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Old 07-09-2019, 11:55 PM   #1
Bus Nut
 
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Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 457
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
Rock N Ruth want their house to roll!

HI Rock N Ruth here.
We are a two part harmony. And the Lord said, " therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife and the two shall become one flesh."
We live in a 2003 International 74 passenger bus, with no wheels, engine, transmission, or title. It doesn't go very far. OK, it doesn't go anywhere. We aim to remedy that. Did I mention we love living in our bus? We have lived in many a house of various sizes, a warehouse, a few RVs with and without slides, a box truck, and now a school bus. We think school bus may be the permanent landing pad. We have been trying out all kinds of things for the past 34 years, 7 months, 9 days, 11 hours and 22 minutes, some of them stick as things that are part of our way of life. We love the minimal lifestyle we have grown into. We just don't have room to become compulsive hoarders anymore. I still recognize that I never know when I will need that, whatever it is, but neither do I need to hang on to find out, nor do I have the space for it.
We just landed an awesome deal. The Gilbert school district in Gilbert, Az. Just ran an auction on http://www.publicauctions.com, containing 20 buses. Most of them were 1998 International 84 passenger buses that, "ran when we parked it." We managed to win the bus with the lowest mileage for just $1980.00 because there were 20 buses and 5 bidders.
We drove out today and picked it up. I put one new battery in it. Stared it on the first try. Shut it down, checked the fluids, tire pressure, added 20 gallons of fuel to top off the tank and drove it 310 miles home with not significant event.
Plenty of power. No problem cruising at 65 MPH. Did I mention cruise control that works? WOW. Oil pressure steady at about 45lbs. Coolent temp hovered around 210 F and 212 F. From what I can gather about the 7.3L International this is a normal operating range. I did have an Oil/Water alarm a few times climbing a 7% grade, but the oil pressure and engine temp stayed in the safe range. so no worries.
We currently have a ground mounted solar system with ten 327 watt panels, that we plan to put on the roof of our 40'x8' bus. WE will cover most of the windows with sanded luan coated with white pigmented poly resin. Insulate under the floor with 2" polystyrene board. Same for the interior walls and ceiling. The rest will come right out of our current home bus.
We are itching to start.

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Old 07-10-2019, 06:17 AM   #2
Bus Crazy
 
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Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: Ashtabula, Ohio
Posts: 1,494
Year: 1996
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International
Engine: T444E 7.3L
Sounds like a great price for that bus! Welcome aboard!
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Old 07-10-2019, 07:39 AM   #3
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Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Spring Valley AZ
Posts: 1,343
Year: 2000
Coachwork: Bluebird
Engine: 5.9 Cummins
Rated Cap: 2 elderly children, 1 cat
Welcome!....
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Old 07-10-2019, 07:50 AM   #4
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,758
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
welcome aboard and heed that oil / water alarm.. your dash gauges may be lying to you.. real common on internationals!! the oil/water alarm is the computer telling you "hey over here!!! " esp since it happened on a grade.. when on that grade you shouldve heard your fan roaring like a windstorm... thats the clutch engaging and trying to cool the radiator.. if you didnt hear that... things mightve been a little roasty under the hood..



the good thing is the 7.3 (T-444E) is a pretty hearty beast... so you probably didnt harm it.. dont make a habit of letting that alarm scream at you or things will break.



invest in a scangauge D or a Bluefire (works with a tablet or phone) that can let you see into your Bus' computer and phooey with the crappy dash gauges that may lie to you...

-Christopher
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Old 07-10-2019, 08:46 AM   #5
Bus Crazy
 
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Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: E Central Tejas
Posts: 2,094
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: IH 3800, 8 window
Engine: T444E w/ Spicer 5-speed MT
Rated Cap: I prefer broad-brims hats
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
...the good thing is the 7.3 (T-444E) is a pretty hearty beast... so you probably didnt harm it.. dont make a habit of letting that alarm scream at you or things will break.



invest in a scangauge D or a Bluefire (works with a tablet or phone) that can let you see into your Bus' computer and phooey with the crappy dash gauges that may lie to you...

-Christopher
I couldn't find a definitive answer, so maybe you'd know:
Can a non-subscribed Android, with BlueTooth, be used with the BlueFire?
I like to keep Waze & Gas Buddy running while I drive, to add to the crowd-source data.
Being a frugal fellow (read: Cheap), I hope to recycle an old fon to serve as my monitor, so's not to impinge on my other fon activities. Thanx! [emoji111]
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Old 07-10-2019, 01:35 PM   #6
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 18,758
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
a non subscribed phone running on wifi for waze and gas buddy should do fine with bluefire.. too bads tyou are so damn far west or we could get together and you could just link up to the bluefire I have laying on the dash of the bus.. android phones without subscriptions are essentially android tablets without cellular..
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Old 07-11-2019, 12:39 AM   #7
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 3,856
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas Built Bus
Chassis: Freightliner FS65
Engine: Caterpillar 3126E Diesel
Rated Cap: 71 Passenger- 30,000 lbs.
I have been able to connect to the Bluefire with an RCA Voyager III tablet (Android OS) we picked up at Walmart on Black Friday for $28.00. I have also connected with an off-brand "cell phone" (also Android OS) or more accurately a tablet that can accept up to two SIM cards. Both function fine with the BlueFire. I have not yet tried it on a normal cell phone.
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Old 07-11-2019, 05:39 AM   #8
Bus Crazy
 
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Join Date: Oct 2017
Location: E Central Tejas
Posts: 2,094
Year: 1998
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: IH 3800, 8 window
Engine: T444E w/ Spicer 5-speed MT
Rated Cap: I prefer broad-brims hats
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid View Post
Thanx guys! [emoji111]
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Old 07-11-2019, 10:23 PM   #9
Bus Geek
 
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 3,856
Year: 2002
Coachwork: Thomas Built Bus
Chassis: Freightliner FS65
Engine: Caterpillar 3126E Diesel
Rated Cap: 71 Passenger- 30,000 lbs.
I tried it with a Samsung tablet today. It works even better on it. The set-up is smoother on the Samsung. I do not know the model as it is my father's tablet.
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