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Old 10-12-2004, 10:10 AM   #1
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In most states, you don't need a cdl to drive your personal bus only if it's driven commercially. hence cdl= commercial drivers license.

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Old 10-13-2004, 07:41 AM   #2
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Kevin …you might head over to the Escapees Forum and ask your questions about CDLS & such there.
The MDT Truck bunch there is very nice and knows all about this sort of thing…
Here’s the URL (scroll down and click-on MDT trucks)

http://escapees.infopop.cc/eve/ubb.x

Michael & Millie
http://www.mobilehomestead.com
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Old 10-13-2004, 02:46 PM   #3
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Wish I had the money.. I would go pick that one up, but it's not a tick worth more than 3k in my opinion. I called a guy who had a bluebird JUST LIKE THAT one in fort worth except it was an 89 with 100k and he wanted 4k..maybe that was just a good deal i missed though.
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Old 10-14-2004, 12:21 AM   #4
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If you want a Skoolie check with Greg (flbus.tripod.com) he has really good buses and he can give a ton of info. If you want to consider a transit bus be careful where you buy them. There are a lot of rust buckets floating around. I would not buy any bus from the rust belt. Also watch out because many of them have been run into the ground. On the other hand there are some really good deals to be had. I saw a 1984 Gillig Phantom at a local county auction go for $2500 with 1,500 miles on a rebuilt engine and tranny. This bus was in great shape with almost no rust. The other thing about transits is most of them have 2 cycle DD engines. I love the looks of the RTS but I don't care for the "V" drive tranny and all. I like the Gillig Phantom because it is nice and square and has a "T" drive setup. Most Phantoms have an allison HT740/748 which is the same drive train as a MCI. With a rear end gear change they will do 75 MPH easy. If you decide to go with a highway coach watch out for the Eagles they have some serious rust problems. They make a great coach as long as they are rust free. When I get my bus I want to get a Thomas saf-t-liner. It has the best of both worlds in my opinion. It has the strength of a skoolie and a 4 cycle engine as well as the size and comforts as a transit. HTH
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Old 10-14-2004, 07:04 PM   #5
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DD is short for Detroit Diesel, you will find that most of the transit and even the Crown skoolies from the mid 1990s down have 2 cycle Detroit Diesel engines in them. Most commonly the 6v92, 6v71, and 671. On the buses from the early 1980s and earlier you will see the 8v71 engines. The 2 cycle engines are not my favorite because they are a noisy fuel hogs that always leak oil. There is an old joke about Detroits "How do you get oil out of a block of steel? Paint it green" the older detroits were painted green out of the factory. The other problem with 2 cycles is they don't meet many of the new emission standards they smoke when pulling hard and they just cannot clean up enough. The market is full of transits currently because many cities are dumping their buses with the 2 cycles. The good part about them is that they are easy to get parts for since they are so common. The V drive is a drivetrain config that GM and Flx used for a long time. It is setup like most cars today where the engine sits sideways and the tranny is a V shape. I will attach a picture of an RTS engine compartment and you can see how it is. I also don't like the V drive setup because you are limited to 3 tranny models. The Allison V730, Voith DB863.2 angle drive, or the ZFHP590 which is a 5 speed if I remember correctly. Is most transits you will only find the V730 and be stuck with 3 speeds. The V730 is a very reliable tranny but it does have its limits, for instance the input HP is rated for 275 so even though you could get the engine programmed to put out 350 HP you are limited by your tranny. HTH Check out this guys photos, he has some good ones of the engine tranny setup.

http://f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/centrion1956
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Old 10-15-2004, 06:51 AM   #6
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http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... AMEWA%3AIT
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Old 10-15-2004, 08:26 PM   #7
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The RTS is a nice lookin bus, if I found one with a low mile rebuild and at the right price I would buy one myself. I also like the Gillig Phantom because it is a simple square bus and it has a "T" drive. Building cabinets and other finish work would be really easy. The other nice thing about the Phantom is that they are built with mostly standard truck parts so get can get parts on the road. The RTS airbags are a special order thing as well as many other parts. If you do need parts they are easy to get shipped though. You will just not be able to find them at truck repair shops all over the country. If you want to lean more about the RTS check out the Yahoo RTS group. http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/RTS-bus-nuts/. The people there are really helpful, though there is the occasional pissing match. Just don't say you are intrested in a Gillig or a Skoolie because they are only RTS nuts. You might ask a guy on that group Wulf Ward who knows a ton about different transits and well as Jim Ramos.
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Old 10-15-2004, 10:00 PM   #8
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Just as a piece of useless trivia, i believe that engines like 6v71 have 71 cubic inches per cylinder, 6 cylinders.
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Old 10-17-2004, 08:22 AM   #9
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Year: 1986
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Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
Engine: 8.2LTA Fuel Pincher DD V8
Rated Cap: 89
If you are interested in an RTS, look on the BNO Buses For Sale Under $35K page http://www.busnut.com/4sale/under.html There is an RTS located in Sweetwater TN (outside of Maryville roughly SE of Nashville). We looked at it. Former Chattanooga Transit bus. David was already leaning heavily towards Eagles. We thought the Baggage bay was too rusted and it (the bay) required a complete rebuild to use (click on pic to see the larger pic and the center two doors are off a bit... that's the bay I'm refering to). But David drove the bus (first time driving one) down the single lane road and back. Said it seemed to handle well (I was afraid he would take out a mailbox or two). Other than the basement it was in fairly good shape when we looked at it a couple of years ago. I think it would be able to be driven back to your state. It may have been moved to the other side of Nashville. Guy was moving when we looked at it. Had a couple of buses sitting in the field around his house.

