1974 Crown - Cloudhorse

[upbeat]

Hello All,

We recently picked up this 1974 Crown outside of Sacramento. 5 Speed. Cummins. Pretty good shape. Not all the oil stays in the motor. Front end makes some noises it shouldn't. My son named it Cloudhorse. Going to fix it up to bring some fun into family trips to the Eastern Sierra.

Took our first trip from San Francisco up to Guernville (75 miles) the day after purchase. Figured likely we'd get stranded somewhere. We did - though fortunately it was at our destination. Made a test light from an extra bulb rolling around, and some leads dangling from the batteries. Debugged the ignition circuit at the solenoid lead - nothing happening there. Jumper cable from the battery to the solenoid lead and it fired right. Family loves that we have to get out and walk around the bus, open the battery compartment, and touch leads together to start. Fun for all.

First big job is a wheel bearing in the front end. Thoughts on where to get parts for that?

I've already had a dream about dealing with the rusted lug nuts. Figure some 'liquid wrench' and an impact wrench. Probably a nut splitter and a tap to chase the threads on hand.

Anyhow - hello all. Appreciate the site.

[Rusty]

Cool bus. Welcome !

I like PB Blaster for rusted nuts- spray each day once/twice for few days. I tap them a bit, not sure if it helps. Wire-brush exposed threads. bit of direct heat, if careful not to overdo it. Replace bad nuts.

That's a lot of big, hard nuts to be splittin.

[hanaiapa]

Hi there!
I just bought the exact same bus in Riverside, CA, a 1972 Crown bus with Cummins 220. It's still there at the moment but it so happens I plan to leave the bus in the Sierra foothills too! Mariposa side though.

Have you been running it a lot since this post? Would love to join forces on fixing them up. Let me know!

[Robin97396]

Welcome

That's an interesting story. Can't wait to see your build take off Darn nice bus to start with too.

[Iceni John]

Congrats on the bus!

You need to find out what make of axles it has. Older Crowns used Timken, less old Crowns used Rockwell, but Crown sometimes installed whatever they had lying around if the customer didn't specify, so who knows what you have? Once you know what you have, then a trip to your local friendly heavy truck parts supplier should get you what you need. Sometimes even NAPA has stuff like that. Definitely get the wheel bearings fixed ASAP - the consequences of a seized bearing are not fun, plus you'll probably ruin the spindle as well.

A torque multiplier should get the lug nuts off, along with some careful heat. And a membership of Good Sam ERS could be worthwhile insurance!

John

[upbeat]

Great. Thanks for the tips.

[upbeat]

Well how about that! What an awesome machine.

But of course would be great to share notes on fixing it up. Only place I went after that trip was back down to the city - much easier the second time when it wasn't rush hour traffic. Then took it out to Livermore, where I rented an RV spot to keep it for the short term.

What condition is yours in?

[upbeat]

Appreciate the tips.

I read somewhere that there's someone who can tell you details of a crown based on serial number. Happen to know where that is?

[IMG][/IMG]

[upbeat]

Thanks for the tips.

I read somewhere that there's someone who can find detailed information on a Crown build from the build plate information. Happen to know who that is?

[upbeat]

Turns out Cummins Quick Serve:

https://quickserve.cummins.com/info/index.html

Had the following on my motor:



And even better, skoolie.net member hanaipa e-mailed me the .pdf service manual. Skoolie.net delivers.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Welcome nice find,Where in the bay Area are you?

[Tango]

Welcome! --- Great find. The old Crowns are among the best looking buses ever made to my mind. And, after soaking the lug nuts for a few days...heat them with a torch and bang them a few times with a hammer (careful with the threads). It will usually help loosen any rust welding.

Best of luck on the build and keep the pix coming.

[upbeat]

Originally Posted by Stu & Filo. T

Welcome nice find,Where in the bay Area are you?

Live in SF. Bus is out in Livermore for the time being. You in the area?


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[Stu & Filo. T]

Originally Posted by upbeat

Live in SF. Bus is out in Livermore for the time being. You in the area?


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Vacaville,

[74Crown]

Woohoo got another couple people with crowns as well! I'm going to start converting my 1974 crown tour bus at the begining of July! We will have to chat more and communicate ideas and concepts throughout our builds! That is a great looking bus you have there!!

[Iceni John]

74Crown, is yours the Teton? Where are you located?

John

[dwsmitha]

'74 was a great year, and you have a 250, which has a bit more poop than the 220 Cummins did. I made a recent acquisition as well, an '87 tandem with a BigCam 855 Turbo Cummins, with an RT910 10 speed and a Jake. I live up in the NE corner of the state in Modoc County, but I started in this stuff over 45 years ago and am very familiar with those models, as they were NEW in my early years driving Crowns. Many I drove were much older and quite a bit of a challenge. Good luck and keep in touch. We have wonderful but slow plans for our Anna--the name of our bus. Guerneville is right down the road from where we lived (in Forestville) many years ago, so know those areas really well. Have fun.
Deanna