The RedByrd TRANSformation.

[Tango]

Just outstanding work...hats off!

[cadillackid]

EC for you I don't think the shorty makes as much sense for it unless it's going to be a continental cruiser. Buzzing around for quick weekend camping trips and such we just need to get your cooling up to snuff then you'll be set. Now if you plan to run RYO all over then the upgrade makes sense and the 643 goes to the shorty.

I drove the freeway last evening for a bit with OD locked out so just 1-4 plus lockup.. just like I had a 643.. and even that the bus ran with more power and cooler temp than it did before .. I think the AT545 makes a lot of heat which ends up in the radiator cooling loop taxing the cooling system. My fan was kicking off on the freeway at 197 degrees..
i did the update on mine because I was already staring a trans replacement in the face with the 545 acting wierd.. and I drive the bus all over the place.. nearly 10k miles since I got it ...
Christopher

[cadillackid]

Could you imagine if we took EC auction skills , tangos mechanical skills , and my electronics and put them all together? We could have one of those TV shows only we build skoolies lolol
Christopher

[Tango]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Could you imagine if we took EC auction skills , tangos mechanical skills , and my electronics and put them all together? We could have one of those TV shows only we build skoolies lolol
Christopher

Or...the first Skoolie on Mars!

And my "mechanical skills" pale before yours...but I can apply a little fabrication work to this project.

[PNW_Steve]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

Could you imagine if we took EC auction skills , tangos mechanical skills , and my electronics and put them all together? We could have one of those TV shows only we build skoolies lolol
Christopher

Great idea!!

I will happily host the first episode and volunteer my bus as the "subject".

[cadillackid]

Messed around with my speed circuits some more and got things stabilized a lot. I still set a VSS code on startup of the engine sometimes but it clears and goes inactive which I could care less as it allows the cruise to work when it's inactive.

I'm using the Dakota SGI5-E in the mix now. Still all 40 pulses per rev for now. I ran a weak pull-up circuit from a 5 volt sensor supply to make the ECM happy. I may be able to delete some components and simplify. I just wanted to make sure I could get the signals to read consistently and properly and I'm there now.
Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Man, I'd love to collaborate on a build with some of you folks.

[onequiklex]

Cadillac

Do you have any contact info for the company in Florida that you sourced parts from. I'm looking at doing the swap on my Spartan chassis 5.9/AT545 Champion Bus. Although it's not a skoolie and is a pusher vs puller, I would think the swap would be similar possibly.... Easier in my case as my engine is all mechanical (1995 year).

Thanks
Michael

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by onequiklex

Cadillac

Do you have any contact info for the company in Florida that you sourced parts from. I'm looking at doing the swap on my Spartan chassis 5.9/AT545 Champion Bus. Although it's not a skoolie and is a pusher vs puller, I would think the swap would be similar possibly.... Easier in my case as my engine is all mechanical (1995 year).

Thanks
Michael

I sourced the transmission and all the electronics from 'Custom automatic Conversions', formerly 'Cummins allison conversions' . their original specialty was mating allison 1000s to cummins.. 4BT, 6BT, 12 valve, 24 valve.. but they have done a lot of other stuff now too. the transmission itself was brought through them, they have the transmissions built by SunCoast performance. they program and buils the electronics themselves.. (TCM's are bought and they program them).

CAConversions

I worked with KC and dave to put my package together.

-Christopher

[cadillackid]

OK here we go again!.

workin out the bugs!.. I added the Dakota digital SGI-5E box.. still at 40 pulses per driveshaft rev, had to add a weak pullup circuit as instead of + voltage at 0 speed like the TCM provides, this provides 0, however its not grounded, so I could float it to 2.5 volts just what the Navistar ECM likes to see.

i'll have to draw a new schematic now to show you guys once I drive the bus some more and make sure this is a good fix. so far its pretty stable!.

I had a small mechanical issues.. I sprung a fluid leak in a blank O-ring-Boss fitting plug.. Im guessing i didnt have it tight enough so I dropped a quart of fluid on the ground.. it appears to be a fitting for some type of auxilliary cooling line maybe?
I have been stopping alot to check things.. so no real harm done.. tightened up and not leaking, though I ordered a different type of plug incase the one I have is wrong.



another boring video of me driving the bus on the freeway.. you can see in the tablet in the lower right, the accelerator pedal and right above it is the engine load factor.. the transmission monitors my pedal but has no way to monitor the engine load factor unless it does so internally.. im not sure how it can with a locked converter.. i have a bit to learn about TCM theory and how it does what it does. mosty everything works fine though id like to see a 4th gear downshift at 65 instead of 62..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lTHK...ature=youtu.be

this bus ran nice and cool today too!! it was a warm one.. and the bus wasnt even close to running hot..

-Christopher

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

its the only way I survived as a kid who was already labelled as "queer" because I didnt want to date girls.. yeah in a military-centric suburban public school..

Hate to say it but back then, I would have been right there with the rest. Not that I would have gone out of my way to call you names. And that would have been all of it. I was a homophobe way back when. Product of society I guess? Certainly was never given any reason to be. I was probably more of an outcast than you. At school I hung out with a small group (4 or 5) geeks. After school, I hung out with 2 guys; one being a geek. Didn't have a girlfriend until my senior year and I think that was only because I lived nearby and had a car. I wasn't gay but girls damn sure were scary back then.

