Hello - New Mid Bus - Florida

[Buzz]

Hi All,

Long time reader but now I am active.

I just bought a 2004 Bluebird mid bus for a conversion. The previous owner had started a conversion (regretfully without ripping out the floor or ceiling) that I will finish in its current state. It has no electrical or plumbing so I have stared there but it did come with a NH toilet.

Engine is a CAT C7 ACERT
Trans : ? - It does 70mph on flat ground on the test drive so I wasn't super concerned.






I am near the Tampa area if there are any other Skoolie nuts nearby.

[rossvtaylor]

That's a great size! That interior start actually looks like a decent layout...something you can work with. And we had a Cat C7 with no issues at all. Yay, a nice Skoolie!

[Buzz]

Thanks! One worry I had with the layout was that the kitchen sink is on the OPPOSITE side as the shower drain. I am working all that out now. It looks like I can get a 1in PVC in-between the frame and the shell crossbraces to get it back to a grey water tank but still determining the best COA there.

[Beirdo]

OK, you confused me there for a moment. Mid Bus is also the name of a now defunct school bus manufacturer (now part of Collins)... A Bluebird Mid Bus didn't compute (much like a Bluebird Thomas wouldn't).

Mid-size bus... ooooh Those do look nice.

[Rwnielsen]

Can you just move the kitchen as one piece to the other side? I see the overhang would be be challenging but...

[Buzz]

Ha sorry for the confusion Beirdo, ironically this mid-sized bus is from WA. The owner drove his family in it across the US to FL before it was for sale near me. I got lucky.

[Buzz]

It isnt really plumbed in yet so its an option. I just want sure how hard the cross-bus plumbing would be to fix under the bus.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Beirdo

OK, you confused me there for a moment. Mid Bus is also the name of a now defunct school bus manufacturer (now part of Collins)... A Bluebird Mid Bus didn't compute (much like a Bluebird Thomas wouldn't).

Mid-size bus... ooooh Those do look nice.

Wayne morphed into Mid-bus for awhile at one point

[Romoshka]

As one who recently decided to go skoolie I’m way down on the steep learning curve. What, exactly, does a mid bus mean. Also frustrated in shopping for a bus that no one gives lengths. All the video tours you watch you never hear about length of the bus.

[CoffeeGuy]

I don't know if it helps you, but we mounted a 46 gallon tank transversely underneath our bus for grey water, and added drain ports with Uniseal inserts on either side so that our kitchen sink can drain on the passenger side and our shower can drain on the driver side. Behind the grey tank are 2 fresh water tanks of the same size. This is on a 10 window Blue Bird Pusher, so no drive shaft to be concerned about. I don't know the details on your bus, the pictures didn't show up for me.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by Romoshka

As one who recently decided to go skoolie I’m way down on the steep learning curve. What, exactly, does a mid bus mean. Also frustrated in shopping for a bus that no one gives lengths. All the video tours you watch you never hear about length of the bus.

Mid-bus was a brand name of a bus body manufacturer.. there were / are many manufacturers of bus bodies. like thomas, IC bus, Bluebird, etc..



it used to be that schools could choose their chassis and body manufacturer separately.. they could buy a blue-bird body with an IH or chevy or ford chassis, etc..


Mid bus is a term some people use to refer to a mid-length too.. counting the windows down the side a "mid length bus" might have 8 or 9. a short bus might have 4,5 or 6 windows.. a full length bus might have 11-14 windows down the side..



a Type A or Cutaway bus is a term that refers to a bus as having the front end of what looks like a normal work van and then a bus body on the back. these are typically short busses (4-6 windows) and have a regular van door as a driver entrance


a type C, CV, Dog-nose, or conventional are terms that refer to larger chassis busses that still have a Hood on the front.. the "regular school bus" look.. IH 3800 chassis, Freightliner FS65 chassis, etc these busses are typically in the 6-12 window length and have a big right-side entrance door and sliding window for a driver window.


a type FE or Front engine bus is a Flat-nose with the engine in the front, these busses have a large doghouse (hump) in the front and are full size chassis busses.. they range typically from 9-14 windows..


a type RE or rear engine bus is a Flat-nose with the engine in the rear. you can identify them as they will have the radiator in the back.. most have the radiator on the side of the bus.. some of the IC / asmtran branded had thew radiator on the rear.. these busses will have a rear window but no rear exit door.. there will be no dog-house in the front.. these are full chassis busses generally in the 11-15 windows...


-Christopher

[Beirdo]

Very nice. We should get a pinned version of that somewhere

[Ronnie]

Want to add that each window is about 28" rib to rib.

[ISAF2009]

C7 is my favorite cat powerplant.

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by ISAF2009

C7 is my favorite cat powerplant.

I dont own any C7s however I have some friends thaty have a few and I also really like them. im still learning my way around the cat ET software and the way of cracking factory passcodes to alter power settings and such.. some of the later C7s had issues with ACERT but the 04-07 are as solid as its predecessor the 3126 and they tend to be more powerful than the 3126s