da bus

I have opportunity to acquire a Blue Bird bus, and the price can't really be faulted: free or cheap. It's owned by a local church whose main iterest seems to be getting it off their lot. It is a six-wheel with front motor and drive shaft to rear wheels. Seems to be built on same chassis as school buses and hence is not a pure road monster. Has had a new motor installed 2-3 years ago and has not been fired for about 18 months. Has all six tires in good shape. Has a top-hung AC unit to boot.

Am wanting to tap the collective wisdom on the NG as to what to expect before geting it fired; almost certainly a new battery and routine maintenance on the motor for openers. People with experience in these and similar vehicles are invited to write. BTW, to preserve metalworking content, I intend to possibly use it also to transport road racing bikes to the local tracks .... and hang my machine shop into it also.

Regards, Hoyt McKagen

To prevent virus propogation, please don't put this addy in your book Belfab CNC -

In addition to your technical problems (engine, transmission, sheet metal ..) you may wish to consider your fiscal and social problems. It can be very costly to insure anything that isn't an econobox these days. I had a truck with a boom on it that I had to let go recently because I could not get a noncommercial policy. They basically wanted $200 a month from me, and that was more than I could pay for an occasional use. Also, large vehicles cause large resentments when you park them. You may wind up having to pay ANOTHER $200 per month to rent a space in a storage lot just to park the thing in. (Of course I'm a city boy and am writing this from that viewpoint - if you have 1000 acres somewhere you can ignore the bit about parking.)

Other than that, what you are likely to expect depends on whether it is a gasoline or diesel engine. I would suggest you inspect it for signs of mold or other water leakage, and if the glass is badly scarred or cracked I'd find out BEFORE you buy it if you can e.g. get a replacement windshield. Do the heater and defroster work? If those cables are frozen they can be a real bummer to fix. Basically I'm a wimp when it comes to restoring old vehicle dashboards - those are pure hell to work on IMHO.

Find out how much it will cost you to license this thing.

After you find out how much to insure, store and license this vehicle, and if it leaks or not and if the heater/defroster work, you will be in a lot better position to consider owning this vehicle. The initial price is insignificant compared to these costs in many cases.

Grant

Hoyt McKagen wrote:

Hoyt , Google it. There is quite a bit about converting school bus type busses to motorhomes. Maybe not what you are up to, but they find and solve the same problems you will run into. As I recall there was quite a bit of Blubird specific stuff. Also some active mail lists and web based lists.

Dick

Hoyt, Id post this question over on misc.survivalism. Lots of folks have gotten buses for conversion to campers etc.

Gunner

"No man shall be debarred the use of arms. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms disarm those only who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. Such laws make things worse for the assaulted and better for the assailants. They ought to be designated as laws not preventative but fearful of crimes, produced by the tumultuous impression of a few isolated facts, and not by thoughtful consideration of the inconveniences and advantages of a universal decree." - Thomas Jefferson

There are forums for bus conversions. Try

The people on these boards have a lot of experience with heavy equipment and buses in particular.

Erich

couple of groups that I belong to useful info, odd opinions, conflicting personalities.

schoolbusconversionuts yahoogroups.com

housetrucks yahoogroups.com

I subscribe to a publication called Farmshow that has featured busses converted by farmers to haul anything from big round bales to flatbeds to haul tractors and machinery. Some have been converted to moble shops or livestock trucks. H.R.

I've always been interested in trying Farm Show, but I'm not a farmer just a guy that's likes machinery and innovation. An old truck driver / equipment operator / backyard mechanic / tinkerer, with a lot of old stuff around the rancho. Have you seen the Farm Show CD or videos? or now anyone that's selling their back issues?

I've got a lot of hardware, some time, but very little money, etc. Around the place I've got 2 '69 Datsun 1300 PU's, 3 Peugeot Turbo Diesel engines, 2

Then I've got my next springs project a 36' B 700 Ford 7.8 TurboDiesel 5x2 spd, I'm going to convert into a Motorhome.

I love creative projects. My buddy made an articulated 4wd front end loader out of an old jeep and tractor. He also built his own 24' aluminum jet boat w/ 2 - 440 mopars for running the Snake River.

I've got another buddy that put a 97 Cummins turbo-diesel w/ 4xs spd rears in his Ford F350.

BTW, Those Lincoln ARC Welded Project Books are great for ideas.

Have a Good One, tHAT

Lol, there's a farmer down the road from my parents' house that has an old school bus that he hauls cows around in. As far as I can tell, it's not really converted all that much. It just looks like an old, beat-up school bus. One day we scared the crap out of my little brother by telling him some outlandish story about the bus driver being some crazed escaped mental patient who went around picking up kids in the bus. I know, kids can be cruel.

There's another one out our way converted to haul round bales.

chem

snipped-for-privacy@webtv.net wrote: