Hey all,
I wanted to say hello and introduce myself as I go about seeking help in the revival of an old bus GMC Bluebird I'm in the process of, perhaps, purchasing. it's never too late to back out!!!
This will be the second school bus I've acquired. The first was a an '87 INternational Thomas full size turned camp for my woodland. It replaced an old log cabin that had fallen down, and before that, it served as a tractor amoung other useful applications. It had been used as a cross-country cycling trip support vehicle and converted to SVO in it's prior life, and I learned a lot from the mistakes made by the prior owners in my own adventures in SVO as fuel. It was called the climate change caravan, and the bus was named "betsy" on account of the website plastered on her, thebet.ca
The bet was that the project could do more to combat climate change in this single campagain then the federal government had done in the past ten years, and it garned pledges from canadians at the web page.
So that's Bets.
This here girl, though ten years newer, has rusted away around the stairwell and front dirvers floor area much more so than the ,87.
I'd been having second thoughts on account of the neglect it had recieved; the most concerning of which was the rodent activity (tho I was assured there was very little). Everything, you could say, facing abandonment becomes some other sort of habitat. This is the trouble I have had with Betsy, where the in-between spaces become mouseville. So it's dissapointing to be finding the evidence as I look closer. Perhaps the BlueBird is better at keeping the mice from moving about in the celiling and behind panels than the old Thomas, which had become a bit of a playground it seemed.
The intent is not to take this Bluebird on the road save for the trip to the woodland. Perhaps I do not need a working alternator to get me the 150km drive. The old Cat 3128 fired up after cutting out old fuel lines and plumbing to and inside tank. It builds up and holds air where it needs it, and surges back and forth.
Problem is it comes with an old, gutted, Chev P32 chassis 37' motorhome, definitely complicating things (it does have a propane h2o heater, dc/ac converter, plus chassis and drivetrain largely in-tact, if those are worth anything??). I have not yet completed the deal despite all the work and risk of loosing a partial payment. The captains chairs I thought were included were removed. The conversion that was begun has left holes and scars all over. The front of the bus is very rusty. And although it seems it is willing to drive away, the investment of a couple grand CAD but more importantly my time to make it camp-worthy is weighing on me. The advantages were the increased ceiling height, the lack of critter influence, the newer equipment and potential road-worthiness. Can metal floors generally be replaced? If I can get this rig to my place for a couple grand, is it worth it in your opinion?
I look forward to conversing about any of the matters. First, I guess I'll try checking the alternator bulb if its a two-wire set-up and possibly flashing the "R" wire on the alternator if it's a one wire set-up on the 20si. The tach is intermittent and I suspect that it is the one other wire attached, not a lamp wire (although it is attached to the I, not R? terminal), and the alternator is simply yet to begin charging under it's own residual magnetism. I'll introduce the topic in the electrical discussion for those interested to work thru it.
I'll soon have to make the decision and turn the key on the deal (Now that the bus has a key to turn - oh, I had to install a new ignition since the owner lost the ignition and entry keys and broke in the door latch). Or, not. I probably don't need another bus. But everybody needs a bus, including the folks, right? You see, the parents could have a place of their own in the bus camp. And we could start fresh and do it right, from scratch, this time! LOL
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