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10-20-2024, 12:52 AM
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#1
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 486
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
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Rock N Ruth are movin to a mansion on the fly.
We just bought this 1995 Eagle 55 Pas Coach. No more hillbilly roof raise for us. We bought a high ceiling Bluebird with an 8.3 Cummins and pass through under storage, about a year ago, with the intention of doing our last bus build, our "forever home" so to speak. Then a lot of stuff happened that slowed build process to a creep and, I got deathly ill. Now I am dragging an oxygen tank around. So, I got the seats out of the Bluebird, put 2" of XPS down on the floor and laid in the sub sub-floor. I took the huge AC condenser off of the roof and, stalled in the build again.
We bought most of the materials that will go into our build and, I would look at the thousands of dollars that was under tarps waiting for me to get moving again. Well, in the last month or so I have been getting out and getting used to working with the oxygen tank in tow. I really need to learn to stop taking it off my back, setting it down and walking away from it. It hurts when I get yanked back by the canula in my nose. I feel like Homer Simpson, I just never seem to learn. DOH!
Long yarn-short. I fiddled around for so long with our "Forever Bus," that an even more incredible opportunity fell in our laps. Now Ruth and I had always thought a coach would be wonderful, all that under storage and head room, but, it always seemed more like a pipe dream. A decent coach is a lot of money we only dream about.
Occasionally we will bid on a coach for the fun of it but, we always give up around ten grand. This time the auction ended with us as the high bidder but the reserve was not met. Oh well, we knew we weren't meant for a coach. Then we got an email a couple of days after the auction ended offering to accept our bid. Thank you Lord!
So Monday we wire the money. Thursday, we go bring it home and start our new forever home build.
Oh, by the way, the Bluebird will be up for sale soon. Also, I can't fathom just piling the beautiful seats from the coach on the ground like we have with our school bus seats, so, anyone interested in some of them, we will be giving them away to skoolie folk or selling them on eBay. We prefer to give them to skoolie folk.
We will be posting an ad for the Bluebird with lots of pictures and a video or two soon.
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10-20-2024, 02:06 AM
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#2
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 578
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird Mini-Bird 24'
Chassis: Chevy P30
Engine: Chevy 6.2L Diesel
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Congrats, and good luck.
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10-20-2024, 07:44 AM
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#3
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 19,831
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
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those eagles are awesome.. I recently saw someplace where they held an all-eagle rally... that will be a nice ride once you get it built out!!!
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10-20-2024, 07:47 AM
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#4
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 19,831
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth
We just bought this 1995 Eagle 55 Pas Coach. No more hillbilly roof raise for us. We bought a high ceiling Bluebird with an 8.3 Cummins and pass through under storage, about a year ago, with the intention of doing our last bus build, our "forever home" so to speak. Then a lot of stuff happened that slowed build process to a creep and, I got deathly ill. Now I am dragging an oxygen tank around. So, I got the seats out of the Bluebird, put 2" of XPS down on the floor and laid in the sub sub-floor. I took the huge AC condenser off of the roof and, stalled in the build again.
We bought most of the materials that will go into our build and, I would look at the thousands of dollars that was under tarps waiting for me to get moving again. Well, in the last month or so I have been getting out and getting used to working with the oxygen tank in tow. I really need to learn to stop taking it off my back, setting it down and walking away from it. It hurts when I get yanked back by the canula in my nose. I feel like Homer Simpson, I just never seem to learn. DOH!
Long yarn-short. I fiddled around for so long with our "Forever Bus," that an even more incredible opportunity fell in our laps. Now Ruth and I had always thought a coach would be wonderful, all that under storage and head room, but, it always seemed more like a pipe dream. A decent coach is a lot of money we only dream about.
Occasionally we will bid on a coach for the fun of it but, we always give up around ten grand. This time the auction ended with us as the high bidder but the reserve was not met. Oh well, we knew we weren't meant for a coach. Then we got an email a couple of days after the auction ended offering to accept our bid. Thank you Lord!
