1978 International Loadstar Short Bus

[schoolbusbliss]

Hi,
I just wanted to make a quick post. Been lurking for a while. Just saw someone introduce their IH shortie and someone asked if anyone else has one. I bought mine a couple months ago and I have just finished removing the seats while it is parked on a public street (I am in an apartment, I know, I am crazy). I am going to try to add pictures but I never have before so I'll try again if this doesn't work.

This is what happens when you try to keep everything inside the bus while working. Makes for a lot of bruised shins.

Snow in Texas???

 

[EastCoastCB]

Sweet, I love older buses and especially Internationals.
Welcome!

 

[crowcreekcabin]

NICE!.. I am love that loadstar clip. What coach maker is this one.?.. I am pretty green on spotting anything except Superior.

And a couple windows longer than mine..! good size. I am excited to follow your progress as we have a similar floor space to work with. Any floor plan ideas yet?

Thanks for the pics!!
IH rules! Shortys are cool!

 

[cowlitzcoach]

That looks like a Carpenter body.

When I first started in the business the school at which I worked had a shorty Loadstar bus about the same size.

It had a SV304/4-speed with a 2-speed rear end.

The 304 was a little short on power but it had enough gears to keep it going at a pretty good clip except for on the really steep or high hills.

55 MPH was about tops on that bus.

Fuel mileage was pretty impressive. IIRC it was 7-8 MPG pretty consistently.

 

[HolyBus]

Bus looks great! A nice find. I wish mine had that front end style.

 

[schoolbusbliss]

NICE!.. I am love that loadstar clip. What coach maker is this one.?.. I am pretty green on spotting anything except Superior.

And a couple windows longer than mine..! good size. I am excited to follow your progress as we have a similar floor space to work with. Any floor plan ideas yet?

Thanks for the pics!!
IH rules! Shortys are cool!

It is a Carpenter body.

I have some ideas for the floor plan which was mostly what I thought about up until I bought the bus. Now I tend to think one task ahead since it feels so much more overwhelming after buying the thing. I think a camping toilet in the back drivers side corner (#1 only!) and a stand alone galvanized tub shower in the other rear corner. Benches over each wheel well that fold out to make a bed. Tiny kitchenette and dinette at the front. I have about 14 feet from the back of the driver's seat to the rear of the bus so I think I am going to start at the back and work my way forward. No walls and I am keeping all the windows. It will be just for few day camping trips so I want to keep it simple (especially since I don't know what I am doing) and affordable.

 

[schoolbusbliss]

That looks like a Carpenter body.

When I first started in the business the school at which I worked had a shorty Loadstar bus about the same size.

It had a SV304/4-speed with a 2-speed rear end.

The 304 was a little short on power but it had enough gears to keep it going at a pretty good clip except for on the really steep or high hills.

55 MPH was about tops on that bus.

Fuel mileage was pretty impressive. IIRC it was 7-8 MPG pretty consistently.

You're right about the carpenter body.

I think it has a 345 engine but I am not positive about that. Mostly has decent power, but of course slows down considerably on hills. Top speed is about 50-55, but the speedometer is off. It reads consistently higher than actual speed. The bus has 20 inch tires on it and I am wondering if it would have originally had 22's? The tires are really old too so when I replace them can I put 22's on them? I know basically nothing about cars, busses, etc.

Its a four speed automatic which I do and don't like. I have never driven a vehicle of this age or one without an electrically controlled transmission before so it was kind of odd at first, especially going up hill. I can't really tell what the gas mileage is like. The gas gauge is also off but reads lower than it actually is and I suspect the gas tank has been replaced. I estimate that it is about 6-7 MPG.

 

[EastCoastCB]

I had an old IHC Scout and that 354 is one tough engine.

 

[cowlitzcoach]

If it has an automatic it more than likely has an SV345.

To help with drivablity you may want to upgrade to a fuel injection system. It might increase your fuel mileage a little but the main thing it will do is make starting a lot easier, it will run much smoother at any elevation or humidity, and it won't be nearly as tempermental getting going.

