Hello from someone writing a story

[comedy4cast]

Okay, if people are still here, I have my next set of questions. I promise I won't keep you long.

5) Obviously the standard seats are taken out of the buses to convert the interiors, but does the weight of what goes IN need to be no more than the weight of the seats that came OUT? If the new items weigh more, are modifications made to the frame, shocks, etc.?

6) How common is it to raise the roof (not a party, but physically raising the roof) for a conversion? I seem to have only run across it a few times so far in my searches.

AND, LAST ONE FOR THIS BATCH. PROMISE!!!

7) The school buses, I would imagine, are not designed with storage compartments under the main cabin, unlike, for instance, shuttle buses. When a conversion is done, is that somehow addressed? Or is all storage in-cabin?

My continued thanks. You have been providing fantastic info and feedback!

[s2mikon]

As to the weight, you have to estimate what the fat brats weighed. Oh and the chewing gum left behind.

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by s2mikon

As to the weight, you have to estimate what the fat brats weighed. Oh and the chewing gum left behind.

Seriously, one row of kids (6) plus their seats could weigh a thousand pounds (at only 150 pounds per kid), so my 11-window bus could have been hauling over five tons. It would be awfully hard for build weight to get close to that unless you were gilding everything or building it out of depleted uranium.

This is true for large buses on medium-duty chassises, at least. Shorties on van chassises do run into weight issues.

[comedy4cast]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

Seriously, one row of kids (6) plus their seats could weigh a thousand pounds (at only 150 pounds per kid), so my 11-window bus could have been hauling over five tons. It would be awfully hard for build weight to get close to that unless you were gilding everything or building it out of depleted uranium.

This is true for large buses on medium-duty chassises, at least. Shorties on van chassises do run into weight issues.

Perfect. Thank you both!

[Meathead]

Somebody here once said that it would be hard to build a skoolie putting more weight in that you took out. It just so happens that I put my bus on a scale for the first time about 3 hrs ago. (2 yrs into my build) I welded in 2” sq metal posts for my doorways and used 3/8”x2x2” angle iron to build storage boxes. A complete disregard bus weight.
My 2 axle capacities are 11K and 20K. I came in at 7.5 K and 15k.
Oooh Yeah! [emoji126][emoji1739]


[emoji3522]

[comedy4cast]

Well done!

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by comedy4cast

Sure. But amazing, too!

Some of the things you'll see, which can help you sound more authentic in your podcast.

Dognose - a bus with the hood out front, like the snout on a dog. As opposed to a flat-front bus.
RE - rear engine
FE - front engine, can be either a dognose or a flat front.
If a bus is a FE with a flat front, the engine will be inside next to the driver and covered with a hump...which is the doghouse...not to be confused with a dognose.

EDIT - I just saw your questions...for some reason I was still on page 1. As to #7, some school buses do have storage underneath. Our old Gillig has underneath bays all the way across. We just bought a Crown which also has storage underneath. And...a Thomas just sold yesterday, at an auction, with storage bays. Most school buses don't have that, but some do. And one advantage of a RE bus is that there's no driveline down the center, which opens up options for storage and liquid tanks.

[DeMac]

Roof raises are common enough. Most do not, but the fabrication process can be repeated by a first timer.

Some school buses have stock understorage. Most skoolies have added something below the floor.

You ought to go look inside one or more near you. Ask around here on this site.
Where are you located? Don't be shy.

[comedy4cast]

Boston area. If I'm able to get in a visit, I will surely find it fascinating.

[comedy4cast]

Originally Posted by Elliot Naess

Here is the kind of thing your General Kalamity needs, a twin screw Crown.



The engine is in the middle, below the floor. (You are looking right at the radiator, behind the front wheel.)
Two rear axles, both driving (twin screw, in trucker jargon).
Legendary durability. All full-size 18-wheeler parts.
Still widely recognized "loaf of bread" styling.

The shielded lights at the top in the front and back. Are those directionals or are they brake lights? My guess is brake lights, but I want to be sure.

[comedy4cast]

Originally Posted by rossvtaylor

Some of the things you'll see, which can help you sound more authentic in your podcast.

Dognose - a bus with the hood out front, like the snout on a dog. As opposed to a flat-front bus.
RE - rear engine
FE - front engine, can be either a dognose or a flat front.
If a bus is a FE with a flat front, the engine will be inside next to the driver and covered with a hump...which is the doghouse...not to be confused with a dognose.

EDIT - I just saw your questions...for some reason I was still on page 1. As to #7, some school buses do have storage underneath. Our old Gillig has underneath bays all the way across. We just bought a Crown which also has storage underneath. And...a Thomas just sold yesterday, at an auction, with storage bays. Most school buses don't have that, but some do. And one advantage of a RE bus is that there's no driveline down the center, which opens up options for storage and liquid tanks.

