What did i just get myself into?

[milkmania]

I'm guessing the most common "first-timer" error piloting a 40 footer is keeping up with the overhang in the rear. A typical 40' BB has about 12' hanging out behind the tires and during a 90* turn, that makes for quite a bit of swing.

As noted,if you can find a parking lot, ten minutes of practice, including backing up and parallel parking will give you a little more comfort/advantage.

 

[ism minerals]

OK Finally got the bus to a location we can work on it. I was going to convert it at my house, but I would need to cut down some trees. Seems the couple of trees I need to cut down, had baby birds in a nest, guess I will have to wait a while for that. So we parked it at our rock and mineral club house.

 

[HolyBus]

Looks great! Where's all the rust? No rust? Must be nice! I can't wait to get my rust rails - I mean rub rails off and start grinding, sanding and treating! Yours looks like a great find!

 

[ism minerals]

We found a shipper who drove the bus up from MD for a reasonable cost, because there was no way to get plates or temp tags for it. 3 hours at NJ DMV and 2 Hours with MD MVD with no luck.

Things I have learned so far:

1.) There is a button in the back of the bus that needs to be pressed once the bus is shut off, it is a safety check for left behind children. 2 hours of buzzing and a couple of phone calls, got it figured out.

2.) The button for the door release(air operated) does not work when the bus is shut off. You can use the emergency release lever to exit the bus, I just used the side emergency door.

3.) The neighbors will ask what the heck are you doing, glad his wife is a bus driver and he was cool about the situation.



These little things had me laughing for a couple of hours trying to figure them out.

 

[ism minerals]

There of coarse is some rust, not much that I can see yet. The stairs and the rear emergency exit metal was replaced about a year or two ago. I spoke with the maintenance yard manager, and he said the bus driver was an older gentleman who would bring this in for any little thing that went wrong, the last two years of the service record, a lot of things were replaced or repaired. There is a dent on the other side, nothing too bad and should be an easy fix. The rear air intake metal piece is cracked, but should be an easy fix. Overall, the shipping company said the bus ran great, and top speed was 60-65 MPH. I will get the 6th gear opened by Allison in the future.

 

[SpudLime]

I see you found these. I've been thinking about picking one up.

http://m.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,md/browse/cataucs?catid=402

 

[SpudLime]

http://m.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,md/browse/cataucs?catid=402

Been looking at these also.

 

[SpudLime]

Great price. $3500

I see you were looking at the same auction I was.

http://m.publicsurplus.com/sms/all,md/browse/cataucs?catid=402

Was it difficult to process the paperwork and make it your own?

 

[ism minerals]

The bus yard was great to work with, NJ and MD DMV was terrible. I have not done any of the state paperwork yet. I will hold off until I meet the requirements for an RV, then I will register as an RV. I did find a shipper to bring it up to me for a reasonable cost. It was easier and less expensive then registering it and getting plates, and then changing registration. If I need to move it, I can use a buddies dealers tags. the shipper stated it ran great on the way up, but was limited to 60-65 MPH, we will change that in the future. 60 is way to slow. Hopefully we will have a somewhat completed RV by the end of JAN, and then drive it to the Tuscon gem and mineral show.

 

[SpudLime]

How's the bus run? From the pics they look like a good deal.

 

[USMCRockinRV]

Congrats - you're gonna enjoy it.


Mine is a '96

 

[ism minerals]

Have not driving it far yet, it ran with no problems coming up from MD. Just getting around to working on it. Starts no problems and no smoke on startup.

When we get some more done on the bus we will post pics of our progress.