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Old 01-16-2005, 07:21 PM   #1
Skoolie
 
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More questions from a new bus owner

Just a few to get started, such as the bus I am getting has "sand tanks"..these drop sand in front of the rear wheels for traction on ice and such..but no one seems to know how much sand they hold, or how long it would last, or even how it works (what makes the sand run out?)...

Also this ones propane fired (uses propane instead of gas)..no one can give me even a rough idea of mileage or power loss...My first run with this is going to be 1500 miles and the idea of only driveing 45 miles an hour all the way isn't makeing me happy *S*

one other thing off the top of my head is the side rails (rub rails?)..you know the ugly (to me) black rails down the sides...why are they there?...serve some purpose? just because every other bus on the road has them?

My plans for this one is a basic hunter/fishing trip bus, not a every day liveing type of bus if that helps. Anyway back to figureing out how to mount my laptop in it....

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Old 01-16-2005, 07:35 PM   #2
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J.B.

Hi there , It's hard to give a proper response without knowing what kind and year of bus you have and what length. What do you have for and engine and transmission. . Let us know.

Later,J.B.
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Old 01-16-2005, 10:45 PM   #3
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Hmmm, all I remember off the top of my head is that its a B-700 ford..as for size its roughly 35 foot long (everyones guessing on that *S*)..once I have the paper work I can give more info on it, as well as pics of the uglyest bus I've ever seen.
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Old 01-17-2005, 02:25 PM   #4
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What year is the bus? Mine is a 1991 B-700. Two engine options are the 6.6 Liter and the 7.8 Liter Brazilian made Ford Diesel eingines. There's about a 10 hp difference between the 7.8 and the 6.6. The 6.6 in my bus is rated for 180 hp. Other factors for HP include the lack of a turbo, or intercooler, or both. I have the smaller of the two engines in my bus. I dont' know if Fords came with other engine options or not.

Is the trans an auto or a manual? The Allison AT545 is the most common auto trans around these parts. If you buy an auto bus here in Michigan, Chances are that's the one you have. They seem to hold up for a long time, but are less than desireable as far as efficiency, and won't last nearly as long as a manual trans. The AT545 will reduce top speed and fuel economy by at least 10 percent.

My bus @ 37 feet long will do about 55-57 miles per hour at full throttle.

Hope this info helps.
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Old 01-17-2005, 05:51 PM   #5
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yeah I was going to go over and look at the paper work they have on it and do some pokeing around on it..but its raining here today and I don't feel like getting wet *S* It sounds like it may be both propane and gas, so that would be one less thing to worry about. As for the year I want to say 1976, but I'm probably pulling that in from something else.
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Old 01-17-2005, 10:16 PM   #6
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Something that old is probably a gas engine...if so, probably a 370. 6MPG with a 5-speed, 2-3 with a slushpump, top end of 60MPH at best (you'll do well to hit 55 with an AT545).

A 429 or 460 is a bolt-in swap for a 370.
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Old 01-17-2005, 10:54 PM   #7
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engine

i agree that it is probably a big block ford 370, if youre lucky then it may be a 429. i have a '83 ford bluebird b700 and it has a 370 gasser in it with the at545 allison tranny. to get a liitle more umph out of it you may want to consider changing it over to regular gas. you wont neccesarily see more top end, but you will be able to sustain 55 a little easier than with the current propane setup. to do this youll need to find out what kind of bolt pattern is on your current manifold and then source a carburetor to match or just buy a new intake manifold with the carburetor. the plus to your bus being propane is that they usually stay clean and last longer. the negative, some say, is that propane is harder on the valve train in the engine.

i was suprised to see how clean externally and internally the engine i bought was. i am in the process of getting ready to swap a 429 into my bus. it is a '89 ford 429 that was used with propane. the intake on it has a holley carburetor pattern so all i need for it is a 4 bbl carb and itll be ready to go.

and while jarlaxle is right on the 429 being a direct blot in swap, the 460 with an auto allison is not without a bellhousing that will work. the 385 series of ford big blocks ( 370, 429, and 460 ) while being interchangable in the lighter duty engines are not so in the heavy duty ones. in fact, to my knowledge, they only made the 370 and the 429 in the heavy duty class. i was wanting to do the 460 swap initially but talked myself out of it after talking with some guys on the ford truck forum ( http://www.fordtrucks.com/forums/index.php ). the person whom i talked to said that it was possible with a custom bellhousing to match the 460 up to the allison tranny so i chose the easier route and went with the 429. if you had a manual tranny i do not think you would have this problem. i believe it is allison auto tranny specific.

Good luck with you bus !


TonyC in Iowa


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Old 01-18-2005, 08:55 AM   #8
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My 460 bolted in, but I have a Spicer 5-speed. No idea on the slushpumps.
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Old 01-18-2005, 10:13 AM   #9
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i wish...

...that mine had a manual tranny so i could have done the same thing. i bet the extra horses was nice !!

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Old 01-18-2005, 11:33 AM   #10
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Sand dispensers would be cool, but I know nothing about them. The only thing I can answer is the rub rails. They are to stiffen the sides during normal operation and during collisions. They really help to avoid body damage from side-swiping stuff.
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Old 01-18-2005, 05:52 PM   #11
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Thanks for all the info....when I first looked at it a year ago nothing was siad about gas (outside of it would be easy to convert), but this time one guy said they put gas in it (hope its not in the sand tanks)..which sounded odd (didn't know you could run both) and I looked at the propane tank (still there) as well as the odd looking carb...after looking around on the net I find its possible to run both gas and propane (should be a switch somewhere) now I need to go look for it..course its still raining here (sounds like soused moose's problem) so I'm still not going out there.
So I decided to limit my fights with the bus to makeing my laptop work...after all its one of the first things going into it...I plan for it to run a backup cam and to monitor engine temps and such as well as carry the raod maps I'll need

The 370 sounds right and I know its stickgod forbide anything going wrong but if the motor dies I think I would rather goback in with a small cat than go back with a ford motor (I like deisel)
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Old 01-18-2005, 10:59 PM   #12
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You'll be time and money ahead to sell the bus & buy one with a factory diesel.
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Old 01-19-2005, 06:20 PM   #13
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ok it stopped raining for a few days so I ran out and checked into the bus...its a 1976 ford B-750 with a carpenter body..propane fired but it also has a fuel tank underneith..no idea where the switch is as I couldn't find one...only other thing I could find out was that its got an auto in it..least it looks like it *frown* the lever has 1st, 2nd, 3rd and drive...then nuetrul and rev..explains why I remember shifting.....no info on motor outside of its big..but it doesn't look HUGE like a 460 does.

It seems like I measured the inside last year and it came out to over 30 feet from the drivers seat back.
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Old 01-19-2005, 06:38 PM   #14
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Just where does everyone get the info on thier bus?..I'm running searches on ford B-750 and other words and have yet to get anything helpfull.
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Old 01-19-2005, 10:59 PM   #15
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Fords usually have engine badges on the left side of the grille--more than likely, yours will be "370-2V" or "370-4V" (2 or 4bbl carbuerator on a 370 V. Other possibilities are a 2V or 4V 429.
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Old 01-24-2005, 12:19 AM   #16
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badges, we don need no stinking BADGES!

well at least mine doesn't have any, nor does it look like it ever did have any *sigh* I may have to go park this beast in front of the local ford dealer and pester the guys in the shop for info on it.
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