So Monday we wire the money. Thursday, we go bring it home and start our new forever home build.
Oh, by the way, the Bluebird will be up for sale soon. Also, I can't fathom just piling the beautiful seats from the coach on the ground like we have with our school bus seats, so, anyone interested in some of them, we will be giving them away to skoolie folk or selling them on eBay. We prefer to give them to skoolie folk.
We will be posting an ad for the Bluebird with lots of pictures and a video or two soon.
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sometimes auctions are cool like that... when I bought my red bus.. I had put in a somewhat low bid just to learn how to use the government and other surplus auctions.. id never done it before.. I lost the auction, then my phone rang a couple days later.. "when are you going to pay for your lot? what lot? your bluebird bus...".. seems the winner had backed out and I was second bid and so I won with my bid and not theirs..
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10-20-2024, 10:58 PM
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#5
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Bus Geek
Join Date: Apr 2012
Location: So Cal
Posts: 3,244
Year: 1935
Coachwork: Superior
Chassis: Chevy
Engine: 317 ci/tid / Isuzu
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I offer congratulations with the caveat that you get the new bus inspected for RUST before you cast off your skoolie. Look to busgreasemonkey. com and busconversionmagazine.com for help right away and good luck!
Jack
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10-21-2024, 03:45 PM
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#6
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Jun 2016
Location: Orange County, CA
Posts: 1,423
Year: 1990
Coachwork: Crown, integral. (With 2kW of tiltable solar)
Chassis: Crown Supercoach II (rear engine)
Engine: Detroit 6V92TAC, DDEC 2, Jake brake, Allison HT740
Rated Cap: 37,400 lbs GVWR
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I'll second what ol trunt says. Bang on the body sides with your fist and listen for any sound of rust falling down inside the framing. Sight along the body sides and look for telltale bulges by each rib. Check that the rivets are all tight. How many clicks are left on the Torsilastics? Is the drop box quiet and dry? And if it has a Detroit 71 or 92, have it looked at by someone who knows two-strokes (a dying breed these days).
John
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10-21-2024, 06:13 PM
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#7
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Almost There
Join Date: Aug 2024
Location: Colorado
Posts: 89
Year: 2005
Coachwork: Blue Bird
Chassis: All American RE
Engine: Cummins 8.3 ISC / Allison MD3060
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Funny how that works, that's how I won my bus too.
Just made my first bid on it to familiarize myself with the system, then the other bidder tried to outbid me by bidding the exact same amount as my max, it briefly went to the other person then instantly kicked back to me, with the auction page showing both of us at max bid of $2600 but the winning bid ended up getting assigned to me.
I think at that point, the other person assumed they were the highest bidder and let the 3 minutes run out, got the bus $3000 cheaper than its sister bus that was auctioned from the same district same day.
Funny thing is, now I see deals everywhere! Just can't quite jump on them due to limited space in my backyard, just saw a couple of Blue bird CS REs go for ~$1000 each with 8.3 ISC and MD3060, even cheaper than the bus I got and it already has those gigantic windows.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid
sometimes auctions are cool like that... when I bought my red bus.. I had put in a somewhat low bid just to learn how to use the government and other surplus auctions.. id never done it before.. I lost the auction, then my phone rang a couple days later.. "when are you going to pay for your lot? what lot? your bluebird bus...".. seems the winner had backed out and I was second bid and so I won with my bid and not theirs..
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10-22-2024, 08:01 AM
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#8
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 19,831
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kromboy
Funny how that works, that's how I won my bus too.
Just made my first bid on it to familiarize myself with the system, then the other bidder tried to outbid me by bidding the exact same amount as my max, it briefly went to the other person then instantly kicked back to me, with the auction page showing both of us at max bid of $2600 but the winning bid ended up getting assigned to me.
I think at that point, the other person assumed they were the highest bidder and let the 3 minutes run out, got the bus $3000 cheaper than its sister bus that was auctioned from the same district same day.
