Saoirse- The Freedom Unicorn

[brokedown]

Glad it went smooth getting back. We'll catch up another time!

BTW those RPMs at 65, are you sure that's a 545? What rear end gears do you have? That's awesome.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by Tango

Looks like a "keeper" to me dude!

Feels like one.... Roxy is such a great wife to put up with this!!

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by brokedown

Glad it went smooth getting back. We'll catch up another time!

BTW those RPMs at 65, are you sure that's a 545? What rear end gears do you have? That's awesome.

Yeah after owning a few buses with 545's i'm SURE that's what its got. There's no engine braking at all and the temp goes up at highway speeds. Not to overheated levels, but standard 545 stuff.
If I'm going 50 and let off the pedal the engine goes to idle speed till I step on the pedal again.

I thought I'd be able to just glance and tell but I had so much going on and was so tired and anxious I didn't immediately know what it was. ten minutes on the interstate and I knew right away!

Thing is geared so high that I never saw the engine over 1900 or 2000 rpm. IDK what the rear axle ratio is but I'd guess somewhere between 3.50 to 4.10 ish.
Fuel mileage seems fantastic, as it seems to do better than 10mpg.

The bus is CLEAN. That's a first. They actually have a whole staff of folks just to clean the buses in and out.

ALL the buses they auctioned off went fairly cheap and when I saw them in person they were NICE!

[brokedown]

I have been tempted to go by one of the big truck shops out here and see what they say about doing a differential swap on my bluebird. there are a lot of migrant worker buses out here and they seem to always have one or two in their lot. I hope that means the people there are easy going. If I could knock 5 or 600 RPM off my highway cruising speed that would be worth something to me instead of running around near Redline all the time.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by brokedown

I have been tempted to go by one of the big truck shops out here and see what they say about doing a differential swap on my bluebird. there are a lot of migrant worker buses out here and they seem to always have one or two in their lot. I hope that means the people there are easy going. If I could knock 5 or 600 RPM off my highway cruising speed that would be worth something to me instead of running around near Redline all the time.

The gearing I have would be a lot better with small tires/wheels. I could actually benefit from either a few more rpm or a trans with lockup.
A 643 would be PERFECT for this bus.
Some open shoulder, meaty rear tires and it would be great for the rough dirt roads. Even came LIFTED!! I could easily fit bigger tires but with the gearing I've got the 10R's it has are already "too big".

What a cool, oddly optioned bus, eh??!!

[o1marc]

Hall County, Ga. (Gainesville) is having a bus auction tomorrow, it is only live on the lot. I imagine with such a short pool to choose from, some buses may go cheaper than an on line auction. They are emailing me the list in a minute, I'll post it to see if anyone is interested in anything.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by o1marc

Hall County, Ga. (Gainesville) is having a bus auction tomorrow, it is only live on the lot. I imagine with such a short pool to choose from, some buses may go cheaper than an on line auction. They are emailing me the list in a minute, I'll post it to see if anyone is interested in anything.

Do that!

One guy I talked to at the actual school while I was waiting for the bus yard guys to unlock the gates said he got a bus last year for $300 and it had a new reman engine!

[BlackJohn]

A great lookinn little bus for sure CB. Congrats! Really clean and well kept so I hope it works good for you too. Should be fine if you keep it up and we know you will.
Now you need a barn for all your toys.


Good score my man!


John

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by BlackJohn

A great lookinn little bus for sure CB. Congrats! Really clean and well kept so I hope it works good for you too. Should be fine if you keep it up and we know you will.
Now you need a barn for all your toys.


Good score my man!


John

Thanks, John.

The suspension creaks and the high speed wobbles are my only real complaints and those are way easier to remedy than the problems with my other bus.

We're hoping to buy some property in the next year or two and put a BIG metal building on it.