My friend Bill Hamilton has developed a plug and play system that even those who know next to nothing about any engine can make the system work.

Hamilton Fuel Injection

The Allison AT545 is a great light/medium duty transmission. It does not lock up in any gear so be careful the first few time you go down steep grades so it doesn't get away from you.

If you have 20" tires and wheels now they are most likely OEM wheels. 20" would be tube type tires. If that is the case definitely opt to go with the 22" wheels which would be tubeless. Depending upon where you are and who you know it may actually be cheaper to purchase tubeless wheels and tires for less than it would cost for a set of tubes and tube type tires.

At a guess they are 8.25X20 or 9.00X20 tires. Those are going to be hard to find. At one time they were a very common size of tire. But with the advent of good tubeless tires in the early '80's those sizes have become very old fashioned. Old fashioned=lots of $$$$.

10R22.5 would be an almost direct replacement for the 9.00X20 tires. You might be able to squeeze a set of 11R22.5 tires which would be a direct replacement for 10.00X20 tires. The 11R tires are about an inch taller and will give you about 3-5 MPH more at the same RPM.

The 11R tires might actually be the least expensive option since it is still a very popular tire size. The other sizes because they are not very popular may require you to have to purchase premium brand tires with premium $$$$ prices.

Don't be afraid of purchasing off brand cheap Chinese knockoffs if you purchase them for a reputable tire store. Your tires will die of old age long before you ever wear them out so there is no reason to spend the extra $$$ for premium name brand tires.

About the floor plan--lay everything out with painter's tape on the floor and cardboard boxes for any of the fixtures. Then take the bus out camping and use the way in which you hope to use it. You will determine very quickly what works and what doesn't work in real life compared to a CAD on your computer.

Good luck and happy trails!

 

[schoolbusbliss]

cowlitzcoach, thanks for all the great advice.

I'm not sure what the SV in "SV345" stands for.

I will look into the fuel injection system, but it would have to be pretty affordable for me to do it. The bus starts up easily every time. It does occasionally stall after idling for a while but starts right back up again after. I also won't be having an elevation issue anytime soon, but I do live in a very humid place.

Now that I look at the wheels I believe they are OEM. The front tires are 8.5 x 20 and the rear ones are 7.5 x 20 and all at least 15 years old (I know that's bad) according to the dates on the tires but my neighbor who knows vastly more than me says they look like retreads.

I want to go with whatever is safest and easiest to replace and repair. Would it be possible to keep the old wheels and have 22.5 inch tires? The wheels are really cool looking, but ultimately I will choose practicality over looks. I also would like to add the extra MPH.

Thanks!

 

[EastCoastCB]

no if you have 22.5" tires you will need 22.5" wheels.
But you should easily be able to find dayton style spoked wheels.

 

[cowlitzcoach]

SV in IHCspeak is Small V as opposed to the MV (medium V) 404/446, and the LV (large V) 401/478/549 and larger. Compared to the big three, while the cubic displacement wasn't nearly as large the weight of the engines were considerably higher. An SV engine weighs considerably more than a Chevy big block. This was due in large part to the much more durable and robust design of the block and the components in the block. All IHC engines have timing gears and not chains. The water jacket is considerably larger. And the webbing to support the crankshaft is immense in comparison.

Your bus has spoke wheels. They are also known as Dayton Wheels or California Wheels. The wheels are held to the spokes with wedges and lug nuts. Changing from tube type to tubeless will change the look very little. Only those of us who are confirmed bus nuts would not the difference at a distance.

Tube type tires are getting pretty few and far between. I can't even remember when I last saw an 8.25x20 or 7.5x20 tire.

At one time I owned a 1951 IHC L160 dumptruck that had tube type tires. When I needed tires I replaced the tube type with tube type tires but I had to go with 10.00x20's because that was all that was available.

Changing your 7.5x20 tires with 10R22.5 tires will give your bus a real overdrive gear. The 10R22.5 tires are at least an inch taller if not closer to two inches. That should effectively change your rear end ratio enough to give you 7-10 MPH more at the top end.