Funny thing is, now I see deals everywhere! Just can't quite jump on them due to limited space in my backyard, just saw a couple of Blue bird CS REs go for ~$1000 each with 8.3 ISC and MD3060, even cheaper than the bus I got and it already has those gigantic windows.
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alot of times the more obscure auctions end up in great deals.. not every auction is monitored by exporters and suburbanite skoolie dreamers (thise that think 10K fr a bus is cheap because they cost 100K new)...
so you can sneak in and find good deals.. a couple of us have bought busses from local dealer trade-ins that are too old for the dealer to ever sell for service.. the busses get put on the lot and end up going for super cheap as they simply dont want to mess with them... in one case the body was a bit rusty but for a grand to part and sell the dual A/C system, gauge cluster, the MD3060 with a 6 speed TCM and harness, the engine computers, and the like... that particular bus was a very close distance to home and upon further discovery its engine was only 25K miles since a full dealer rebuild.. and still got scrap $$ for the body.. sellingthe parts in the right order meant not much work for me . the guy who bought the engine of course also removed the transmission.. i went in ahead and pulled the wiring and drained the coolant.. so for a month of outside storage space rental.. we have done a few others similar... the higher horsepower engine computers bring good $$ esp since they are hard to come by on the west coast.. they are factory and arent "tuned" so they are EPA legal to run...
the exporters dont seem to wsnt the 8.3 ISC stuff.. they hate computers, so you can find these on lesser known sites snag them, flip em and do well.. the exporters will buy the IH electronic stuff because its a straightforward swap to put a chanical engine back in.. a guy in kentucky buys up all the old IH stuff thats often rusty as all get out ,pulls the mechanical engines on the front frame and sells em all day long to the exporters.. for good $$.. and still gets scrap $$ for the bus bodies.. he also has been friendly in selling the group / museum im affiliated with some of the rarer clean units as whole busses.. and he sells us parts from the rusty carcasses super cheap.. (restoration parts like hoods, mirrors, seats, dashboards heaters etc)..
ive been trying to convince him to pull some wiring harnesses and TCMs from the slightly newer stuff to sell us for allison 2000 swaps that people here want to do... he does pull the transmissions.. he has 2000s and 3000s
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10-25-2024, 11:21 AM
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#9
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Jun 2023
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1,703
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 29
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Omw to Octoberfest. Leaving from the top end of South Carolina. Gauges look good.
First road trip since buying the bus. Wish me luck!
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10-25-2024, 03:01 PM
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#10
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Jun 2023
Location: South Carolina
Posts: 1,703
Year: 1995
Coachwork: Thomas
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: T444E
Rated Cap: 29
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Had my first pit stop. Went to crank back up and got nothing. No start. Checked battery 12.98 bolts. Should start with that then did a T-shifter reset. Worked. I guess the trans thought it was still in drive. It wasn't on the handle. Guess it's a tad sensitive. B gonna have to remember that check with no starts. Back in the road.
Next stop, Savannah, GA
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10-27-2024, 10:44 PM
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#11
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Golden Valley AZ
Posts: 1,099
Year: 1993
Chassis: ThomasBuilt 30'
Engine: need someone to tell me
Rated Cap: me + 1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth
We just bought this 1995 Eagle 55 Pas Coach. No more hillbilly roof raise for us. We bought a high ceiling Bluebird with an 8.3 Cummins and pass through under storage, about a year ago, with the intention of doing our last bus build, our "forever home" so to speak. Then a lot of stuff happened that slowed build process to a creep and, I got deathly ill. Now I am dragging an oxygen tank around. So, I got the seats out of the Bluebird, put 2" of XPS down on the floor and laid in the sub sub-floor. I took the huge AC condenser off of the roof and, stalled in the build again.
We bought most of the materials that will go into our build and, I would look at the thousands of dollars that was under tarps waiting for me to get moving again. Well, in the last month or so I have been getting out and getting used to working with the oxygen tank in tow. I really need to learn to stop taking it off my back, setting it down and walking away from it. It hurts when I get yanked back by the canula in my nose. I feel like Homer Simpson, I just never seem to learn. DOH!
