2007 Blue Bird - Too Much Undercarriage Rust?

[evergreens]

I'm just starting to get into skoolies as a travel vehicle for my family of 5. We have been looking to buy a finished skoolie to fast-track our timeline to get out on the road. There is a 2007 Blue Bird listed locally (Arkansas) that we just looked at. It has South Dakota plates, and from the looks of the undercarriage, the bus spent most of its life up north on salty roads. Since the build is 95% done, I can't really see the floor to inspect from the inside.

The bus checks pretty much all of the boxes in terms of the build (off-grid solar, bunk houses, etc.). The CAT C7 engine has 178k miles. From the pics here, would someone smarter than me consider the rust a deal killer? Do I need additional pics to confirm? This is mainly from the middle and back.

Thanks in advance for any wise words of support or warning.

 

[nocoasty]

I personally don't like any rust at all, but even my current bus has a bit of surface rust underneath and one or two flaky spots. I wouldn't look at that and be too concerned. I'd want to see pictures around the engine, fuel tank, and brakes to be sure.

I'd be more concerned about having a bus with a Cat C7 in it than the rust. It might just be my opinion, unless you're really excited about having a C7, but I've found that few people who research bus platforms pre-purchase and/or pre-conversion ever willingly end up with a bus that has that engine. Very few, but not all.

Also, South Dakota plates may prove it's from there, but a lot of van dwellers and buslifers get residency and registration in South Dakota because of companies that offer mail forwarding, permanent addresses for legal reasons, etc. It takes 24 hours and an overnight stay in state to qualify, so it's a lucrative process for a lot of people who go full-time and still need to stay legal. This website has more information.

You could do a VIN search on it to learn more about the location history of the bus, but you might also get a ton of information from the original auction listing of the bus as well.

 

[Booyah45828]

What concerns me is pictures 3,4 and 5. Those show crossmember rot and they're starting to disintegrate. The floor is likely soft in those areas, or it's going to be very shortly. No easy way to fix that, but cutting the old cross members out and sliding in new. In the midwest, they all rot there thanks to the road salt off the rear tires. What I see from the pics would make that an out of service violation if it were still used by a school district.

I'd pass on this unit, unless you can get it cheap, and it comes with service records of every repair and oil change. The c7 is a heui engine, which uses engine oil to fire the fuel injectors. If that oil hasn't had a history of frequent changes, and there's no record of putting injectors and an hpop in it, you should prepare to do so.

Also, fwiw, that bus might be in arkansas and have SD plates, but it was originally bought/sold from a dealer in pittsburgh.

 

[evergreens]

Thanks @nocoasty. I appreciate the additional insight! I haven't researched the variety of engines at this point so can't say I have an opinion; we would prefer a flat nose vs. dog nose bus (personal preference). Perhaps the engine discussion is worth separate thread as I have read mediocre reviews on the history of that engine. I do have a local diesel mechanic that I will get input from as well.

I personally don't like any rust at all, but even my current bus has a bit of surface rust underneath and one or two flaky spots. I wouldn't look at that and be too concerned. I'd want to see pictures around the engine, fuel tank, and brakes to be sure.

I'd be more concerned about having a bus with a Cat C7 in it than the rust. It might just be my opinion, unless you're really excited about having a C7, but I've found that few people who research bus platforms pre-purchase and/or pre-conversion ever willingly end up with a bus that has that engine. Very few, but not all.

Also, South Dakota plates may prove it's from there, but a lot of van dwellers and buslifers get residency and registration in South Dakota because of companies that offer mail forwarding, permanent addresses for legal reasons, etc. It takes 24 hours and an overnight stay in state to qualify, so it's a lucrative process for a lot of people who go full-time and still need to stay legal. This website has more information.

You could do a VIN search on it to learn more about the location history of the bus, but you might also get a ton of information from the original auction listing of the bus as well.

 

[evergreens]

Thanks @Booyah45828. That stood out to me as well although I didn't know how it impacted the overall construction. If that's strike 1, strike 2 would be the current owner doesn't have any service records. Potential strike 3 is I wouldn't necessarily consider it cheap with it being 98% finished on the rest of the build. I fully understand that a well-done build doesn't make up for a disintegrating undercarriage and mystery service history especially when we hope to have many years of adventures.

What concerns me is pictures 3,4 and 5. Those show crossmember rot and they're starting to disintegrate. The floor is likely soft in those areas, or it's going to be very shortly. No easy way to fix that, but cutting the old cross members out and sliding in new. In the midwest, they all rot there thanks to the road salt off the rear tires. What I see from the pics would make that an out of service violation if it were still used by a school district.

I'd pass on this unit, unless you can get it cheap, and it comes with service records of every repair and oil change. The c7 is a heui engine, which uses engine oil to fire the fuel injectors. If that oil hasn't had a history of frequent changes, and there's no record of putting injectors and an hpop in it, you should prepare to do so.

Also, fwiw, that bus might be in arkansas and have SD plates, but it was originally bought/sold from a dealer in pittsburgh.