Hello...new member! Crown info?

[BrotherJames]

Greetings, fellow travelers! We are just getting our feet wet in the bus conversion. We recently acquired a shuttle bus with a freightliner mb55 chassis and a cummins 24v 5.9 diesel. We removed the seats and overhead storage racks, but now have it up for sale. Why? We drove past another bus that caught our eye. It turns out it is a 1980 crown with tandem rear axles, a gas motor and a 6 speed auto transmission. We did a little research and my partner wants it, not only because of its looks, but also because of how ruggedly they were built. This one is from california, and almost rust free.
I realize that this is a heavy bus, and the gas motors get pretty low furl mileage. Does anyone have any idea just how low? I'm not sure which motor it is yet, but plan on looking into it more. Any other insights about crown conversions will be appreciated!

[cowlitzcoach]

If it is truly a 1980 it would have either some version of a Detroit Diesel 6-71 or a Cummins 855 Big Cam in it. The transmissions available in 1980 would have been the Allison MT640/650 series behind the DD or the HT740/750 series behind the Cummins. They were either 4-speed or 5-speed. None were available with a 6-speed.

If it has a gas engine it is more likely a 1960 with a Hall-Scott and an old style Allison HT70 6-speed. Less likely would be an IHC RD450/501 gas I-6 engine.

The Hall-Scott was a gas monster engine that had about double the torque of the DD 6-71 or Cummins 743 small cam that was available in 1960. It had dual overhead cams, a hemi-head, and two spark plugs per cylinder.

The HT70 was am extremely heavy duty three sun and planetary version of the Chevy 2-speed Powerglide or Oldsmobile 4-speed Jetaway transmissions.

If it does have the Hall-Scott it will go faster than any other bus you have ever seen. The only thing it can't pass is a gas station. Think in terms or 2-4 MPG. If it has the IHC it will be considerably slower and it will get about the same fuel mileage.

If you see pictures and the top of the fenders are rounded it a bus that was built before 1973 and could still have a gas engine in it. If it has flat tops to the fenders it will be 1973 or newer and would never have had a gas engine from the factory.