted by banman

Yup, that's how I got the two seats out. The chair rail bolts have minimal rust -- they're easy with the airgun -- zip,zip done.



The flanged head in a recess makes for a lot of extra grinding but I'll get a better pattern going with each one I do.

I ended up taking the guard off my angle grinder as well for the seats. Burnt my arm hairs that made it easier to get at those bolts from different directions.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by JDSquared

I ended up taking the guard off my angle grinder as well for the seats. Burnt my arm hairs that made it easier to get at those bolts from different directions.

I had my first ka-chunk moment with my angle grinder a couple of weeks ago. I was cutting through a piece of 3" angle steel when the wheel caught and broke. The grinder was instantly out of my hands and on the ground, but the guard bounced off my thigh on the way down. The guard ain't never coming off my grinder, also because I suck at getting them back on. This incident also reminded me not to have body parts in the path of where this thing would go flying.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

I had my first ka-chunk moment with my angle grinder a couple of weeks ago. I was cutting through a piece of 3" angle steel when the wheel caught and broke. The grinder was instantly out of my hands and on the ground, but the guard bounced off my thigh on the way down. The guard ain't never coming off my grinder, also because I suck at getting them back on. This incident also reminded me not to have body parts in the path of where this thing would go flying.

I'm not big on safety. I'll often not even wear a seatbelt if there isn't anything beeping at me.
But I won't use an angle grinder without a guard. I've done it before and had very similar results to what you experienced.
Eye protection and that guard- or I'm not using a grinder.