'99 Blue Bird Retirement Project - Bus #1

[musigenesis]

I have come to the sad conclusion that work days on the bus are coming to a quick close due to the inclement weather.

I'm in the same boat, although I thought the same thing last year and the winter was mild enough that I was able to keep going the entire time. I'm racing to get my interior insulation finished now so I can get a diesel air heater and at least be able to hang out in the bus.

 

[cadillackid]

I seriously need to find a bus barn!! I cant even get all my Busses home because of storage.. Covid destroyed my plans to do so as everyone has been fleeing the city in search of property close but away.. yeah same type places i was looking.. so prices are just inflated crazy right now on everything except downtown lofts.


-Christopher

 

[JackE]

I told my son I would buy a lift for the shop if I could claim one corner to park the bus. He thinks that's a great idea. Then I looked up the price for a 4 post lift strong enough to lift the bus.....$27,000. Never mind. I'll just get a little two post car lift, that'll take care of everything but the bus.

 

[musigenesis]

I told my son I would buy a lift for the shop if I could claim one corner to park the bus. He thinks that's a great idea. Then I looked up the price for a 4 post lift strong enough to lift the bus.....$27,000. Never mind. I'll just get a little two post car lift, that'll take care of everything but the bus.

How much would it cost to dig a hole you can drive the bus over?

There's an abandoned factory sort of thing near where I live that has a pit like this. I'm trying to gather up the courage to go park over it whenever I need to work on my underside.

 

[Bus'n it]

Our weather is just the opposite. Looking forward to the winter weather with averages in the high 60's to low 70's. This was an extremely brutal summer with almost every day being 115 or over. Sick of it!

 

[chrisc-SKO]

After doing all the things I read about with the interlock no start safety system, cut wire-start, cut wire-start, cut wire-start, I did really well, yesterday. Went out this morning and it wouldn't start. I know I'm not the first guy to have this same problem. Research, research, research - no answer to my problem. I did find one good hint to bypass the whole system, but not the actual answer.

SO HERE IT IS!!!

1999 BLUE BIRD TC RE. Can't vouch for any other year, but for the '99 here you go.

Behind the drivers wiper door is a panel housing 10 relays and the flasher for the turn signals. What I read from PNW-Steve was info he received from a Blue Bird technician. Find the VanderLock relay and remove it. Jumper pin 30 and 87a. Problem solved. My problem is, there is no map telling me what relays are what. I used the age old process of elimination. Standing in front, looking at the box, my relay was the bottom rely in the left column. Hopefully this will help someone else without pulling their hair out.

Wow. This is super helpful. In what I’m sure is an obvious answer for most, how do I remove the actual relay? Pull it out with brute force? Mine doesn’t seem to want to come out and I’m a bit concerned about breaking something electrical...

 

[JackE]

Wow. This is super helpful. In what I’m sure is an obvious answer for most, how do I remove the actual relay? Pull it out with brute force? Mine doesn’t seem to want to come out and I’m a bit concerned about breaking something electrical...

The relay does pull straight out. If there has been some higher amp situations going through the relay that it is designed for, it may have melted some of the surrounding plastics making it harder to remove. Get a pick or a small screwdriver underneath it and apply some 'gentle persuasion.'

 

[JackE]

How much would it cost to dig a hole you can drive the bus over?

There's an abandoned factory sort of thing near where I live that has a pit like this. I'm trying to gather up the courage to go park over it whenever I need to work on my underside.

Since we need to pour concrete throughout the whole shop, digging a pit will be fairly easy, and free with some of the equipment we have available.

I say go for it on your local pit. The worst that can happen is you get told never to do it again.

 

[chrisc-SKO]

The relay does pull straight out. If there has been some higher amp situations going through the relay that it is designed for, it may have melted some of the surrounding plastics making it harder to remove. Get a pick or a small screwdriver underneath it and apply some 'gentle persuasion.'

Thanks Jack!

 

[ol trunt]

The other Jack says don't drive over that pit unless you know for sure that is what it was designed for. You'll be dead soon enough without tipping the scales!
Jack

 

[SawsSandBox]

Floor jack as vertical press

I spent at least 8 hours in the last 3 days working on building the rack for my generator and drilling holes in the frame to mount it and the trailer hitch. I got the rack built and am now waiting for my son to blast it so I can get it painted before I mount it. Forgot to get a pic of the rack, but I did get a few of the hitch. Drilling horizontally through 1/2 inch hardened steel Is very time consuming and not a lot of fun. The vertical holes were fairly easy using my reverse drill press!!

For those Horizontal Drillings, I watched on a U-T were he used a floor jack as the up presser on the drill while drilling. This saved the arms and applied stedy presser on the drill. For the next time .. Best

 

[magnakansas]

Lift for a bus

I bought a used system. Four posts that have wheels on them. There is a cable that connects all four together. 33,000lbs each post. They are meant to lift the wheel. They roll against the wall when not in use. Spent $15,000 because they are in very good condition, I expect to get that out of them when I sell them. Very special jack stands after lifting. I originally bought them so I could lift the bus body off the frame.

William