$500 or $1500 Help Please

[phillip266]

iam Going to be buying a bus at the end of jan only thing is iam in a bit of a fix i found a 1946 IN bus for only $500 it has a few things in it allready mainly a fixeruper
main this is its Gas witch i do not like 2 i can get a bus for the local school system i talked to them for $1500 it will have a 8.6 Diesel motor Witch i like being as i can do the vegy oil conver good tires ect .
basckly only thing i would have to do the the newer bus at this time is remove the seats as iam using it to move to Mi then doing my Cov thire what do you guys think about this i like the older bus it runs great ect but its a long trip from alabama to MI and the 1946 is old iam afrade of many problems all tho i like the bus a lot

[Rick78EFI460]

I'm gonna have to try to encourage you to go with the newer one for many reasons.... parts is one, safety , maintainance, and its not what you want. If ya want the Diesel, go for it , they work great for what you need it for. That old bus will need a lot of parts replaced just to make it roadworthy. I'm sure, brake lines, wheels, tires and engine work, the list could be endless and expensive. Old bus engines in prime working order have no power, Old bus brakes in prime working order have no power...Old bus bodies have lots of places to hide rot and rust, Old bus Radiators are hard to find in decent shape.. if this old bus isn't in prime shape you'd best walk on by. The thousand ya save will be eaten up pretty quickly and you still won't have what you want.

[lapeer20m]

That was en excellent post that rick made. I agree with him, especially about the lack of power in the engine,,,and the lack of braking power....and the safety issues....and breaking down and costing you so much money that it sucks the will to live right out of you....OK, so he didn't say all that, but I think you'd soon regret the old bus.

A 1946 bus could be a fun project if you had the time and money to make it work....but i'm guessing a frame up restoration is not what you had planned.
Some of those older buses sure look cool....don't they?

For what you have planned, I'd go with the new one.