Buses aren't just for rednecks anymore !!!

[bucket]

Does the C7 share much with the 3126? If so, I can understand why it wasn't desired.

We have a parts truck at the shop that has a reman AT545 in it. When we got it, I assumed it was a later OD unit... boy was I bummed when I looked up what it was, lol.

 

[RetroC10Sport]

Been looking for a deal on a rear engined one, need a backwards rear end and possibly the rest of tne driveline for my 1947 F!xible Clipper pusher bus. I currently have a 3208T Cat with an Allison to put in it, but the rear axle in the bus is geared for a gasser.

Man, i LOVE Clippers. There's one sitting on the side of the road down here at a little Hell-NoTel, it's probably too far gone to redo though.

 

[Ricko1966]

Well I got started on this same thing in 2016. What I found for budget amenities is buy a junk motor home or junk travel trailer cheap, the roofs start to leak then bow,stuff delaminates and you get them for scrap value. Now you have all your electricals wiring,inverters,shore power stuff,usually a big Onan push button generator,holding tanks,couch/beds etc. I bought 2 both had everything I just listed and more,furnace,water heater etc. Anyway gave 500.00 each and both interiors were excellent.

 

[rusted nuts]

Instant Trucking Co. too.

 

[Camar068]

So I've done a thing recently. Has anyone seen some of these school bus builds? The Nomadic lifestyle went full blown nuts during the pandemic. Many people are living in Promaster, Transit and Sprinter vans by choice. Many are living in school busses and these busses have all the amenties of a home with off grid solar systems etc. So I ended up homeless and probably a good thing. A few knew my bad living conditions living with a handicapped drunk and I was trapped and had no choice to stay due to my disabilities and scared as hell to get into a long term commitment again as far a house purchase or lease agreement. I may be walking today but I might not be tomorrow. So I did this deal. Only thing I'm not thrilled about is the Cat C7 engine but it's low mileage at 131,000 and 4990 engine hours. I drove it 160 miles from where I bought it. It ran 70-80mph on the turnpike and didn't break a sweat. He had just put 2 big ass 1400 cranking amp batteries in it for $500. So he was asking $5700 and NOOOOOOO, not me. He finally said I just need it gone and I can get $2100 driving it over the scale which I think might be a lie, but nonetheless, he said give me $2000 and my $500 for the batteries and I'll give you the keys and title. I told him I'll have some travel expenses to get it back to OKC, he said not on the but, it has over 50 gallons of diesel in it. He was right. I've driving it here and drove it around a few days and still haven't put fuel in it. So yeah $2500 and it just might be my next home on wheels. Rust Free and has the Allison 2000 OD with converter lock up trans.

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lol love ya' Man.....I mean it really...... but paragraghs already! Now I'll scroll up and read lol.

 

[bucket]

lol love ya' Man.....I mean it really...... but paragraghs already! Now I'll scroll up and read lol.

He's always written novels in his posts. Cob says he trained me to do the same, lol. He used to do paragraphs, but these days I'll bet there's much less "give a damn" for such things. Hell, if I had been through what he's been through, I probably wouldn't even have a enough will power to simply even type.

@HotRodPC it's really good to see a glimpse of what may end up being a good change in your life.

 

[Camar068]

He's always written novels in his posts. Cob says he trained me to do the same, lol. He used to do paragraphs, but these days I'll bet there's much less "give a damn" for such things. Hell, if I had been through what he's been through, I probably wouldn't even have a enough will power to simply even type.

@HotRodPC it's really good to see a glimpse of what may end up being a good change in your life.

The same thought was in my mind as I was typing it, was hoping it would stick a bit in others mind. That and I figured we're close enough for a little sh|t lol.

 

[bucket]

The same thought was in my mind as I was typing it, was hoping it would stick a bit in others mind. That and I figured we're close enough for a little sh|t lol.

Yep! Give him **** often, I swear it's good for him, lol.

 

[HotRodPC]

Holy fak. Got room for me to move in?

c'mon Bro, well make it happen. I can do bunks in the back. You're going up top though, I ain't sniffin' your pharts all night. They can linger up there with you.

