1990 Thomas Transitliner- "Thomas" Hormone Derange

[reddog-SKO]

Hello to all,
I used to lurk on this site some and then life and my project go in the way. I just purchased another 1990 Bluebird and came back for some info. Thought it fair to show off the first project before I start asking questions about the second. Here are a few particulars:
1990 Thomas Transitliner, 37', 8.3L Cummins/Allison
22.5 tires on alloys all around
Propane injection
3) 8D bus batts/4) 6V golf cart house batts
5KWHonda Genset/3500W Xantrex inverter/charger
175W solar panel
blah, blah, blah
here is a link to some pics:
http://ImageEvent.com/reddog/1990thomasbuiltbusdogbus
Hopefully I can learn and share a few ideas here. Best to all, Doug@8000'

 

[yankeflyer]

Propane injection
whats that all about ?

 

[The_Stuff]

propane is to diesel as nos is to gas engines.

 

[yankeflyer]

Way cool - never heard of that set up - sure would like to see it close up.

 

[dirtygoat]

Very slick...

I love the fab work you did with the square tubing...

A lot of the inside of my bus will be done with tubing and angle...

How did you attach everything to the bus??? Screws or did you weld it in place???

 

[yankeflyer]

These projects just get better and more sophisticated as they show up.

 

[reddog-SKO]

Thanks for the compliments. The steel work is mostly fastened with screws. I did use riv-nuts on many spots where I thought more strength was called for. It has worked well so far, virtually no squeeks or rattles.
The propane injection setup was really simple, especially since I already had propane onboard. It is similar to NOS in that you get increased HP with little mechanical alteration. However, in a NOS system, you usually inject additional gasoline that can be burned due to the NOS in the air/fuel mixture. Propane, as it is used on my bus, just allows you to burn unburned fuel that would normally pass out the tail pipe as black smoke. When the bus starts to "overfuel", like while climbing a grade, I can turn the propane on, the smoke disappears and I start to accelerate again. From everything I have read, as long as you do not exceed reasonable HP limits for the engine, propane won't hurt anything. I think it is in the situations where propane is added to an engine that already has been "chipped" or even has "stacked chips" that the additional HP creates a problem. Doug@8000'

 

[The_Stuff]

Welcome Doug! Sweet bus! 8)

propane is to diesel as nos is to gas engines.

Does that also include the melt-downs?

Smitty

lol i think the diesel would be more catastrophic... but im not sure how the injection works. could be for cold starting, could be for passing, could be for when you need more power like on a steep grade.

 

[reddog-SKO]

John, My Cummins is all mechanical, so I don't know how it might affect your system. I do know several other guys around here that run it on electronic injection systems with no problem. As far as I can tell, no increase in EGT (possibly a slight reduction, less burning fuel passing thru the turbo) and no engine temp increase. I try not to flog the beast too bad, and using the propane seems to make pulling the grades easier on the rig overall. Doug@8000'