Long yarn-short. I fiddled around for so long with our "Forever Bus," that an even more incredible opportunity fell in our laps. Now Ruth and I had always thought a coach would be wonderful, all that under storage and head room, but, it always seemed more like a pipe dream. A decent coach is a lot of money we only dream about.
Occasionally we will bid on a coach for the fun of it but, we always give up around ten grand. This time the auction ended with us as the high bidder but the reserve was not met. Oh well, we knew we weren't meant for a coach. Then we got an email a couple of days after the auction ended offering to accept our bid. Thank you Lord!
So Monday we wire the money. Thursday, we go bring it home and start our new forever home build.
Oh, by the way, the Bluebird will be up for sale soon. Also, I can't fathom just piling the beautiful seats from the coach on the ground like we have with our school bus seats, so, anyone interested in some of them, we will be giving them away to skoolie folk or selling them on eBay. We prefer to give them to skoolie folk.
We will be posting an ad for the Bluebird with lots of pictures and a video or two soon.
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cool score, but why are you dragging an ox tank around?
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10-29-2024, 01:11 PM
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#12
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 486
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by kidharris
cool score, but why are you dragging an ox tank around?
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Well this past winter I suffered pneumonia in both my lungs at the same time. I spent the month of December in the pulmonary ICU at Del Sol in Texas. My lung function recovered mostly but my heart didn't. On top of that Something is amiss with my bodies ability to detect when my pulse-ox is low and or carbon dioxide is high. I don't get out of breath, I just go hypoxic. So, dragging the oxygen tank around and wearing a pulse-oximeter for the rest of my life.
I thank the Lord for every breath that I take, I just would love to somehow learn not to set the bottle down and walk away. Also hooking the tubing on stuff as I walk by it is a real fun thing as well.
Some might say why not get a small tank you can wear? I have a couple, and I use them, however, even the smallest one becomes uncomfortable pretty quick. So, it ends up in my hand. Perhaps I could invent one that could be mounted on my head like a GoPro.
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10-29-2024, 02:27 PM
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#13
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 486
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
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We brought it home.
We made the trip to Burned Flat, OK and brought our new mansion home. A great shakedown run of just under 700 miles. There is so much to say that this post might be a bit of a ramble.
The lady at the Western Technology Center did not reveal what their reserve was. She only told us that their reserve was much higher than our bid. She said, her boss wanted to keep it but the board decided to let it go. Praise the Lord. Ruth and I would have never been able to pay what it is worth.
I was amazed at the lack of features that didn't work. I think I am wording that oddly. Usually when we buy a bus, there are a number of piddly little things that don't work, or the switch is missing, or they catch on fire when you try them. That may just be me, but it seems like, "par for the course," when it comes to well used used vehicles.
The only feature that I haven't seen work is the Webasto system. The guy at the bus garage said they never figured it out. I think maybe that is because they never put fuel in it's fuel tank, which, is in one of the under storage bays along with the Webasto and circulation pump. The tank is dry and does not smell of fuel at all. That will be a thing to investigate in the future.
I am not familiar with two cycle diesels, but I did some reading before going to pick up our bus. Seems like the most mentioned con regarding the 60V92 is cold starts. On the morning of day two, the bus had been sitting 12 hours and the temp was 45F. I know that's not very cold, but it is cold enough to expect to experience a little struggle with a big 2 cycle diesel. Nota.
This engine doesn't even sound like it turns over once before it fires. I push the button and it is running. Just like that. On the cold morning it was slow to build up air pressure. I had to bump up the high idle to get it to start building pressure. But, once it started, it took less than a minute to reach 120lb.
The ride was as smooth as I have ever experienced and quiet like a library.
none off the wind noise and road noise we get in our school bus. The engine is scary quiet from the drivers seat. If something were going wrong that I didn't detect in the gauges, it might be bad.
Cruise control works and she has no problem cruising up and down grades in 6th gear. The only time she ever downshifted for a grade was climbing the Organ mountains near White Sands. Then, only to 5th gear and maintained 55MPH.
The Jake Brake works effectively when engaged and I touch the brake pedal. I wasn't able to downshift though, to see if it also would work when I let off of the juice. I suppose I should have slowed down at the top of the mountain and downshifted before beginning the roll. That's on my list for the next trip to Alamogordo.
One little niggle: The steering wheel is on upside down and I haven't figured out how to get the horn button off so I can remove the wheel and flip it. It seems to unscrew about two turns and stop.
The big question on everyone's mind is probably, "whats the fuel efficiency?"
Well, I got a little worried when the fuel gauge seemed to be reading higher than when we started after a couple hundred miles. When we started, the needle was right on 1/2. after a couple hundred miles it was about 1/16" above one half. we stopped at the Loves just after the Cadillac Ranch and put on 75 gallons. Then the fuel gauge went down. ???
This is when I realized that it read 0 at the top of the gauge and 4/4 at the bottom.
We drove 420 miles before the needle rested on the approximate spot that it was on when we fueled. Not scientific, but I really didn't want to put on 150 gallons at $3.29 So, maybe 5.5 MPG.
No rust anywhere. No corrosion on rivits or connectors on the aluminum panels. No road rash. All the panels line up. The fit and finish is amazing.
The only real issue I have seen is an oil leak on the bottom side of the engine. The engine is dry and clean except on the pan. It is not dripping but the coating says it has been there a while. Going to have to figure how to get it up a little off the ground so I can clean it up and locate the source.
Going to be hunting for a service manual for the engine and transmission and a user manual for the coach.
Gotta run. Going out to get some recycled astro turf for the yard.
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10-29-2024, 03:29 PM
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#14
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Bus Crazy
Join Date: Feb 2018
Location: Golden Valley AZ
Posts: 1,099
Year: 1993
Chassis: ThomasBuilt 30'
Engine: need someone to tell me
Rated Cap: me + 1
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth
We made the trip to Burned Flat, OK and brought our new mansion home. A great shakedown run of just under 700 miles. There is so much to say that this post might be a bit of a ramble.
The lady at the Western Technology Center did not reveal what their reserve was. She only told us that their reserve was much higher than our bid. She said, her boss wanted to keep it but the board decided to let it go. Praise the Lord. Ruth and I would have never been able to pay what it is worth.
I was amazed at the lack of features that didn't work. I think I am wording that oddly. Usually when we buy a bus, there are a number of piddly little things that don't work, or the switch is missing, or they catch on fire when you try them. That may just be me, but it seems like, "par for the course," when it comes to well used used vehicles.
The only feature that I haven't seen work is the Webasto system. The guy at the bus garage said they never figured it out. I think maybe that is because they never put fuel in it's fuel tank, which, is in one of the under storage bays along with the Webasto and circulation pump. The tank is dry and does not smell of fuel at all. That will be a thing to investigate in the future.
I am not familiar with two cycle diesels, but I did some reading before going to pick up our bus. Seems like the most mentioned con regarding the 60V92 is cold starts. On the morning of day two, the bus had been sitting 12 hours and the temp was 45F. I know that's not very cold, but it is cold enough to expect to experience a little struggle with a big 2 cycle diesel. Nota.
This engine doesn't even sound like it turns over once before it fires. I push the button and it is running. Just like that. On the cold morning it was slow to build up air pressure. I had to bump up the high idle to get it to start building pressure. But, once it started, it took less than a minute to reach 120lb.
The ride was as smooth as I have ever experienced and quiet like a library.
none off the wind noise and road noise we get in our school bus. The engine is scary quiet from the drivers seat. If something were going wrong that I didn't detect in the gauges, it might be bad.
Cruise control works and she has no problem cruising up and down grades in 6th gear. The only time she ever downshifted for a grade was climbing the Organ mountains near White Sands. Then, only to 5th gear and maintained 55MPH.
The Jake Brake works effectively when engaged and I touch the brake pedal. I wasn't able to downshift though, to see if it also would work when I let off of the juice. I suppose I should have slowed down at the top of the mountain and downshifted before beginning the roll. That's on my list for the next trip to Alamogordo.
