We got our first Bus!

[phantom1972]

We got a 1983 International Harvester Wayne Lifeguard school bus.

It's in great condition. Low miles!!

Does anyone know where to find some documentation on these buses?

[Robin97396]

Congratulations, and it's already painted. That saves a lot of work.

It's getting increasingly harder to find documentation on the older buses. Best bet is to get a copy of the available literature from someone with a similar bus. Someone should speak up in the near future.

[phantom1972]

Thanks for the quick reply! I will wait and see who speaks up. haah

[cadillackid]

its a wayne!! I love old Waynes!!
-Christopher

[2kool4skool]

Cool...A Wayne named John.

[roach711]

Originally Posted by 2kool4skool

cool...a wayne named john.

yes!!!!!!!!!

[cowlitzcoach]

Any IC Bus or Navistar Truck dealer should be able to get you the Line Setting Ticket for the chassis. The LST is the birth certificate for the chassis under your bus and will list everything that was used to make the chassis. Ask for the LST by the VIN.

Wayne/Wayne Wheeled Vehicles went out of business quite some time ago. Unless someone out there has access to the OEM paperwork I think you are going to be SOL in regards to the body.

One nice thing about Wayne buses is by the time the Lifeguard body was in production there was very little that Wayne used that was OEM only. Practically everything was supplied by OEM vendor suppliers. The heaters, fans, blower motors, flashers, switches, relays, etc. were not made by Wayne. About the only thing I can think of that is Wayne specific would be the window frames and latches. But since all of the glass is flat finding any replacement glass is as easy as going to your neighborhood glass shop that deals with automotive glass.

Which engine and transmission does your bus have?

That vintage could have been an SV or MV gas V-8, or one of the diesels-- 9.0L V-8, DT360 I-6, 6.9L/7.3L V-8, or the DT466 I-6.

Transmissions could have been a 4-speed, a 4-speed with a 2-speed rear end, a 5-speed, a 5-speed with a 2-speed rear end, a 5-speed with 5th OD, or an Allison AT540 series or MT640 series automatic.

If it has hydraulic brakes it most likely has hyrdraboost off of the power steering with an electric override. It may or may not have disc brakes at all four corners as discs were still optional in the early '80's.

All in all, it looks like a pretty nice bus.

Good luck and happy trails to you!

[BowserJournal]

Congratulations and you are going to have fun on your journey


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[phantom1972]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

Any IC Bus or Navistar Truck dealer should be able to get you the Line Setting Ticket for the chassis. The LST is the birth certificate for the chassis under your bus and will list everything that was used to make the chassis. Ask for the LST by the VIN.

Wayne/Wayne Wheeled Vehicles went out of business quite some time ago. Unless someone out there has access to the OEM paperwork I think you are going to be SOL in regards to the body.

One nice thing about Wayne buses is by the time the Lifeguard body was in production there was very little that Wayne used that was OEM only. Practically everything was supplied by OEM vendor suppliers. The heaters, fans, blower motors, flashers, switches, relays, etc. were not made by Wayne. About the only thing I can think of that is Wayne specific would be the window frames and latches. But since all of the glass is flat finding any replacement glass is as easy as going to your neighborhood glass shop that deals with automotive glass.

Which engine and transmission does your bus have?

That vintage could have been an SV or MV gas V-8, or one of the diesels-- 9.0L V-8, DT360 I-6, 6.9L/7.3L V-8, or the DT466 I-6.

Transmissions could have been a 4-speed, a 4-speed with a 2-speed rear end, a 5-speed, a 5-speed with a 2-speed rear end, a 5-speed with 5th OD, or an Allison AT540 series or MT640 series automatic.

If it has hydraulic brakes it most likely has hyrdraboost off of the power steering with an electric override. It may or may not have disc brakes at all four corners as discs were still optional in the early '80's.

All in all, it looks like a pretty nice bus.

Good luck and happy trails to you!

cowlitzcoach: Thanks for the info. I believe it is the 7.3L V-8 with 5 speed manual w/2 spd OD rear end. The motor and trans and all electrical seem to be in pretty good condition. Everything works! The only thing I would love to swap out is the 2 piece_tube style

[phantom1972]

Thanks! We are so excited. We already have the seats out and center strip.. on to pulling the rest of the rubber!

[PigPen]

Originally Posted by cowlitzcoach

Any IC Bus or Navistar Truck dealer should be able to get you the Line Setting Ticket for the chassis. The LST is the birth certificate for the chassis under your bus and will list everything that was used to make the chassis. Ask for the LST by the VIN.

