Gus the Bus Build Thread

[Tango-SKO]

Just be advised that anything after '04 is going to be loaded with problematic, electronic EPA/emissions garbage. And the first few years were the worst!

 

[EastCoastCB]

crap......hope things are looking better now . I'm keeping my eyes open for a bus but that cert is important to get done on their end first I suppose. Maybe a good reason for me to be thinking a fairly recent year. Right now I have my eye on a 2005 E350 diesel....it's a church bus in navy blue....only 106K km.....the price is great considering buy yeah.....I should wait until a mechanic checks it out.

I can't believe $4500 a yr for insurance......that's nuts. My cars are around $1000 per yr ( I don't get collision because they're not worth it )…..keep me posted.....Toronto -ish guy here too .

I'd stay clear of any diesel 6.0's. Especially if you yourself are not a master diesel tech.

 

[skidfrog]

Thanks for the tip !......I'm just learning and reading......the price and the miles on the blue shortbus E 350 seemed great......but as I read IProgramStuff's story I thought I should request maintenance records and have a real diesel mechanic look at it.

https://www.kijiji.ca/v-view-details.html?adId=1394390645&requestSource=b

THIS one is another I thought of.......but I'm new so I thought a short bus might be best to "start" with.....any tips on the best short bus models to look for ?

 

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

whenever I take exhaust manifold bolts loose i tend to use heat or impact if you can either use an impact gun or tap on the wrench wit ha couple pound hammer..

Heat is a little risky if you have aluminum heads.. if your heads are iron the likelihood of bolt breakage is a bit less.. at least from my experience.. patience is a must if using heat...

ive not use heat and impact.. ive always felt that the heated metal would be weak enough that impact might break it.. others who have removed pesky exhaust bolts can chime in.. its a bit of an art... ive had pretty good success at not busting them over the years..

-Christopher

Need some gloves for this. And you have to be prepped and ready.
It's easier to drill hot steel than cold steel.
Exhaust manifold bolts?
EZ out kit.
Drill the hole in the broken bolt while the engine is warming up (before,after,during doesn't really matter) as long as the proper size drill bit is used for the bolt and easy out.
Now think of expansion and contraction?
Metal expands when hot and contracts when cool.
You have a hole drilled in your broken stud and you have the EZ out stud remover.
Now you take a can of? Lot of options? But the most available outside of the mechanicking world is the stuff they sell as keyboard cleaner and there is a better ones made specifically for this but auto parts stores in my area don't sell them.
The idea is and does work.
The engine and everything connected to it is hot and you inject cold into the bolt you need to extract it will contract.
But like I said. You need to be ready because the heat is going to overcome your cooling pretty quick but you can pull the extractor out and cool the bolt again as needed.
There was another thread last night that I was typing this for and ran out of computer battery and am to tech. Challenged to get it back to there but this one brought up broken manifold studs? So this is where it landed?
Hope it helps someone?