Thank you. If it is a mid-engine, is it an ME?

[rossvtaylor]

Originally Posted by comedy4cast

Thank you. If it is a mid-engine, is it an ME?

If it's a mid-engine...drum roll...it's a Crown!

Seriously, I've not seen ME as a term because they're not common...limited to Crowns, I think.

Those shielded lights are the emergency flashers, for dropping and picking up kids. They have to be changed from red, on the front, to be legal when not a school bus. Some people (like us) rewire the rear ones to be additional brake lights. The front ones are more widely disposed of...some people do a delete...removing the lights and plugging the holes. There are even "delete kits" for those. Some of the deletions are well done and some look like crap. On a newer bus, doing a light delete isn't a bad idea. On a cool retro Gillig or Crown, it would be treasonous! Better to keep the shroud and put in white driving lamps.

[Danjo]

It would be funny if it ran on veggie oil and every hundred miles he had to do stupid stuff for the people working at a fast food joint

[musigenesis]

Originally Posted by Danjo

It would be funny if it ran on veggie oil and every hundred miles he had to do stupid stuff for the people working at a fast food joint

That is a great premise. I might have to work that into my skoolie novel.

[Elliot Naess]

5. I am a Blue Bird man, but.... My Millicent's Gross Vehicle Weight Rating (maximum designed/legal total weight) is around 30,000 pounds.
When I bought her, with the seats still in her, she weighed 19,000 pounds.
Add 84 students at 100 pounds each, plus their books, football gear, and high-capacity 9mm pistols, and we are back up close to the 30,000 maximum. So, no improvement in weight carrying capacity is needed for most skoolie purposes.

That said, being me... on the annual trip to Burning Man, bringing a small city for 25 people, I routinely max out Millicent's above-mentioned legal weight.

By the time your Major Madcap is done arming and armoring the Krown Krawler for The Second Battle Of Grover's Mill against Orson Welles' invading Martians, so will he. With three axles, and based on legal axle weights for this layout, Da Krowler's fighting weight is probably around 46,000 pounds.

(Grover's Mill is apparently also known as Middling Fair.)


6. Your General Geniussus will need max headroom for the purple-feather-plume on his Gladiator helmet. And you may be able to use the party pun.
Expect a proper Krown Krawler to be raised at least three feet and wipe cobwebs off the underside of overpasses, so to speak.
Legal maximum vehicle height is 14 feet on Interstates and most major highways.


7. Au contraire, mon Kapitan! School buses often have luggage compartments along the sides, below floor level.
The Krown Krawler, however, has its engine in the middle below the floor, and you need to "ask the man who owns one" if there is any room left over. It does, however have a cavernous trunk in the back, for the above-mentioned football gear and such -- and a rocket-powered snow-scooter, ready to leap from its rolling bat cave when the trunk-lid/draw-bridge opens.

For the engine in a mid-engine Crown to fit below the floor, it is turned 90 degrees along its crankshaft line. The cylinders are horizontal. These engines are knows as "pancake" engines. They are adapted from regular vertical engines.

Some Crowns have Detroit Diesel (brand) two-stroke engines. These are loud and they smoke a lot. The Krown Krawler definitely has such a "Screamin' Demon" two-stroke Detroit.

Question: How many listeners have noticed that the Pentagon actually answers the telephone in live person as the Herr Generalissimo is hanging up? Nicely done, Sir.

[Elliot Naess]

Whoa! You do not waste much time, do you?!

https://barnfinds.com/1973-crown-uh-something/

[comedy4cast]

Originally Posted by musigenesis

That is a great premise. I might have to work that into my skoolie novel.

Let me know when it's out. I'd read it!

[comedy4cast]

Yes, indeed. I am beginning to settle on a 1976 Crown Superliner with a "671" Detroit Diesel engine. Decisions on a lot of the things involving the story skoolie are certainly thanks to the info I am picking up in this thread. In fact, I will mention "Special Thanks to everyone in the skoolie.net forums for their assistance."

I'm not sure how many people noticed that Kalamity hung up at just the wrong time, but credit to you for noticing. Points!

[comedy4cast]

LOL! That can't be mine, the sun shields on the top lights are gone! I would never do that!

And it's interesting -- Looking at the profile, I'm not sure I like the raised roof on a Crown. The original shape is a lot of its charm. But maybe it's the lack of windows that alters the basic shape too much for me. It's good to see that, though. Something to keep in mind.

[Elliot Naess]

I often listened to radio theater as a child. And sometimes my mother, a minor "star of stage and screen", was in it. Good to see the art is not lost.