1978 Wayne Busette

[corvis]

We are a couple living in St.Petersburg, Florida and we have for sale: our 1978 Wayne Busette. There are lots of pros and some cons to this old girl. First let me say that the wife and I drove her about 6000 miles around Mexico with little more that a flat and a wheel-bearing needing replaced. She runs on a super strong GMC 350 engine that has about 300k miles on her. 2 years ago the transmission was completely rebuilt. She is a slow and steady work-horse! Some more details...the good: A fabricated trunk box that doubles as a loft bed with a shelf above, a nice Pioneer CD/Mp3 stereo, interior running lights, a fabricated bike rack on the front. The gas line has had a specially fabricated metal locking cage, so it cannot be cut. She comes with 2 batteries and switch system. The first is a marine deep cell battery that can be switched to for running electric/inverter juice for appliances or overnight lighting. The second is the car battery itself. The bus can, for the right person, come with some awesome extras. Some of her issues are: Not exactly and issue per se, but...she does have a gasoline engine! Very poor gas milage at the moment. Like 10 miles per gallon poor! Now if you are a person that is mechanically inclined, you know there are lots of things that can be done for milage improvements on these old 350 engines. The right front wheel bearing will need to be replaced. When we were in Mexico there was a young mechanic that worked on the wiring for the dual battery switch and bypassed the switch altogether; so that will need to be rewired. There are running lights on the outside of the bus that need repaired and/or sealed. There is also some bodywork that would really make this little home on wheels super sweet! We are looking to get as close to $2500.00 for her as we can, but we are in a bit of a hurry to sell her, so ALL offers will be considered! Please contact us @ Eight 1 4 two Eight 2 6 2 one eight.

[Skunky Bus]

That would be a cool skoolie project for the right folks. Some people just love a restoration project and your bus will find a match.

That your rig gets about 10 MPG doesn't surprise me. Your Busette looks about six feet shorter than my 360 Dodge-powered Winnebago but weighs the same if not more. Wayne built tough skoolie bodies that just can't be executed in aluminum, Styrofoam and thin wood paneling. By contrast, you could smack the thick steel side of a school bus with a baseball bat and cause minimal damage - except to the baseball bat and your wrists.

Speaking of Wayne buses and people who love restoration projects, I actually found the owner of a big Wayne who likes my Winnie about as much as I like his bus. Go figure. We also have a lot of little PITA distractions that have gotten in the way of the actual trade. Hope I'm not jinxing things by posting this.

Wayne and Winnebago made strange bedfellows circa 1980: the latter provided chassis upon which Wayne built Transette shuttle buses. They looked like this:

I first saw them used as tour buses by the Coors Brewery in my hometown of Golden, Colo. Winnebago replaced the OEM front clip with one they made themselves so their mini motor homes would look different from other Chevy-based Class C's. (The mid 1970's Dodges only got a substitute grille.) This same design appeared on the bus chassis. I never figured out how the two different brands came together until I read this excerpt from The Winnebago Story, (c) 1983 Winnebago Industries, Inc.: "Fabrication of special bus chassis for the Wayne Corporation, Richmond, Indiana. In 1980, the company built 200 units during the first year of a three-year contract." Suffice it to say that these "Waynnebagos" are hard to find today.

[bansil]

Colorado Kool-aid.....me likey

[Skunky Bus]

Originally Posted by bansil

Colorado Kool-aid.....me likey

Me too!