Long read, but bear with me -- this got a lot lengthier than I planned.
For starters, I'm just tired of seeing newbies get screwed out of hard-earned money that should have went into their build, by either paying shady flippers outrageous prices for reasonably decent buses, or worse, buying a bus they should never have even looked at. And I have been thinking a great deal about the fact that the proven platforms are getting harder to find.
Add to that, the fact that my asthma critically limits what I can and can't do, and makes it dangerous for me to be in an uncontrolled, open-air environment. How cockeyed is it that I steer people away from emission-controlled diesels when they were supposed to be designed to help clean the air for people like me?
Simple. It's because I know from experience that these systems are unreliable and that many of the engines are problematic at best. My input on a couple threads here and some back-and-forth banter behind the scenes has given me what could be one **** of an idea for a business that could really give the skoolie movement a shot in the arm and make it possible for more newbies to actually get a decent bus, despite the disproportionate overabundance of eco-choked junk on the market vs the ever-fading supply of good buses.
Sure, you could run the risk of swapping out your MaxxFarce boat anchor for tried-and-true DT466 or 7.3, but even though RVs are exempt from most regulations, a non-emission engine swap in a vehicle with factory emission controls is a no-no, and a damned big fine comes with it if caught. And quite frankly, folks, I have seen the light about emission controls. Diesel emissions have personally impacted me, as they have forced me to give up a good career that I loved, driving 18-wheelers. I then retreated to rideshare (a colossal driver and rider rip-off), but have been furloughed due to COVID, as the severity of the asthma I have makes me extremely high-risk.
So what to do? I've had a revelation of sorts. I see a lot of new folks dropping $10k on a MaxxFarce RE because it's newer and shinier and oh, look at the low miles... Wait, what's that funny light on the dash? Why is my bus slowing down? Wait, Mr. Mechanic, what's a piston? What's a DPF?
Boys and girls, most of you may not remember, but way, way, way back in the day, very few, if any, school buses were diesels. I grew up through the early 80s to the early 90s in a very rural 290 square mile county with a fleet of approximately 45-50 school buses, including spares. All were 64-66 passenger, which was as big as they came at the time to my knowledge. Not one diesel in the lot. Not one had air brakes, and not one had an automatic transmission.
The Chevy/GMC variants had tall-deck 366 big-block V-8s, more or less an industrial engine adapted to commercial truck use. The Fords were mostly 330s, 361s, 391s. We even still had a few Dodges back then, though I could only guess what powered those -- 440s, perhaps, as they were common in motorhomes back then.
You see, these were nothing more than a long wheelbase Class 6/7 truck chassis with a bus body instead of a cab, and that's essentially all most of them are now, with the exception of REs. Though the REs have mechanicals that are much more similar than you might think.
The only difference is that somewhere along the line, a bean-counter figured out that diesels were more efficient and that it was likely that air brakes would at least slightly reduce maintenance costs. And many drivers were having problems with their legs and knees from pushing a clutch pedal all day that were causing them to fail the physical when the CDL became mandatory. And that, boys and girls, is why through the 1990s, more and more school buses were ordered with diesel engines, automatic transmissions, and air brakes.
It's not that a gasser cannot power a skoolie. It can, and they've always been able to. They're just not as efficient. But then, diesels are worse for the environment, and they contribute greatly to air pollution and respiratory problems as well.
The MaxxFarce is a rather-growing poison pill as of late. Those in the know obviously avoid them, cherry-picking the tried-and-true pre-07/08 Navistar DTs, T444s, and the like, leaving uninformed newbies to overbid on the junk left over. But what if there were a way to make these buses more reliable, while making them less harmful to the environment? There IS.
No, I'm not talking about an electric conversion -- that's pie-in-the-sky, Bill Nye the Science Guy BS. Yes, I am aware that Thomas and other manufacturers are now offering factory electric school buses. You got $200k? Neither do I. You got a reliable way of charging it? Neither do I. Battery technology is rapidly improving, but none of it means diddly without a reliable means of charging. And even then, range is quite limited.