One little niggle: The steering wheel is on upside down and I haven't figured out how to get the horn button off so I can remove the wheel and flip it. It seems to unscrew about two turns and stop.
The big question on everyone's mind is probably, "whats the fuel efficiency?"
Well, I got a little worried when the fuel gauge seemed to be reading higher than when we started after a couple hundred miles. When we started, the needle was right on 1/2. after a couple hundred miles it was about 1/16" above one half. we stopped at the Loves just after the Cadillac Ranch and put on 75 gallons. Then the fuel gauge went down. ???
This is when I realized that it read 0 at the top of the gauge and 4/4 at the bottom.
We drove 420 miles before the needle rested on the approximate spot that it was on when we fueled. Not scientific, but I really didn't want to put on 150 gallons at $3.29 So, maybe 5.5 MPG.
No rust anywhere. No corrosion on rivits or connectors on the aluminum panels. No road rash. All the panels line up. The fit and finish is amazing.
The only real issue I have seen is an oil leak on the bottom side of the engine. The engine is dry and clean except on the pan. It is not dripping but the coating says it has been there a while. Going to have to figure how to get it up a little off the ground so I can clean it up and locate the source.
Going to be hunting for a service manual for the engine and transmission and a user manual for the coach.
Gotta run. Going out to get some recycled astro turf for the yard.
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sounds like you really did score. cool.
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10-29-2024, 03:32 PM
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#15
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Bus Geek
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Columbus Ohio
Posts: 19,831
Year: 1991
Coachwork: Carpenter
Chassis: International 3800
Engine: DTA360 / MT643
Rated Cap: 7 Row Handicap
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth
We made the trip to Burned Flat, OK and brought our new mansion home. A great shakedown run of just under 700 miles. There is so much to say that this post might be a bit of a ramble.
The lady at the Western Technology Center did not reveal what their reserve was. She only told us that their reserve was much higher than our bid. She said, her boss wanted to keep it but the board decided to let it go. Praise the Lord. Ruth and I would have never been able to pay what it is worth.
I was amazed at the lack of features that didn't work. I think I am wording that oddly. Usually when we buy a bus, there are a number of piddly little things that don't work, or the switch is missing, or they catch on fire when you try them. That may just be me, but it seems like, "par for the course," when it comes to well used used vehicles.
The only feature that I haven't seen work is the Webasto system. The guy at the bus garage said they never figured it out. I think maybe that is because they never put fuel in it's fuel tank, which, is in one of the under storage bays along with the Webasto and circulation pump. The tank is dry and does not smell of fuel at all. That will be a thing to investigate in the future.
I am not familiar with two cycle diesels, but I did some reading before going to pick up our bus. Seems like the most mentioned con regarding the 60V92 is cold starts. On the morning of day two, the bus had been sitting 12 hours and the temp was 45F. I know that's not very cold, but it is cold enough to expect to experience a little struggle with a big 2 cycle diesel. Nota.
This engine doesn't even sound like it turns over once before it fires. I push the button and it is running. Just like that. On the cold morning it was slow to build up air pressure. I had to bump up the high idle to get it to start building pressure. But, once it started, it took less than a minute to reach 120lb.
The ride was as smooth as I have ever experienced and quiet like a library.
none off the wind noise and road noise we get in our school bus. The engine is scary quiet from the drivers seat. If something were going wrong that I didn't detect in the gauges, it might be bad.
Cruise control works and she has no problem cruising up and down grades in 6th gear. The only time she ever downshifted for a grade was climbing the Organ mountains near White Sands. Then, only to 5th gear and maintained 55MPH.
The Jake Brake works effectively when engaged and I touch the brake pedal. I wasn't able to downshift though, to see if it also would work when I let off of the juice. I suppose I should have slowed down at the top of the mountain and downshifted before beginning the roll. That's on my list for the next trip to Alamogordo.
One little niggle: The steering wheel is on upside down and I haven't figured out how to get the horn button off so I can remove the wheel and flip it. It seems to unscrew about two turns and stop.
