1992 Blue Bird Bus *Mechanic Special* for sale Boise Idaho

[Shanimal808]

This bus was used as a school bus, then as a wild land firefighting bus to transport the firefighters. It has a 5.9 6BTA Cummins engine and an AT545 transmission with Blue Bird chassis and coach. It is roughly 35 feet long and 8 feet wide. The man I bought it from said it has a 60 gallon tank. I bought this bus in April in Garden Valley, ID intending to convert it into a motorhome (or Skoolie for those in the community ). I drove it straight from Garden Valley to Rush Truck Center in Boise to get it serviced as it hadn't been serviced in 2 years (it hadn't been called out on any fires so it was just sitting at the property). The mechanic reported:

"As discussed when we preformed the service we found the head gasket to be leaking coolant. We also found a lot of oil and blowby coming from the blowby tube. This indicates damage to the internal engine usually piston rings or cylinder wall damage. On the ISB engines there is no internal cylinder liner it is machined into the block and the only way to correct liner damage is to machine the block and put inserts into the liners or oversize pistons. We expect to see damage on the cylinder walls when we remove the head."

I can't afford the repairs, so I am hoping a mechanic would like this bus to work on as a project. I have stripped the seat covers from all of the seats (I kept the bottom seat pads intact and piled in the back). I can get rid of all of the seats if that is preferred. There is also a space in the back of the bus that was used for the firefighting supplies so there were no seats there. It has 3 emergency doors (1 facing the back, 1 on the passenger side at the back of the bus, and 1 on the driver's side in the middle). It has great storage compartments along the bottom of the outside of the bus. I would love to keep her, but I just can't afford to Cash only. Thanks for looking
Here is the craigslist ad: https://boise.craigslist.org/for/d/b...892730869.html

[peteg59]

What was their estimate to "fix" it, if you care to share...?

[Shanimal808]

"The first quote is for just the head gasket repair, if we find no damage on the cylinder walls or you choose not to address the damage found and only reseal the head. On this parts quote we included 500 dollars for parts that are damaged during the repair or we missed during the quote: $4648.64 (25 hours of labor @ $115/hr and $1485.51 for upper gasket kit, orings, seals

The second quote is for a full overhaul. For this repair we would remove the engine, strip it down to the block and have it machined for new oversize pistons. The pistons are not available except from the factory and are 70 days out. In this quote we included 1000 dollars for parts damage or missing: $10,344.23 (45 hours labor and $4688.90 for oversize pistons, oversize cylinder liners, upper and lower gasket kit, misc rebuild gaskets)

The third quote is for a long block rebuild. For this repair we pull the engine, strip it down and move the good parts over onto the long block. I’ve included a printout from out rebuild company which details what’s included in a longblock vs full engine as well as warranty coverage information. ($11,205.16 35 hours labor and $6586.00 for long block, upper and lower gasket kit, misc rebuild gaskets)

The final quote is for a full engine swing where we would replace the whole engine with the rebuild engine. We have included 1000 dollars for damaged parts or missing parts. On the rebuild and the longblock it takes seven days to build and one to two days to ship, shipping is included in the price: $13,818.60 22 hours labor and $9660.00 for "reman engine" through Reviva



On all quotes the extra money we included for damaged or missing parts are in place to ensure no final bill surprises and will be removed on the final invoice if not needed, we will still be in contact for all issues we encounter during the repair and still get the ok to proceed with repairs."

[Shanimal808]

Here is the info about the rebuilt engine or longblock:

[o1marc]

Scrap yard will pay more than $1K. With those estimates I would be searching for a bigger better motor and trans to swap in, sound cheaper than any repair on the 5.9.

[Big dog]

I wouldn’t waste the money on a thro away engine. I would just put a DT360 in it and be done. Same cubic inches but a real Diesel engine with wet sleeves.

[joeblack5]

You did not mention how well or poor it drove when you brought it home.
How many miles are you intending to drive your skoolie in the future. This engine might be good enough for that.

Blow by is a very subjective and can tell a lot. But if it starts runs has enough power for your job then why would you spend all that money?

Later j

[Shanimal808]

I was able to sell it to a mechanic whose girlfriend is going to convert it still...and the sales place I bought it from is giving me a replacement bus so....all's well that's ends well