I can tell you personally that I have SEEN why electric buses are not as practical as you might think. The closest city (I call it a sh*tty, because it's truthfully a small college town that got too big for its britches) bought several brand-new electric transit buses for its city routes.
They quickly found out that these turds could not pull a hill even half-loaded, and people were having to get off and help push the POS up the hill before they could continue their ride. So they were furloughed, and quietly auctioned off at pennies on the dollar to the next city that had a 'Eureka!' moment.
So if I'm not talking about electric conversions, what AM I talking about? Well, it is illegal to remove, disable or tamper with emissions equipment. Any vehicle must conform with emissions requirements for the model year in which it was delivered new.... OR.... In the case of repower, emissions requirements applicable to the model year of the engine used to repower such vehicle. What this means:
A 1998 Blue Bird could be repowered with a 2009 Cummins, provided all the emissions controls are intact and functional. I saw one such beast at auction. But realistically, who would want to do such a swap? Diesel emissions controls are exponentially more complex and quirky than those for gasoline engines.
So what's the next best thing, you might ask? A rather common trend in the street rod world is the restomod, which is more or less a cosmetically restored classic or muscle car with a modern powertrain swap, such as GM's LS-series V8s. All perfectly legal, as long as emissions controls remain intact. Perhaps now the clouds are parting a little?
Bus manufacturers aren't stupid. School districts could only be fooled for awhile, and they have begun to see the light. Recently I have seen two brand-new school buses that were totaled en route before delivery show up on salvage auction blocks. One was a real shame, 2020 Blue Bird Vision with less than 700 miles -- on a Ford 6.8L V10 gasser. That's right, ladies and gentlemen, the next generation of skoolies are returning to gas power after about a 30-year-hiatus. So why can't we?
The answer's simple. We CAN. There's no rule anywhere that says you cannot replace an emission-controlled engine with another emission-controlled engine -- it just has to have all its own emission controls intact and functional. Meaning it should be perfectly legal to replace a MaxxFarce boat anchor with an emission-controlled gasser. Diesel to gasoline conversions are nothing new -- they were quite common in the days of the Oldsmobile diesel. What made those swaps easier is that the vehicle's VINs were listed as diesel, which for the model years in question were emissions-exempt.
There are plenty of RVs with leaky roofs and other damage being sold for salvage at insurance auctions, or that private owners simply want to dump, that have low-mileage on complete, running and driving, perfectly intact mechanicals. And many of them are factory built with GM 8.1s, Ford Triton V10s, even a few 5.4s out there, not to mention there are plenty of older ones with the likes of the Ford 460, Chevy 454, etc., that are still fairly low mileage and perfect candidates for a powertrain/drivetrain or body swap.
This would also mean getting away from other modern nuisances such as the air-over-hydraulic parking brakes and the pesky Wabco electric/hydraulic parking brake that won't stay fixed in newer Navistars, as well as the common diesel fuel injection issues that seem to be common to the newer VT365s and MaxxFarces. An added bonus would be the ability to offer an additional package of the various RV bits from the donor. Now THAT'S a bus that would be worth paying $10k or more for.
Think about it -- repurposing what would otherwise simply sit and rot away to replace what is not only a problem, but worse for the environment. You don't get much greener than that -- far more emissions are put into the air by diesels than gassers, and far more emissions are put into the air by shredding and melting down steel and iron than by simply repurposing the mechanicals of an existing drivetrain, especially if it is emission-equipped.
The trouble is, it takes a good mechanic capable of doing such work right, some startup capital, a suitable space to do such conversions, and the willingness to see a vision to fruition. And it would give the bus market a much-needed shot in the arm, while providing newbies with much better options. I may have (very limited) startup capital, but I need partners for this idea that I can trust and rely on to work with me.
Thoughts?