''' is a lease.. 2 years and it goes back and I get a new one.. always under warranty.. and I dig all the fancy navi screens and "oh cool it parks itself".. and cruise control that adapts to traffic, etc.. I suppose I will change my tune once the steering wheel is gone and I absolutely cannot control the car any longer..

YOu can't hack a lease ... at least not without putting it back every time it needs servicing. And no thanks on the parking and adaptive cruise. I barely use the cruise as it is. My TDI wagon is a stick. Try finding one of those; station wagon, diesel, and a stick. Took awhile to find the first. When it was wrecked, there were something like 6 in the nation for sale.

time to go board a plane.. Grrrr stuck in DFW for 4 hours!!! finally getting on the plane to st pete..

-Christopher

What the hell?!?!!???? Plane; that's no way to travel. You trying to get your skoolie card pulled?

Oh speaking of, I got tickets for ECCB's get together.

then it will be ready for the ultimate test.. a trip across the "florida desert".. a road trip from I 95 to orlando and then to tampa on I-4, some of the HOTTEST most Humid weather you will find in florida.. in july and august it can easily be over 100 with humidty of 70% or more.. its the proving ground for Fan clutches, transmission coolers, and air-conditioners in my book...

-Christopher

And you call that **** home. No thanks.

Messed around with my speed circuits some more and got things stabilized a lot. I still set a VSS code on startup of the engine sometimes but it clears and goes inactive which I could care less as it allows the cruise to work when it's inactive.

Bullshit!! You're going to keep screwing with it. You ain't fooling anyone.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Hate to say it but back then, I would have been right there with the rest. Not that I would have gone out of my way to call you names. And that would have been all of it. I was a homophobe way back when. Product of society I guess? Certainly was never given any reason to be. I was probably more of an outcast than you. At school I hung out with a small group (4 or 5) geeks. After school, I hung out with 2 guys; one being a geek. Didn't have a girlfriend until my senior year and I think that was only because I lived nearby and had a car. I wasn't gay but girls damn sure were scary back then.

YOu can't hack a lease ... at least not without putting it back every time it needs servicing. And no thanks on the parking and adaptive cruise. I barely use the cruise as it is. My TDI wagon is a stick. Try finding one of those; station wagon, diesel, and a stick. Took awhile to find the first. When it was wrecked, there were something like 6 in the nation for sale.

What the hell?!?!!???? Plane; that's no way to travel. You trying to get your skoolie card pulled?

Oh speaking of, I got tickets for ECCB's get together.

And you call that **** home. No thanks.

Bullshit!! You're going to keep screwing with it. You ain't fooling anyone.

yeah I already drew up plans to have a bix that will tell the transmission what my load factor (a name i dreamed up) is on the engine.. a mix of TPS position, Navistar engine load, MPH rate of fall / gain, cruise set speed, actual speed..

right now the only input to the TCM that I have is the TPS.. thats how an allison runs standalone.. im going to make it more intuitive..

-Christopher

[Tango]

Heck...if I knew a way to make it work without even the TPS I'd jump on it. I will leave all the new technology to you guys. My dream would be a six-speed, clutchless stick shift Allison.

[cadillackid]

The manual tapshift makes it somewhat close. Downshifting is just touching a switch just like the + or - buttons in say a newer Silverado. It's stilll automatic up to the selected gear but I can take it down pretty far.. so on a downhill or an uphill I can select the gear without mashing the shift lever.. so say when I'm in a mountain range I'll tap M4 and I'll have just 1-4 ..

Supposedly I can tap M2 from a stop if I have Icey conditions but in a bus with a diesel light throttle starts will keep from wheel spin on ice. Or just drive south in winter.

To me there's no reason to have a manual other than for downshifts in hilly or trailer towing terrain. And the tap shift fixes that
Christopher

[Tango]

I just like going up and down through gears. It's a "control" thing.

[cadillackid]

I do love the sound of going down through gears ESP in a diesel..

I want a jake brake I love the slowdown sound they make.

Tango - do you know what shifter you got that has a P on it? I trying to find part numbers of shifters with a P that I can dash mount like my 545 shifter seem to be tough
Christopher

[Tango]

Howdy Chris...the shifter came from Inland Truck Parts (an authorized Allison support company). PN is...036-000-91035.

I also got the mounting "wedge"...PN 036-59009.

Chaps name was Doug Tyler, very helpful.
Ph: 972.438.1406

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by Tango

I just like going up and down through gears. It's a "control" thing.

Says the kid that doesn't want a third pedal.

If you're going manual, there had damn sure better be a 3rd pedal. And as this isn't an F1 skoolie, you know what you can do with your paddle shifters too.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Brewerbob

Says the kid that doesn't want a third pedal.

If you're going manual, there had damn sure better be a 3rd pedal. And as this isn't an F1 skoolie, you know what you can do with your paddle shifters too.

hey just because I put a switch on the dash doesnt mean i have to use it all the time

but I *might* want to run the bus over the rockies at some point... and being able to downshift is a nicety.. I do like make smoke with rear tires in vehicles.. but *NOT* smoke with rear Brakes..
-Christopher

[Brewerbob]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

hey just because I put a switch on the dash doesnt mean i have to use it all the time

but I *might* want to run the bus over the rockies at some point... and being able to downshift is a nicety.. I do like make smoke with rear tires in vehicles.. but *NOT* smoke with rear Brakes..
-Christopher

That was mostly directed at Tango since he claims to be old school and he's older than us (I believe).