 

[HotRodPC]

A couple of great deals! I had a skoolie years ago, before they were cool. Got rid of it after the kids grew up and moved out on their own.

Been looking for a deal on a rear engined one, need a backwards rear end and possibly the rest of tne driveline for my 1947 F!xible Clipper pusher bus. I currently have a 3208T Cat with an Allison to put in it, but the rear axle in the bus is geared for a gasser.

Skoolie.net has a lot of good info.

Plan on painting your busses, it's illegal in most states to leave them skool bus yellow.

That would be my holy grail. Is a Blue Bird TC2000 with a Cummin's 8.3 in the rear with an Allison MD3060 but old enough it didn't have the EGR and EGR Cooler and a side door.

 

[HotRodPC]

A couple of great deals! I had a skoolie years ago, before they were cool. Got rid of it after the kids grew up and moved out on their own.

Been looking for a deal on a rear engined one, need a backwards rear end and possibly the rest of tne driveline for my 1947 F!xible Clipper pusher bus. I currently have a 3208T Cat with an Allison to put in it, but the rear axle in the bus is geared for a gasser.

Skoolie.net has a lot of good info.

Plan on painting your busses, it's illegal in most states to leave them skool bus yellow.

Yes, I have to. OK is one of the states, they are hard on you to get it painted ASAP. No National School Bus Yellow allowed on any buses except buses actively serving as school buses. I was thinking of maybe a wrap. Slow Down Move Over for awareness to First Responders getting hit and killed. As a matter of fact, another Tow driver killed last night on I-40 here in OK. Hit by a Semi. That's like #4 hit and killed in the last 3 years, and about 5 others that have been hit and hurt bad, 1 will never walk again.

 

[HotRodPC]

Those look to be in good shape. The OD in #1 mated to the Cummins would be cool, but not sure how involved that would be. Is there a reason you don’t like the CAT?

I’ve been gathering parts for a much smaller home on wheels. My wife and I bought a towable a couple years ago because I needed it for a project immediately. I worked out of town for about 8 months.

We’ve been camping in it many times since then, but we feel limited in the sense that we can’t go off-road much. Sooo, we are converting the older Cummins truck we have (2004 QCLB) into an off-road camper. We have 400watts of solar, a dc to dc charger, 2000 watt inverter/charger, two 200ah (400ah total) lifepo batteries, a 12v A/C system and a diesel coolant heater.

The diesel coolant heaters are cool because they heat glycol super efficiently. That glycol gets pumped to a coolant-to-air exchanger and a stacked plate coolant-to-water exchanger. So the same compact unit heats water and air. They sip diesel at a very conservative rate. It’s a similar system to what you’d find on a sail boat or any small water vessel for traveling. This one is made by a company called Eberspacher.

Anyway, all in the camper will weigh a bit under 1500 wet. I’ve got all the goodies lined up for my build. The only thing I haven’t decided is if I should stick to the 35s and 2” lift I installed last year or go 37s and a 3” lift.

I’ve researched the hell out of RV solar and utilities. I may be able to help somewhat if you are trying to figure something out. You have a large canvas, which is good if you are full-timing in it.

So speaking all the lingo I've been learning the last 2 years. I like that small solar system and a DC to DC charger is for sure a must to back up your solar system. yes, those heaters work fantastic, I've used one about all winter. I've been using a cheaper Vevor diesel heater and it works like a champ. I get run out of the bus at 80 degrees sometimes.

 

[Bextreme04]