[o1marc]

Hall County has 5-96 International Carpenters, 2-95 and 1 -93 International Carpenters, 2000 BBAA, 2-06 Ford Bluebirds.
No details on any of them. I'm not interested in any enough to cancel my refrigerator service tomorrow, been down 3 weeks.

[cadillackid]

sounds like a great little bus.. how cool!!! I dont know anything about putting a 643 on a 3126 but im sure they made parts for them to do it.. biggest issues are flywheels, flexplates and converter offsets to get right..
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

sounds like a great little bus.. how cool!!! I dont know anything about putting a 643 on a 3126 but im sure they made parts for them to do it.. biggest issues are flywheels, flexplates and converter offsets to get right..
-Christopher

If a regular 545 bolts up and works, a 643 shouldn't be too hard a swap.
OD would be useless, so 643 would be THE swap for this bus.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by EastCoastCB

If a regular 545 bolts up and works, a 643 shouldn't be too hard a swap.
OD would be useless, so 643 would be THE swap for this bus.

the 545 has a smaller bolt circle on the converter.. it is SAE3 and the 643 is SAE2... the engine needs to have the proper spacers and flex-plate.. as well as some applications for the 643 require cross members.. the 444E does.. the DT360/466 dont.. not sure if the 3126 does or not.



the navistar engines have an SAE2 to SAE3 ring and spacers you remove, then you swap out the flex-plate to go from 545 to 643.. im guessing the cat is similar..



driveshaft length is easy.. thats a simple and cheap change at a shop.. cooler lines, shifter linkage, speed sensor are same or easy to mod... cooler line fittings just use adapters or you run new ones.. no biggie on those..



-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

the 545 has a smaller bolt circle on the converter.. it is SAE3 and the 643 is SAE2... the engine needs to have the proper spacers and flex-plate.. as well as some applications for the 643 require cross members.. the 444E does.. the DT360/466 dont.. not sure if the 3126 does or not.



the navistar engines have an SAE2 to SAE3 ring and spacers you remove, then you swap out the flex-plate to go from 545 to 643.. im guessing the cat is similar..



driveshaft length is easy.. thats a simple and cheap change at a shop.. cooler lines, shifter linkage, speed sensor are same or easy to mod... cooler line fittings just use adapters or you run new ones.. no biggie on those..



-Christopher

I see. Well there are almost definitely 643's out there mated to 3126's as these engines come in ratings up to 330 hp.

A quick google search and I found the flexplate and ring. And yeah there are lots of 643's mated to 3126's out there! So that's great news if I do keep the bus.

[EastCoastCB]

At least the 545 is a nearly new reman.

IDK if its still available but I found this-
https://www.bismanonline.com/bismarc...ssion_for_sale

[david.dgeorge07]

When I talked with the CAT shop IIRC they said the 190 hp can be turned up to 210 with just software. Beyond that and it’s a big deal: replacing pistons and stuff. You would feel 20 horses I think.

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by david.dgeorge07

When I talked with the CAT shop IIRC they said the 190 hp can be turned up to 210 with just software. Beyond that and it’s a big deal: replacing pistons and stuff. You would feel 20 horses I think.

As it is the 190 pulls REALLY nicely. But more hp would be cool.
I've read online that its $500-$1000 for cat to uprate though.
Tranny swap would be first for sure!

[cadillackid]

Don’t turn that motor up with the 545 and those gears. The 545 suffers from low line pressure below 2000 RPM, pushing more torque at it very well may spin the drum against one of the packs.. that will glaze the clutches and overtemp the trans in a hurry..
Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Don’t turn that motor up with the 545 and those gears. The 545 suffers from low line pressure below 2000 RPM, pushing more torque at it very well may spin the drum against one of the packs.. that will glaze the clutches and overtemp the trans in a hurry..
Christopher

I wouldn't dream of it.
But my 545 never really sees anything close to 2000 rpm.

[EastCoastCB]

Heading out to the bus finally. Had to catch up on mowing.

Will find out what gears it has in the rear end.