Greetings from Cincinnati

[CincinnatiNKYBuses]

Greetings everyone, I'm Peter, 23, from the Cincinnati area.

I've been interested in school buses for a few years now and have driven all over Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, and New York on the hunt for buses. I wasn't planning on getting one of my own, until I found this...

...a 1971 Carpenter International with the 345. It's been sitting in an Indiana junkyard for perhaps 15 to 20 years, but after poking around with a fine-toothed comb, it's in pretty good shape. The body is in beautiful shape (most of them rusted away in Ohio) and the frame is solid despite all the surface rust you'd expect.
Unfortunately I have no real experience working on gassers, or bus engines in general. So assuming I can get it for relatively cheap, the plan is to transport it back to Kentucky via flatbed and go from there.

Not going to get too far into it, as the details are still being worked out, but that's where I am right now.

 

[1olfart]

Welcome, and good luck on your bus. It should be an interesting build, especially with that old gasser. I say that with all due affection, since I am one of those too.
Hope it doesn't turn into a WKRP rerun, but something to behold.

 

[Johnny Mullet]

Welcome aboard!

 

[Thomas1985]

I've never seen that before. Very unique.

 

[CincinnatiNKYBuses]

Thanks for the warm welcome!

I know from all my junkyard hunting how rare it is to find a bus of this vintage in unrestored, restorable condition. Most of the others were long since used for engine/drivetrain parts. According to the owner, it's only been sitting there for 7 or 8 years - half as long as I expected.

However...the owner does not want to sell it at the moment. Apparently he thinks it would be too much of a pain to remove the items he's been storing in it (it's empty enough that I was able to walk around in it, but still about half full of junk). He was wary of the running condition as well, and the hauling offer I got from another employee at the yard turned out to be bogus - they don't have anything big enough to haul it with.

So, my dream of resurrecting this gasser is on hold for now. I'm going to save up for a bit and keep checking out MacAllister Equipment in Indianapolis - they are a pleasure to deal with and have very reasonable prices. I've always wanted a Blue Bird 3800 anyway...