So I've done a thing recently. Has anyone seen some of these school bus builds? The Nomadic lifestyle went full blown nuts during the pandemic. Many people are living in Promaster, Transit and Sprinter vans by choice. Many are living in school busses and these busses have all the amenties of a home with off grid solar systems etc. So I ended up homeless and probably a good thing. A few knew my bad living conditions living with a handicapped drunk and I was trapped and had no choice to stay due to my disabilities and scared as hell to get into a long term commitment again as far a house purchase or lease agreement. I may be walking today but I might not be tomorrow. So I did this deal. Only thing I'm not thrilled about is the Cat C7 engine but it's low mileage at 131,000 and 4990 engine hours. I drove it 160 miles from where I bought it. It ran 70-80mph on the turnpike and didn't break a sweat. He had just put 2 big ass 1400 cranking amp batteries in it for $500. So he was asking $5700 and NOOOOOOO, not me. He finally said I just need it gone and I can get $2100 driving it over the scale which I think might be a lie, but nonetheless, he said give me $2000 and my $500 for the batteries and I'll give you the keys and title. I told him I'll have some travel expenses to get it back to OKC, he said not on the but, it has over 50 gallons of diesel in it. He was right. I've driving it here and drove it around a few days and still haven't put fuel in it. So yeah $2500 and it just might be my next home on wheels. Rust Free and has the Allison 2000 OD with converter lock up trans.

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Most of the modern military mine resistant vehicles have the C7 and Allison 6 speeds in them. In my experience they have tons of power and are darn near indestructible as long as you change the engine oil regularly. If you let the oil get too dirty, they tend to lock up the injectors. They have no problem pulling a 24,000lb MRAP up a 60% slope in 100+ degree heat with little to no maintenance though. We had one in Afghanistan where the radiator sprung a leak and dropped all the coolant as the marines were headed out on a mission. It started overheating on the way out the gate and they didn't want to take the time to change vehicles, so they just kept going.

They did a three hour mission in the desert in Helmand Province with zero coolant in the engine. It finally died right as they were coming in the gate and they towed it the last few hundred yards to the maintenance yard. We found the coolant leak and fixed it. Then found that the engine oil got so hot that it melted the plastic connectors to the injectors under the valve cover and had filled the HPOP with plastic(which was why it finally stopped running). We cleaned the plastic out of the HPOP filter, put a new injector harness in it, changed the oil, and it fired right up. Ran great the rest of the time I was there(6 months or so).

 

[HotRodPC]

Does the C7 share much with the 3126? If so, I can understand why it wasn't desired.

We have a parts truck at the shop that has a reman AT545 in it. When we got it, I assumed it was a later OD unit... boy was I bummed when I looked up what it was, lol.

It does share alot with the 3126. It's like the new generation of the 3126. It has the Huei (Huey) High Oil Pressure Injection Pump system. If you can keep clean oil, I hear they are real good, but they are expensive when they break. It's like $4000 for a Heui pump and injectors, that's the parts only and normally when the pump goes, it takes the injectors with it. There is an aftermarket spin on pre filter that's sold to put inline BEFORE the heui pump and that's the supposed to make the C7 bulletproof they say. That pre filter kit uses a spin on filter and the system is $1000 if you can install it yourself. Honestly, I'd just prefer to go Cummins or International DT466 or even DT466-E so long as it's pre Maxxforce junk and really don't even want the EGR Cooler BS either.

These C7's are also very hard to start. They don't use glow plugs. It has an air intake heater that assists in starting. I hear if it's below 55 degrees, you better have the block heater plugged in and even then it's still hard to start. Now where I'll be, it's not likely I'll have power, so I guess I have to use the solar system to plug it in. I don't know, I only bought it cuz it was cheap and low miles. I might just flip it and sell it for $4000-$5000. It's in really good shape though and I hate to get rid of it. But I might just keep buying buses at the good deals until I finally get the holy grail I want which is the Blue Bird Pusher with a Cummins 8.3 and MD3060 Allison. Mine is hard to start but once it finally starts and smoothes out it runs really good. It only has 4900 engine hours on the hourmeter and 131,000 on the clock. I'd say that's accurate since doing the math is an average of 26 miles an hour. Most school buses are wore out at low mileage due to all the idling time and the hard stop and go use all the time. This was an activity bus for the sports teams, not a route bus so that's why it's in it's condition and the low mileage and good odo/hourmeter ratio.

 

[HotRodPC]

lol love ya' Man.....I mean it really...... but paragraghs already! Now I'll scroll up and read lol.

yeah I typed that **** while at in between tows and was just typing away. When it looked long enough instead of fixing it, I just his post to start the thread and left on a call.