'02 BlueBird shorty with a Chevy Gasser

[escapingdrudgery]

Hey folks, got an interesting one for yous. I found a cool shorty bus, not a van chassis, a 35 passenger bluebird with an allison 2000 transmission and a 497 chevy vortec big block Gasser.
The bus is in good nick, not much rust to see (especially for Wisconsin) and good tires too, even painted white to boot.
However, it has hydraulic brakes (GVWR is 22,000 I believe) and I'm curious what the opinion is around here on gasser engines... maintenance is surely cheaper but I'm wondering about overall longevity. I've come to expect that diesels will last longer, with proper maintenance at least.
Altogether I think I'll be checking this one out, barring some major discouragement from those of you more knowledgeable than myself!
Edit: bus has 150k on it

 

[o1marc]

Don't think the gas engines are as fuel efficient as a diesel. Rust issue will be most prevalent under the floor that you can't see now. I recommend no buses from the rust belt.

 

[Sleddgracer]

Hey folks, got an interesting one for yous. I found a cool shorty bus, not a van chassis, a 35 passenger bluebird with an allison 2000 transmission and a 497 chevy vortec big block Gasser.
The bus is in good nick, not much rust to see (especially for Wisconsin) and good tires too, even painted white to boot.
However, it has hydraulic brakes (GVWR is 22,000 I believe) and I'm curious what the opinion is around here on gasser engines... maintenance is surely cheaper but I'm wondering about overall longevity. I've come to expect that diesels will last longer, with proper maintenance at least.
Altogether I think I'll be checking this one out, barring some major discouragement from those of you more knowledgeable than myself!
Edit: bus has 150k on it

I chose gas over diesel despite gas motors getting poorer fuel mileage - I'm somewhat familiar with gas motors and not familiar with diesels at all, and at my age not prepared to learn a new trade - diesels cost far more to repair and maintain than gas motors - just add a '0' to the end of a gas repair bill to figure out the cost of repairing something similar in a diesel - I race sled dogs, so the purpose of my bus/motorhome is to transport as many as 3 or 4 people and 20 - 30 dogs north in the winter - I anticipate parking for hours at a time where there is no power for block heaters - diesel motors do not start well in extreme cold unless they are warmed somehow, while a gas motor in good tune should start in a pinch at 30 or 40 below zero - with a diesel you'd be waiting for spring before it would start - I've been a member here for several months and done a lot of reading and learning - one thing I read a lot about and learned my lesson is how often a novice diesel driver finds their bus suffering from some mystery illness on the side of the road - I've also read and admired the ingenuity of some of the experienced posters about how they were able to limp their bus to the next parts store where they were able to buy the part they needed and make the appropriate repair themselves - do gas motors last as long as a diesel? - generally speaking a diesel motor lasts much longer than a gas motor - diesels can last 300,000 to 500,000 miles, gas bus motors start to get tired at about 200,000 miles - ask yourself how far you plan to drive your motorhome and see if it's going to make a difference to you -

 

[o1marc]

I chose gas over diesel despite gas motors getting poorer fuel mileage - I'm somewhat familiar with gas motors and not familiar with diesels at all, and at my age not prepared to learn a new trade - diesels cost far more to repair and maintain than gas motors - just add a '0' to the end of a gas repair bill to figure out the cost of repairing something similar in a diesel - I race sled dogs, so the purpose of my bus/motorhome is to transport as many as 3 or 4 people and 20 - 30 dogs north in the winter - I anticipate parking for hours at a time where there is no power for block heaters - diesel motors do not start well in extreme cold unless they are warmed somehow, while a gas motor in good tune should start in a pinch at 30 or 40 below zero - with a diesel you'd be waiting for spring before it would start - I've been a member here for several months and done a lot of reading and learning - one thing I read a lot about and learned my lesson is how often a novice diesel driver finds their bus suffering from some mystery illness on the side of the road - I've also read and admired the ingenuity of some of the experienced posters about how they were able to limp their bus to the next parts store where they were able to buy the part they needed and make the appropriate repair themselves - do gas motors last as long as a diesel? - generally speaking a diesel motor lasts much longer than a gas motor - diesels can last 300,000 to 500,000 miles, gas bus motors start to get tired at about 200,000 miles - ask yourself how far you plan to drive your motorhome and see if it's going to make a difference to you -

Diesel motors are much longer lasting than a gas engine. I don't know of any gas engines that can see 500k miles without maor repairs. I'd rather have something harder to work on that doesn't need work, than have a gas engine that is less efficient and needs work more often. What you save in fuel over the years may cover the repair cost to have someone else fix it.

