Transmission supports on 1988 thomas safe t liner

[Thomps-SKO]

I just bought a 1988 thomas safe t liner with the hopes of converting it some day. I bought the bus very cheap because it needs some minor mechanical work. My question is. Is the transmission only suported by the bolts that bolt it to the bell housing or should there be a cross member bolted to the bus frame that suports the output end of the transmission? It has an auto trans not sue the model.

 

[Thomps-SKO]

I had to pull the bus 30 miles to get it home. I bolted the trans to the bellhousing discounected the driveline filled the air system up with air and then connected the tow bar to the bus and dumptruck off we went what an adventure. We stopped about every ten miles to let the cars go by check on the hitch and fill the air system up.
Now i need to paint the bus so my wife will let me take it home do you guys sand all the old paint befor you put new paint on.

 

[Thomps-SKO]

Thanks for the response. I have not looked for a bolt pattern so i will crawl under the bus and check. As for the painting goes the current paint on the bus looks like it is in good shape. So i will just sand it down a little bit and paint over it with some rustolium not sure what color. Do i need to use a clear coat to keep the paint from faiding? Should i paint by hand or use a spray gun ? I was thinking of painting by hand.
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[lblampman]

I just bought a 1988 thomas safe t liner with the hopes of converting it some day. I bought the bus very cheap because it needs some minor mechanical work. My question is. Is the transmission only suported by the bolts that bolt it to the bell housing or should there be a cross member bolted to the bus frame that suports the output end of the transmission? It has an auto trans not sue the model.

Where is the engine in your bus? Front or rear?

 

[sportyrick]

If you look you might see that the tranny is supported at the front and the engine is supported at the front, they balance each other on 4 points with the tranny mounts being the main balance point (on my gas engine, a diesel is so much larger that the balance point is the engine). sportyrick

 

[Thomps-SKO]

The engine is located in the rear of the bus. The engine is mounted in three spots and trans is bolted to the bell housing and nothing else i guess that is the way it is suppose to be. I only ask because i was under a blue bird and noticed the transmission had a rear support.

 

[lblampman]

Hmmm...if I get a chance today I'll have a look under my Thomas rear engine bus and see what's there for support. I've got a 3208 cat and an MT643 transmission.

 

[Thomps-SKO]

If you get a chance please look it would be very much appreciated. thanks

 

[dlor1]

So I just finished swapping the tranny on my '89 BlueBird yesterday. What a bitch, we even have a legit school bus garage to work out of and a tranny jack. So yeah I was surprised to realize that the only thing holding on my tranny was the bell housing bolts. Makes it kinda sketchy bolting it in, I was afraid that the trans was going to shift and bend some bolts. I have a 5.9 cummins with a allison AT 545. Lining up the flex plate and the torque converter took me 2 more days after we actually mounted the new trans. Make sure you line them up BEFORE fully connecting the trans to the bell housing. Glad it's done and never want to do it again. So far so good, shifts smooth and everything seems to be good.

 

[lapeer20m]

congrats! sounds like a job big enough that most of us would never try and tackle it.

 

[lblampman]

If you get a chance please look it would be very much appreciated. thanks

Hiya! I just got home (I'm on the west coast). I took a look at my bus today and the transmission definitely just hangs there off the engine with no other visible means of support.

 

[Thomps-SKO]

Well its nice to know my bus is not alone.
Have any of you guys had to deal with rusted out acid eaten battery compartments? Mine has a fair bit af damage battery try has rust holes in it and the battery tray roller slides are rusted solid and the tray wont pull out. Any good ideas on how to fix it? Also have a leaking front heater core. Are the front and rear cores the same because i dont think iam going to keep the cabin heaters in the rear