EastCoastCB's Shorty Thread

[ol trunt]

"I want my A/C more than Gen Xers want their MTV.."

Yup, that definitely qualifies you as an AC snob.

Jack

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by ol trunt

"I want my A/C more than Gen Xers want their MTV.."

Yup, that definitely qualifies you as an AC snob.

Jack

esp since im a Gen Xer
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Because of the window lean or other reasons as well? It would be nice to have screws for the ceiling panels instead of rivets.

I had one, and all our schools have them and I just don't like em as much. The shape is part of it, but IDK... just one of those personal preference things maybe. The Thomas I had was a piece of junk 1985 gasser.

My Amtran shorty's ceilings aren't riveted. The Ward I have was the most riveted bus or vehicle I've come across. Ward went NUTS with the rivets. I did a rivet removal for a member of this forum. Hers was a BB from the mid 80's. Had maybe half or one third the rivets my blasted Ward had!

For my personal buses I only like Internationals and Bluebirds.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

ha!! i just like to be Mister cool in the seat of the bus... which is funny because in my cars i drive with the windows down all the time.. ands in my house I only run the A/C in the bedroom zone of the house unless its crazy hot out..

but in the busses it gets blasted hot since i dont have an RE.. so I want my A/C more than Gen Xers want their MTV..

-Christopher

I've come around a bit on my AC thinking. I still don't NEED it. But I'd definitely appreciate some road AC on my daily driver.
Meh, I always make do without it. I've had maybe two or three vehicles with functioning ac in my whole life so far.

[cadillackid]

bluebirds just had rust issues on some of theur busses at the rivets.. seemed the paint flaked off the rivets quicker than other spots.. ive een a lot of older bluebirds rusty right along the rivet lines and nowhere else on the bus..
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

bluebirds just had rust issues on some of theur busses at the rivets.. seemed the paint flaked off the rivets quicker than other spots.. ive een a lot of older bluebirds rusty right along the rivet lines and nowhere else on the bus..
-Christopher

Yeah I know what you're talking about.
I think BB's quality varies a bit. They were built at a few locations, IIRC.
Some of the NICEST buses I've seen or ridden in were BB's.
Your bus is really a NICE bus IMO.

[dan-fox]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Oh. They had some, not a lot and it's out in the weather so not exactly clean. Would need sanded at the very least.

I have 12 yrs of those only I'd rather sell. Problem is the house is still upside down.

FYI, the Thomas buses have windows that slope inward. Probably not much of a difference if you're leaving it alone. But a rood raise will only exaggerate it.

I'm not upside down; I'm within 3 yr of paying it off. But pay me now or pay me later, that stuff needs done whether I rent or sell. Been here, done this enough times to know that the hours I put in will pay me back well.

I'm willing to do a roof raise below the window line to get around that. The reason I want a Thomas is that they don't have all that damned ducting in the back where my queen bed will go.

OTOH, I can't really visualize what the effect of a below-the-belt roof raise will be on the effort of skinning the sides and deleting windows/framing in for the larger RV windows. I'm willing to do twice as much work, but not 3 times as much.

Rivets v screws; meh. You only have do that work once.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

Yeah I know what you're talking about.
I think BB's quality varies a bit. They were built at a few locations, IIRC.
Some of the NICEST buses I've seen or ridden in were BB's.
Your bus is really a NICE bus IMO.

Bluebirds were produced at a plant in Mount Pleasant Iowa until 2002. Mostly GM conventionals. They also had a plant in Northern Georgia but by the mid 2000s all production was moved to the main plant in Fort Valley.

I've been to the plant down there. It's a small town but EVERY single empty lot is leased by Bluebird and packed to the gills with brand new buses. It's unbelievable the variety you see. I will try to get pictures if I go again this August.

[cadillackid]

I drive by fort valley all the time on my way to florida and back.. I see lots of cool busses and get thumbs up from bus drivers when im driving the red one..

my Bluebird says mexico on it.. was mexico just another plant or did they service the southern US (mny bus is a texas schools bus)
-Christopher

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by WIbluebird

Bluebirds were produced at a plant in Mount Pleasant Iowa until 2002.

Someone needs to write to Blue Bird and tell them this.

They also had a plant in Northern Georgia but by the mid 2000s all production was moved to the main plant in Fort Valley.

They were building in Fort Valley before the mid 2000s.

[cadillackid]

brewer: and mine was built in late 99 in Someplace in Mexico
-Christopher

[Tango]

Hmmmmm...my 1978 BBAA was from Fort Valley GA. To my (limited) knowledge, that was the "original" factory.

[WIbluebird]

Originally Posted by Tango

Hmmmmm...my 1978 BBAA was from Fort Valley GA. To my (limited) knowledge, that was the "original" factory.

Yes the Fort Valley plant has been operational since the beginning of the company. They did operate the satellite plants in Iowa, Mexico and northern Georgia until the mid 2000s at which point it was deemed more cost-effective to consolidate all production at the home base in Fort Valley.

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

brewer: and mine was built in late 99 in Someplace in Mexico
-Christopher

Your tag says Mexico but no city?

I was thinking maybe everyone got a Fort Valley badge just because that was headquarters. Or the lug nuts came from there.

[yellowxj]

Who do you have insurance through and how much? I'm looking at a similar size bus.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Your tag says Mexico but no city?

I was thinking maybe everyone got a Fort Valley badge just because that was headquarters. Or the lug nuts came from there.

I'll look and see if theres a city when I take it out later today
-Christopher

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by yellowxj

Who do you have insurance through and how much? I'm looking at a similar size bus.

Sent from my VS986 using Tapatalk

I have both my shorties insured through Progressive COMMERCIAL. (CALL!! dont go online.. call the commercial division.. ).. it is commercial vehicle for personal use. and iboth mine are International '3800' (the chassis)(that they found as a 380 in their computer).. and its a BUS. one of mine is titled as a Bus one is titled as a Motorhome and they havent said a word.. in fact got my renewal 2 months ago and still good..

once you fully convert there are likely much cheaper options for as fully converted bus.
-Christopher

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

.. in fact got my renewal 2 months ago and still good..
-Christopher

Did the cost go down with the renewal?

I'm going to talk to Hagerty today and see if they will insure it. They do "antique" cars and custom cars. My '85 RX-7 is insured for $20k even tho book value might be $200.

[cadillackid]

my price stayed the same.. I pay $950 a year total for both busses full coverage, declared value of 12K on each.
-Christopher

[Brewerbob]

Hagerty willl insure buses but only the old buses ('50 and '60s the guy said). They do not insure RVs. No idea where they draw the line on a custom bus versus an RV tho.