Very nice. You mention a "Splitter" needing a small airline leak fixed. It sounds like that may in fact be a RoadRanger most likely a 10 speed. Can you offer any pics of the dash area showing the decal/plate with original transmission shifting pattern? They usually had model # and shifting pattern and how to use the range selector button to go from low range (1-5 gears) to high range (6-10th gear).
A pic of the shifter and "splitter" valve can also tell me what you have. Fuller RoadRangers and Spicer used different valves since the transmissions shifted completely different from each other.
One other clue is the actual shift pattern itself, and that it's an actual Fuller RoadRanger, and not a Spicer with a totally different air splitter operation which I've only rarely seen in Crowns. If the 4th and 9th are to the right and UP then it's a 10th gear direct 1:1 ratio, meaning 5th and 10th are right and DOWN. If 4th and 5th are reversed where 4th is DOWN and 5th is UP then it's a 10 speed Overdrive where 10th is usually about 1:.87 for a little bit more (about 12mph) road speed. This is all assuming facts not in evidence so any info you can provide I can offer more assistance. See my other posts for some in depth descriptions of Fuller RoadRanger models and shifting operations and how to know what you really have installed.
A good running 220 Cummins should be a total joy to have and use. Plenty of power and good fuel economy and very quiet on the road which means lower engine noise related fatigue for long drives.
I'm a complete Detroit 2-stroke fanatic and totally love the noise, idiosyncrasies, lower torque, much higher driver attention to driving them without lugging it or getting it hot, everything that makes the DD 2-stroke today so hard for most to understand or want to deal with. They were all we knew and I loved them to death, still do.
Cummins were also very common in Crowns but not so much in the later years due to lower costs to purchase and repair DD's, but the Cummins always were there. Two Crowns I own have each engine, a turbo DD-6-71 with a non-OD 10 speed RoadRanger, and the other has a 300hp Big Cam III turbo'd 855 Cummins and a 10-spd OD Roadranger. I love them both but have to admit that for long drives on the open road and over hill and dales the Cummins is truly a joy to drive and so much quieter and more relaxing. So much torque and power makes for a laid back casual driving experience.
The DD is for sport and mountain roads and generally having fun with the bus and engine noise. The Cummins is more leisurely and for serious extended road trips. Don't have to attend to it like with a DD. Cummins has a different torque curve and makes it much easier on the driver with bottom end torque and easy to handle in the hills (with a 10 speed much more so). Cummins also don't tend to get hot under load like the DD's can. All Crowns were magnificently engineered with plenty of cooling system capacity for both engine installations, and as long as everything is working OK with the cooling system you shouldn't ever have problems keeping the engine cool. Cummins even more so.
You mentioned Air bags.... If that is a full air-ride Crown, both front and rear, you have what amounts to a Unicorn and should be extremely happy with it. They just didn't produce many at all and only for special customers willing to pay for the expensive option of full air suspension. I suspect your Crown was never a School bus but most likely used for field trips and special activities, the Sedan entry door says so. Some Colleges also ordered them with lots of extra goodies too. That Sedan entry door, the large high mounted front turn signal housings, (which I love), maybe others like the air-ride not visible from the outside are all indicators of never being a home to school bus. You may have just managed to acquire a rare and very desirable Crown. Congratulations.
Now lets hope the Engine and transmission and the rest of the running gear is in good condition. If you don't have any serious or expensive issues you have a bus you can drive as much and as far as you can afford to and it will always be asking for more. There just isn't any way for a private party to put on the kind of high mileage Crowns were designed to do under commercial operations. The best advise I can give is to drive the hell out of it and keep it on the road as much as you can. The more you drive it you'll see that you have much fewer little annoying problems. They need and love to be driven HARD. And with that air-ride you'll see just how much of a thrill it is on the open road. Nothing like it. Even the super expensive various highway coaches aren't as much fun to drive as a good Crown, and the air-ride is a very special enhancement over the normal spring suspension. I'm always on the hunt for one like yours with full air-ride it's the best of all worlds. You get legendary Crown over-engineering, reliability, ease of maintenance, overall simplicity of systems plus the special advantage of a full air-ride suspension that is just as good as the over the road highway Coaches. What's not to love. Awesome.
I'd love to have more info/pics on what your Crown has installed. It also appears to have been converted to a motorhome already and I hope it was a good job and you aren't going to inherit someone else's flaky ideas of what and how to convert a bus. Some are decent and others can be real nightmares.
Please feel free to contact me directly if you have questions or guidance in how to get the most out of your new Crown. As you gain knowledge about it you'll soon come to understand why us Crown owners all feel the way we do about them. They're simply the best and will easily last another 100 years with normal care and feeding. Welcome to the Crown Owners Fraternity, you've taken your first steps into a larger Universe.
mikemcc2k@yahoo.com
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