1935 Chevy school bus

[ol trunt]

With the help of a friend I now

 

[bus-bro]

Ah, ...wow!

 

[Motobus]

This is going to be inpressive. The pickup in the background is beyond sweet.

 

[Tango-SKO]

Yowzer! That is quite a project! And it appears you have the skills to pull it off. Nice work...keep the pix coming!

 

[ol trunt]

Back to the devils. I managed to get the steering gear repositioned behind the wheel. The bracket is a sandwich 3/4 inch thick at the frame and secured with grade 8 bolts. The drag link had to be shortened about 4 inches. It is solid and was butt welded, sleeved and plug welded using the proper technique and works just fine. So much for devil #3--I hope. Devil #5, the wiring was not as much work as I had thought it would be. I only had to R&R the radiator/intercooler and the steering gear. I now have plenty of wire to reach the dash board.[

The original steering gear location is about where the front bumper should be[b/]

 

[Tango-SKO]

Hey Trunt --- Lookin' Good! What engine/tranny are you working with?

 

[TheRainbowBoxer]

Nice fabrication work!

 

[ol trunt]

Thanks Dan. Tango, while the driveline is badged as a Chevrolet it is the same as the Isuzu 5.2 l turbo/intercooled 4 cyl. The trans is an asin 4 spd with overdrive and lock-up converter. It's rated at 205 hp and 441 ft/lbs torque. The donor truck was a 2005 model with a wrecked cab but completely drivable so I know it runs/drives good. It has 39k miles so it should go a ways further.

 

[The_Stuff]

this guy knows what he is doing!

 

[Tango-SKO]

Sweeeeet! That little Isuzu should easily be good to a half a million. I believe they are rated about the same as the Cummins B series. And, as long as you are getting "fancy" with that darlin, have you taken a look at the Allison, 4th gen 6-speed trannies? They are double OD units that are extremely well built and could probably squeeze another 20% in mileage out of that motor. And while the 4th generations ('97 & up) are computer controlled, they are fairly easily mated to non-computer engines (like mine...not sure what the electronics on the 5.2 are). Either way, they are stout, smooth & economical. I have just started building one to go behind my 4BTAA (only 130hp & 355 toque). The 2200 series HS can easily handle the Isuzu. If you are interested, here are a few of the numbers for the 2200HS close ratio...

HP - 340
Torque - 575
GVW - 26,000
Gearing:
1 - 3.10:1
2 - 1.81:1
3 - 1.41:1
4 - 1:1
5 - .071:1
6 - .061:1

Might be fun to run the numbers through a gear/tire calc to see where your rpm's would be at hiway speed. BTW...this tranny can be had as a full-locker with a parking pawl. Handy on down hills for braking and parking.

Anyhow, just thought I'd pass that along. Keep up the good work & pictures!

 

[ol trunt]

Tango, I did look into the 6 spd tranny that aisin offered with the NPR but decided against it because it has a lock up in second gear and then in sixth gear. The local Isuzu tecs said they had many complaints about the second gear converter lock up making the truck hunt and peck its way through its gears. with that I decided to stick with the 4 spd auto and yes it is run by a TCM like the newer ones.

Thanks for the info on the Allison 6 spd, I'll check it out.

 

[Tango-SKO]

My pleasure. The owner reviews and comments from folks who had done transplants are what convinced me (that, plus I'm a big fan of Allisons).

And...BTW...when do we get to see pix of the '35 body that's going on that very cool custom chassis???

 

[ol trunt]

I hope I am not double posting but the first try didn't show up.

Tomorrow will be a big day. I'll be putting the bus body on the new frame for its final fitting. I finished installing the outriggers in their new positions to allow for various under bus tanks and I installed 2" of rigid foil backed foam in the area between the frame rails. The insulation is supposed to be R-8. I'd like to put more above the floor but as I am 6'1" I have no room to spare. I used old school rubber cove moulding between the frame and the body to prevent the squeeks of a direct connection.

I'll post pics as soon as I recover from the day's festivities!

 

[Bullwhacker007]

Looking at the second to last picture showing your steering box and drag ling I am very concerned.
It may be due to the angle of the camera and it looks like when the suspension is compressed the drag link it going to hit and break something upon contact with the bottom of the steering box.
Another point is the drag link going over the steering knuckle arm - you can see it very close. Again when the wheel is turned and everything in where the drag link is above the steering knuckle arm and the suspension is again compressed; they will contact each other and break the drag link then you will lose all steering control.

 

[chev49]

i imagine it has been tested to see if everything works ok.
i prob would have done it just a tad different so i could make a straight drag link, but that's just me.
like for one making my own steering arm.


i am very glad that the work on the chassis is shown in this post. It will let others know that it isnt a big deal, and that most people can do it if they put their mind to it.
thanks.

 

[ol trunt]

Thanks for the concern and yes the turning radius will be longer with the lengthened frame but since the whole bus is only 22" long it isn't much of a problem--its the same as it has been for the last 77 years of service.

I compressed the front axle to the upper stops and moved the system through its complete range of motion to be sure nothing hit--nothing hits. Yes the parts are close but no closer than they were in the original configuration. I looked at the pic and it does make it look like there would be a clearance problem.

'49, I considered a straight drag link but it would severly limit turning radius. The "S" shape of the drag link allows the wheel clearance for a tight turn and is the actual original drag link for the truck so I'm guessing that it is a better design than anything I'd come up with.

Thanks again for the concern. Its the sort of thing that we all need to do for each other.

 

[chev49]

you would have to modify the spindle end as well.. that is how i have done it, but it is steering components so they gotta be done right to maintain structural strength.

 

[bansil]

Hyjack!

I caught grief years ago when I used a wire EDM to cut the splines out of a stock pitman arm (cut them out as a hex around the splines) and then cut a matching hex in the steel bar stock,pressed the two together and then Tig'd around top and bottom...I heard "OMG..your going to kill someone!!!...yeah whatever..

Un Hyjack! :mrgreen:

Keep rolling..oh... and hurry up and mount the body,I wanna see pictures

 

[ol trunt]

I ain't a kid any more. My regular shift

 

[ol trunt]

No new “devils in the details” to report—yet. I got the bus