New ful-time #buslifer and NONAME

[robertkuntz]

Hi all!

I've been full time for a little over a month and a half, jumped in right before the pandemic, and wham... was stuck in FL for a month or so, but spent that time fixing mechanical issues and readying for the road.

Left Fl last week and made it to Texas, looking to settle for a short bit in the Hill Country, if you know anyone who would host a skoolie?

NONAME was a minimal conversion with an RV registration, and am going to fix it up as I go. So far it's been one heck of a ride! I am looking forward to the future and excited at the ideas conjuring around the whole notion.

My bus in an 81 GMC Bluebird with a Chevy 350 / Turbo 400. Not the fastest on the block, but she gets you where you are going, and I love the style of this era.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

what part of hill country you looking at?
my wife has family around fredricksburg and another part of family that has hunting land in montel but neither are real close to anything for supplies of any kind.
its more stock up a months worth before you go in.
30 min out of fredricksburg and montell is at least an hour from anything but a small gas station.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

love the pics cause these people around here say pics or it didnt happen?
but now i am a little confused because you have an 11 window bus rated at 40 passengers and i have a 9 window rated at 60 passengers?
my max GVW is 26000 do you know what yours is?
that seems like alot of steel for a 350 small block are you sure its not a 396 or 400?
those were more common gassers in that big of a bus

[robertkuntz]

Yeah I am looking at space now for 2 buses as I am teaming up with another skoolie doing a conversion here locally to split a place. Thanks for the reply though!

[robertkuntz]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

love the pics cause these people around here say pics or it didnt happen?
but now i am a little confused because you have an 11 window bus rated at 40 passengers and i have a 9 window rated at 60 passengers?
my max GVW is 26000 do you know what yours is?
that seems like alot of steel for a 350 small block are you sure its not a 396 or 400?
those were more common gassers in that big of a bus

I don't know how many passengers as I was guessing at 2 per seat? Is it actually 3 per seat? I am not keen on the history of the bus-side of things, but I do know the mechanical side. That's one reason I was attracted to this bus. I've owned and worked on 350s all my life, so taking on the challenge of a bus was a little less daunting.

The 350 with the TH400 in this bus may be 40 years old, but it only has 70k miles on this drive train. I've had to redo the entire fuel system to get her running again, but once I got the fuel down, it runs like a top.

Does it pull? Admittedly not the fastest bus on the block, but it goes. Going up larger hills and inclines, it's a bit of a struggle, and I have to kick in the 4 barrels to maintain, or slightly lose speed on steeper inclines, and that's not on a mountainous pass. Not sure how much I'll be digging this 350 when I'm in Colorado, or on heavy inclines.

Top speed before new tires was 68, 70 on the downhill. Changed old tube tire 20's with a tubeless 22.5 rim and tire, now hit 75+ on the highway, but won't push that hard on trips (once) I actually like it around 60ish on the highway, as it feels more at home there and doesn't feel like it's all going to come apart, like at 70+.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

glad youre comfortable working on the powertrain you have.
i used to be a die hard chevy mechanic myself in the 80s and 90s and not saying you dont know what you have and i have been wrong before but with the picture you posted.
unless that 350 block has been out at some point and had some machining done to it .
i still want to say 396/400 block because of the highrise intake with four barrel carb and the center outlet exhaust almost means bowtie heads?
looking good the rim size upgrade is on my list also.
did you find used rims or buy new?
looking good

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

i swear this one is has me questioning what i used to know off the top of my head?
sorry
i mispoke earlier and they did use that type of exhaust on the 350 block.
i still say you have a big block instead a small block but i have been wrong.
have you cleaned and looked at engine block casting numbers?
at least chevy didnt move them around to much and almost regardless all the accessories carried over between all of them but the littlle things like rear main seals,oil pan gaskets ,valve cover gaskets can make a difference much less having to open the motor up.

[robertkuntz]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

i swear this one is has me questioning what i used to know off the top of my head?
sorry
i mispoke earlier and they did use that type of exhaust on the 350 block.
i still say you have a big block instead a small block but i have been wrong.
have you cleaned and looked at engine block casting numbers?
at least chevy didnt move them around to much and almost regardless all the accessories carried over between all of them but the littlle things like rear main seals,oil pan gaskets ,valve cover gaskets can make a difference much less having to open the motor up.

It's an Edelbrock aftermarket intake and carb. I've also had a couple 396s in my time and this is no 396. I learned how to build this exact motor in shop class in high school, and then proceeded to spin a bearing in my 396 nova and built a 350 for it on a stand (short block up). Just saying, this is a 350 for sure.