 

[PNW_Steve]

I chose gas over diesel despite gas motors getting poorer fuel mileage - I'm somewhat familiar with gas motors and not familiar with diesels at all, and at my age not prepared to learn a new trade - diesels cost far more to repair and maintain than gas motors - just add a '0' to the end of a gas repair bill to figure out the cost of repairing something similar in a diesel - I race sled dogs, so the purpose of my bus/motorhome is to transport as many as 3 or 4 people and 20 - 30 dogs north in the winter - I anticipate parking for hours at a time where there is no power for block heaters - diesel motors do not start well in extreme cold unless they are warmed somehow, while a gas motor in good tune should start in a pinch at 30 or 40 below zero - with a diesel you'd be waiting for spring before it would start - I've been a member here for several months and done a lot of reading and learning - one thing I read a lot about and learned my lesson is how often a novice diesel driver finds their bus suffering from some mystery illness on the side of the road - I've also read and admired the ingenuity of some of the experienced posters about how they were able to limp their bus to the next parts store where they were able to buy the part they needed and make the appropriate repair themselves - do gas motors last as long as a diesel? - generally speaking a diesel motor lasts much longer than a gas motor - diesels can last 300,000 to 500,000 miles, gas bus motors start to get tired at about 200,000 miles - ask yourself how far you plan to drive your motorhome and see if it's going to make a difference to you -

I have been driving nothing but diesels for years. I had a moment of poor decision making earlier this year and bought a Chevy 2500 with the 6.0 gas motor and automatic transmission. I took on one 600+ mile trip and put a for sale sign on it.

Anyone want a 3/4 ton 4x4 with fifth wheel hitch and 26' fifth wheel trailer?

I doubt that I will ever buy another truck that is not both diesel and a manual transmission.

Ain't it great that we can get together here and build what suits each of us individually.

 

[Sleddgracer]

I have been driving nothing but diesels for years. I had a moment of poor decision making earlier this year and bought a Chevy 2500 with the 6.0 gas motor and automatic transmission. I took on one 600+ mile trip and put a for sale sign on it.

Anyone want a 3/4 ton 4x4 with fifth wheel hitch and 26' fifth wheel trailer?

I doubt that I will ever buy another truck that is not both diesel and a manual transmission.

Ain't it great that we can get together here and build what suits each of us individually.

Exactly ------------- ...............

 

[Sleddgracer]

Diesel motors are much longer lasting than a gas engine. I don't know of any gas engines that can see 500k miles without maor repairs. I'd rather have something harder to work on that doesn't need work, than have a gas engine that is less efficient and needs work more often. What you save in fuel over the years may cover the repair cost to have someone else fix it.

how many miles do you plan on driving your motorhome? and how long will that take you to do ? - where did I suggest that a gas motor would last 500,000 miles?

 

[o1marc]

how many miles do you plan on driving your motorhome? and how long will that take you to do ?

Not enough to worry about high mileage break downs, it'll take many years.
Don't understand where you're going with this?

 

[Sleddgracer]

Not enough to worry about high mileage break downs, it'll take many years.
Don't understand where you're going with this?

I thought I was being quite clear - the fact that a diesel motor will likely last longer than a gas motor will make little difference to the majority of bus/mortorhome owners because they are unlikely to be driving it more than a very few 1000 miles each year - where a diesel would make a big difference is in the transportation or trucking industries - those industries generate the income to pay for the very expensive upkeep on a diesel - in Canada I see many new school buses going to very large gas engines, many of them on propane, because of the cost of maintaining diesel motors