Wayne/Wayne Wheeled Vehicles went out of business quite some time ago. Unless someone out there has access to the OEM paperwork I think you are going to be SOL in regards to the body.

One nice thing about Wayne buses is by the time the Lifeguard body was in production there was very little that Wayne used that was OEM only. Practically everything was supplied by OEM vendor suppliers. The heaters, fans, blower motors, flashers, switches, relays, etc. were not made by Wayne. About the only thing I can think of that is Wayne specific would be the window frames and latches. But since all of the glass is flat finding any replacement glass is as easy as going to your neighborhood glass shop that deals with automotive glass.

Which engine and transmission does your bus have?

That vintage could have been an SV or MV gas V-8, or one of the diesels-- 9.0L V-8, DT360 I-6, 6.9L/7.3L V-8, or the DT466 I-6.

Transmissions could have been a 4-speed, a 4-speed with a 2-speed rear end, a 5-speed, a 5-speed with a 2-speed rear end, a 5-speed with 5th OD, or an Allison AT540 series or MT640 series automatic.

If it has hydraulic brakes it most likely has hyrdraboost off of the power steering with an electric override. It may or may not have disc brakes at all four corners as discs were still optional in the early '80's.

All in all, it looks like a pretty nice bus.

Good luck and happy trails to you!

Even though I know how knowledgeable you are, your posts consistently impress me.

[Tango]

Welcome to the Madhouse! --- Nice looking Wayne. Mines a bit older but Wayne was in business since before the Civil War. Shame they went away. Seems everything will be run by one big company before long.

Think Umbrella Corporation...


Anyhow...best of luck with the build.

[phantom1972]

Thanks! I would love an older one like yours but I do need a little more room!! Thats a good looking bus you got.

Happy Travels!

[cowlitzcoach]

Originally Posted by phantom1972

cowlitzcoach: Thanks for the info. I believe it is the 7.3L V-8 with 5 speed manual w/2 spd OD rear end. The motor and trans and all electrical seem to be in pretty good condition. Everything works! The only thing I would love to swap out is the 2 piece_tube style

You have a 5th direct transmission if 5th is down and to the right. You have a 5th OD if 5th is up and to the right.

2-speed rear ends do not give you OD. 2-speed rear ends give you a gear split in each gear. The shift pattern is usually 1-lo, 1-hi, 2-lo, 2-hi, 3-lo, 3-hi, 4-lo, 4-hi, 5-hi. Usually 1st gear is a deep low gear used for starting with a load on a hill. 4th and 5th gear are usually close enough that when splitting with a 2-speed rear end 4-hi is a faster gear than 5-lo.

Whatever you do, NEVER, EVER downshift a 2-speed while going downhill. It is very easy for a 2-speed to hang up between hi and lo which would leave you in no gear while going downhill.

I am not sure exactly to what you are referring as a 2-piece tube style unless it is tires. In most cases, it will cost less to purchase new/used one piece tubeless wheels and tires than to purchase a new tube and tube type tire and have them mounted on a 2-piece lock ring wheel.

[New2Skool]

Cool! Very nice bus, congrats and welcome.

[phantom1972]

oh boy.. I have a lot to learn. Thanks for the education on this.. I really appreciate the input.

On the transmission. I will trust what you say because the guy that sold it to me was trying to explain it and lost focus so .. the way you explained it makes much more sense. Thanks.
And on the tires.. Yes.. two piece tube style rims. Do you know the direct replacement wheel size for those? That is what I want to do first is switch out those old wheels and tires.

[Robin97396]

Go to a medium duty truck wrecking yard to get solid wheels. Mine were $50 per rim.

[EastCoastCB]

Can even get new steel wheels for not too much money.

[phantom1972]

Originally Posted by Robin97396

Go to a medium duty truck wrecking yard to get solid wheels. Mine were $50 per rim.

Sounds like a great place to start. Thanks!

[Brad_SwiftFur]

Originally Posted by phantom1972

cowlitzcoach: Thanks for the info. I believe it is the 7.3L V-8 with 5 speed manual w/2 spd OD rear end. The motor and trans and all electrical seem to be in pretty good condition. Everything works! The only thing I would love to swap out is the 2 piece_tube style

The 7.3 was formally introduced for the '88 model year, it was a redesign of the 6.9 because it could not meet '88 emissions, and the 7.3 replaced the 9.0 (which was discontinued for the same emissions reason). If it really is a 7.3, it was likely swapped at some point, otherwise it's most likely a 6.9 or 9.0