So an 11 window would make my bus how many passengers?

[robertkuntz]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

did you find used rims or buy new?
looking good

Found them used. Read a thread somewhere suggesting this upgrade, because they (Goodyear) wanted $1800 for 4 new 20s on my tubed rims. So I got lucky and the second place I called had used 22.5s, and just so happened to be 5 minutes from my camp at the time. They also had newer used tires, which brought the total well lower than half of what I would have paid, just for the 900r20s - and that included the rim upgrade and labor - with a nice bunch of Goodyear's ta'boot.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

i forgot about the 427 engine?
the easiest block code to get is on top left/passenger side just in front of the head above the timing chain cover?
not trying to be a pain just would like to know what you actually have cause i dont think a standard 350 can do it for a bus?
and you can just tell me to shut up cause you got it and i will quit?
still looking.
but trust me i have been down the road thinking i knew what i had and kept wrenching the wrong gaskets on even though the bolts lined up and still didnt fix the problem
for me it was a bastard oil pan that didnt belong and the previous owner had stretch it out and rtved the mess out of it and it and the dipstick holster was on the wrong side but they had beat the pan out and cut the gasket to fit and didnt even know until i had to fix the oil pump?
was my daily driver until i couldnt get a new gasket to seal even with rtv?
whoever must have gone through the same struggle but i wanted the correct stuff so i had to unmuck what the previous owner had did and come to find out i had a 396 car block in a 7 year older truck which put the dipstick on the opposite. truck had enough room that it didnt and the car was specific.
block was cast for both but not the oil pan?
sorry went down a road about some of the ones i have had?
but if you know what you have then keep on.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

i was typing the same as you?
ok
you know what you got.
hope yall have fun and enjoy with know problems

[robertkuntz]

Originally Posted by Jolly Roger bus 223

i was typing the same as you?
ok
you know what you got.
hope yall have fun and enjoy with know problems

lol - actually not a problem as I really appreciate the input and help with the whole endeavor.

I initially got support from the Skoolie Planet page on FB, and they helped me through the mechanical issues like air brakes, fuel issues, and just all around general support on getting into the swing of #buslife

Now that I am starting to get comfortable with what I am doing, and I have a machine that's operating well, I'll be refab'ing the inside. This has a minimal conversion, enough to get an rv tag, and I really want to make it my home. So time to tear it all apart.

I am looking for a place to do this now. Know anyone with a parking spot that I can work and live (hookups or at least water and power) near Dallas. Little Elm/Frisco, or even the Tx Hill Country?

After almost 2 months on the road, I can't see going back to where I was (four walls in Orlando, FL) I am looking forward to the days, months, and years to come!

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

even the place in hill country i might be able to get you access to requires a genny and no access to any materials within an hour so it would have to be plan ahead and haul the material you need in for a months worth of work. there used to be a small gas station within 20 min of the hunting land but i havent been there in 7-8 years so i caint promise its still there?
this part of hill country is great for hunting but you have to plan the living there.

[robertkuntz]

Thanks - I'm putting out feelers!

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

i just can not believe a 350 is pulling that bus and at 70-80?
must have had some work done to it or its not a 350?
i shut up know.

[MacC]

The picture I saw has a small block valve cover. That is NO big block. If It was it would be a 366 or 427 tall deck. I had a 77 Chevy 66 pass. It had the 366. Brand new Goodwrench long block. I worked at a Freightliner dealer. During the Atlanta summer Olympics a Christian Reggae bad was on the way to Atlanta to pay at one of the many venues they had that year. It was their tour bus. They lost a gear in the tranny. They finally dropped a valve floating the valves to skip shift. I bought it for 260 dollars, I worked in a dealership with a 9 bay shop. Before 24/7 era. That bus took me and my friends to Talladega to the races 3 or 4 years.

[tedmed0302]

Agreed. Big Block valve covers are much wider. This is a small block for sure. I built one in high school shop class too! Wish I still had it today! It was a 2 bolt main, 9:1 motor, 4bbl, with a corvette 370hp regrind cam... stupid fast for a high school kid but a lot of fun. Was in a Jeep cj7 first—-terrible idea—-then a 1/2 ton regular cab Chevy 4 years later. Broke ujoints, axles, trannys, driveshafts almost weekly. I couldn’t afford it all in the end and sold it. LoL!! Anyway good luck with your bus!!