Also a couple of skoolies are listed on that page.

Click on the pictures of the buses to link to more pics of same bus. Great for ideas for hold tank sizes, etc. To get wowed, look at the Buses for Sale Over $35K.

This is where we found our Eagle.
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Old 10-17-2004, 02:36 PM   #10
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Year: 1986
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Chassis: 40 ft All American FE
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Yep, Eagles rust. But so do many others. Given the amount of $$ we will sink into a conversion, we will fix the rust first. Our Eagle doesn't have to bad a rust problem (but I'm from coastal FL so my basis of comparison may be a bit off). Right now our Eagle is Nakked and it's doen to frame above the bays so we can remove the rusty parts and repair. Frame will be sealed with POR15 before re-skinning. Seen too many pro conversions with the frame completely gone in places to want to risk that. An extra step but we probably would have done it anyway. Beside we can put SLIDEOUTS in an Eagle and the frame will hold up!!! unlike many other buses. One thing that you need to remember about the "advertised" prices is that they are usually negotiable.... Our Eagle cost 1/2 the asking price but that was a rare case. You can usually talk a couple thou off the price. It's worth going to look if you find a bus close to you. Our Eagle was about 30 miles from a town we used to live in in SC which was 60 miles from where David (and currently bus) resides during week. David got a lot of info from talking to the guy as he had already convered 1 bus but got sick before he could do anything with the Eagle. He did a great job on his first bus.
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Old 10-21-2004, 04:18 PM   #11
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Jeez....where ya gonna park that thing!!
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Old 10-21-2004, 04:19 PM   #12
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Uhg, 60' that's a LOT of room. I'd turn the rear half of the bus into a movie theater
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Old 10-21-2004, 05:11 PM   #13
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Year: 1986
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Since you got you a bus then you need to log onto http://www.busconversions.com/newsboard/index.html (MAK's board) and http://www.busnut.com/cgi-bin/bbs/discus.cgi (Ian's board). Those guys will be able to answer most any question you will have about your new bus.

Congradulations! But I don't envy you the trip to get it. That's a long way to Minnesota (Been there, done that from SC.... Looong trip). Watch the corners (and vehicles) when making turns.
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Old 10-21-2004, 05:20 PM   #14
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Congratulations!!!

Woohoo! Congratulations!!

Man, that's a MONSTER bus! It will make you a very nice home! Plenty of room to spread out in.

And it looks COOL!!!

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Old 10-21-2004, 06:06 PM   #15
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What a cool bus I bet you cannot wait to go get it. Now you will have all the room you need. You could put a hot tub in the back and still have plenty of room. Do you know what HP the engine is setup to put out? If it is DDEC you can get it turned up at any Detroit dealer. A 6v92 can put out as much as 350HP. Though you might have to get bigger injectors and some other stuff if it is a emission molested engine. If it is setup for the federal specs you should be ok just having the dealer plug in the computer and up the power. Awsome bus.
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Old 10-21-2004, 08:00 PM   #16
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If it is setup for 320HP I would not bother getting it bumped up to 350. I have been told it can cost almost a grand to have a dealer hook up a computer to it and type in a couple of commands. At least it is a "T" drive so if you choose to do a rear end swap it will not cost an arm and a leg. From the pics on Ebay the engine looked really good. I have seen many that are covered in grease and oil. Do you know if the tranny has a retarder installed? If it is an HTB748 it does and if it is an HT740 it does not. One thing I hate about Gillig Phantoms and Flx Metros is the driver side windshield is sunken in to help lessen glare. Your bus does not have that and it looks really sharp. Good deal
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Old 10-22-2004, 07:49 AM   #17
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Wowser ! What a beautiful rig you picked up Kevin….
But, Man O’ Man that’s a big bus….
Michael
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Old 10-23-2004, 08:39 AM   #18
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Ouch! Auto's really suck up the fuel. Maybe the fuel prices will drop back down again before you go get it.
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Old 10-23-2004, 01:47 PM   #19
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you could always convert it to run veggie oil
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Old 10-24-2004, 04:07 PM   #20
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The 748 has a retarder, great deal. Here is a weblink to a guy who is selling a veggy oil conversion kit for the 6V92. You sure would have the room to store the oil. He is still working on his website but as far as I know he is in business or very close. It is an automated system he is selling.

http://www.frybrid.com/
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