The big question on everyone's mind is probably, "whats the fuel efficiency?"
Well, I got a little worried when the fuel gauge seemed to be reading higher than when we started after a couple hundred miles. When we started, the needle was right on 1/2. after a couple hundred miles it was about 1/16" above one half. we stopped at the Loves just after the Cadillac Ranch and put on 75 gallons. Then the fuel gauge went down. ???
This is when I realized that it read 0 at the top of the gauge and 4/4 at the bottom.
We drove 420 miles before the needle rested on the approximate spot that it was on when we fueled. Not scientific, but I really didn't want to put on 150 gallons at $3.29 So, maybe 5.5 MPG.
No rust anywhere. No corrosion on rivits or connectors on the aluminum panels. No road rash. All the panels line up. The fit and finish is amazing.
The only real issue I have seen is an oil leak on the bottom side of the engine. The engine is dry and clean except on the pan. It is not dripping but the coating says it has been there a while. Going to have to figure how to get it up a little off the ground so I can clean it up and locate the source.
Going to be hunting for a service manual for the engine and transmission and a user manual for the coach.
Gotta run. Going out to get some recycled astro turf for the yard.
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all I can say after my chinese BS CRAP diesel coolant heaters is RESTORE AND KEEP the webasto... if its a DBW2010 (or scholastic).. its a simple and easy setup ... it doesnt require the fancy timer controller (whuich usually have dead batteries)... it is a simple jumper 2 wires to make it run...
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10-30-2024, 07:14 AM
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#16
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 578
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird Mini-Bird 24'
Chassis: Chevy P30
Engine: Chevy 6.2L Diesel
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth
Some might say why not get a small tank you can wear? I have a couple, and I use them, however, even the smallest one becomes uncomfortable pretty quick. So, it ends up in my hand. Perhaps I could invent one that could be mounted on my head like a GoPro.
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You need to make a backpack or chest-rig. Or if you can't, or don't want to, I would find a tailor or a leather-worker to get something made up for you. If you run across a guy that makes pistol holsters, they could probably do it easy, or the kind of older church ladies that you know are knitting afghans and blankets for people...
Essentially all you need is a way to attach the bottles to your center-body, and whether that looks like a back-pack, fanny-pack, or satchel is really all up to you. And a satchel with the standard over-the-shoulder strap only needs an additional couple of d-rings or hooks to attach another strap to go around the chest or waist to really make things comfortable.
If the shoulder-strap has a couple of rings/straps/velcro/tubing that you can fit the cannula through, that will help keep from snagging the lines on everything around you.
And if you toss an over-size shirt on over the whole kit-and-caboodle, then that will also help with the snagging, as well as make you less of a target for snipers and flamethrowers, or just nosy people.
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10-30-2024, 03:46 PM
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#17
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 486
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Albatross
You need to make a backpack or chest-rig. Or if you can't, or don't want to, I would find a tailor or a leather-worker to get something made up for you. If you run across a guy that makes pistol holsters, they could probably do it easy, or the kind of older church ladies that you know are knitting afghans and blankets for people...
Essentially all you need is a way to attach the bottles to your center-body, and whether that looks like a back-pack, fanny-pack, or satchel is really all up to you. And a satchel with the standard over-the-shoulder strap only needs an additional couple of d-rings or hooks to attach another strap to go around the chest or waist to really make things comfortable.
If the shoulder-strap has a couple of rings/straps/velcro/tubing that you can fit the cannula through, that will help keep from snagging the lines on everything around you.
And if you toss an over-size shirt on over the whole kit-and-caboodle, then that will also help with the snagging, as well as make you less of a target for snipers and flamethrowers, or just nosy people.
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I have a couple of backpacks designed just for that purpose and the tank sizes I use. What happens is, they become uncomfortable and, just like some of us unconsciously remove our glasses and set them down, when doing close work, off it comes.
The shirt is a sensible suggestion, but again, tried it. It causes tension on the canula which is uncomfortable. I am currently experimenting with a clothespin to keep slack at the collar, but it pulls on the collar and bothers me.
Thank you for the suggestions, keep em coming. Perhaps if we throw enough rocks at it we will score a hit.
Ive been taking my glasses off and laying them places for decades. Can't seem to break the habit and it results in broken or lost glasses a couple times a year. Yup I have tried the straps you hang around your neck.
Waiting for GPS for my glasses.
I have one tank that is about the size of a 20 ounce soda bottle. It hangs around my waist like a fanny pack. That is a tolerable situation with a short canula. The only drawback is that it only holds about 2 hours of 02 and takes about 40 mins to refill, and I only have one. I got it as a bonus with some tanks I bought on eBay. Tried to find more like it but they are very pricey and hard to find. Invacvare M2 conserver tank. Send me links if you see any for sale.
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10-30-2024, 03:51 PM
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#18
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 486
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cadillackid
all I can say after my chinese BS CRAP diesel coolant heaters is RESTORE AND KEEP the webasto... if its a DBW2010 (or scholastic).. its a simple and easy setup ... it doesnt require the fancy timer controller (whuich usually have dead batteries)... it is a simple jumper 2 wires to make it run...
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I have a feeling it won't need any work at all. and it is way more than a cheap Chinese unit. This is quite a system. I post some photos in a few days. I have a lot to do in the next month or so so it is on the low priority list.
It looks unused. As I stated earlier, it doesn't appear that there has ever been any fuel in the tank.
Headed out to lay some astro turf.
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10-30-2024, 05:54 PM
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#19
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Sep 2015
Posts: 578
Year: 1992
Coachwork: Bluebird Mini-Bird 24'
Chassis: Chevy P30
Engine: Chevy 6.2L Diesel
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rock-N-Ruth
I have one tank that is about the size of a 20 ounce soda bottle. It hangs around my waist like a fanny pack. That is a tolerable situation with a short canula. The only drawback is that it only holds about 2 hours of 02 and takes about 40 mins to refill, and I only have one. I got it as a bonus with some tanks I bought on eBay. Tried to find more like it but they are very pricey and hard to find. Invacvare M2 conserver tank. Send me links if you see any for sale.
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Okay, so I'm telling you what you already know...
Have you thought about buying a small, portable oxygen tank like they use for welding instead? I mean, I don't have a medical degree, but oxygen is essentially just oxygen, and if you can make the top of a small portable oxyacetylene tank mate up with whatever you've got going on with your home-station, it should work, right?
And for something like a quarter of the cost of the super-sterilized medical rigs, no less.
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10-30-2024, 10:39 PM
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#20
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Bus Nut
Join Date: Jul 2019
Location: Freedom Field, New Mexico
Posts: 486
Year: 1998
Coachwork: International
Chassis: Amtrans
Engine: 444E
Rated Cap: 84 pas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Albatross
Okay, so I'm telling you what you already know...
Have you thought about buying a small, portable oxygen tank like they use for welding instead? I mean, I don't have a medical degree, but oxygen is essentially just oxygen, and if you can make the top of a small portable oxyacetylene tank mate up with whatever you've got going on with your home-station, it should work, right?
And for something like a quarter of the cost of the super-sterilized medical rigs, no less.
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For a couple of reasons:
1. It takes more than a tank. A regulator is required.
With the small tanks that I use, size M2-M6, the regulator is built in.
2. The regulator is a conserver regulator, that delivers a measured dose each time the patient inhales.
3. I fill the tanks at home with the Invacare Homefill system. This requires the tank to have a special fill port plumbed into it.
The M2 tank is very small. I can even stick it in a big pocket on my overalls. It just doesn't hold much, so to get out and about using that one I need to swap tanks every 1 1/2 - 2 hours. The bummer is I only have one and, as stated before they are very expensive and hard to find.
*** Note: I was working today, with an M4 tank on my back, in a backpack and I took a tumble on my back, landed feet up, on my back, with the tank on my spine.
It's gonna hurt tomorrow.
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