Hi Everyone,
I recently caught a bad case of Bus Nut after a lifetime of RV obsessions and have spent the last week reading the last 250 pages of posts on this site. I thought it was time to stop lurking and introduce myself :)
I think I have found my dream bus today! It is an MC-8 that has a very rare look that is perfect for what I want. It is black with black leather interior which I just love. It is raised, has flat skins and has R&M Caps. The big issue is that it needs a new 8V71 engine. The price reflects this. In fact, it is being sold for near scrap value at $2,500.
I am thinking that it will be easier, quicker and cheaper for me to get the engine replaced than to do a conversion myself. When I look at the costs and time involved, it seems like a perfect plan. What do you guys think? I'm guessing I could pick up another MC-8 with a good running engine and pay to have it swapped out or buy a rebuilt unit. I think in my reading the cost is about $15k for the second option, what about the first? I would like to get her running for a lot less than that and push a "new" engine down the line a couple of years as I'm sure there will be a hundred other things I need to buy including a veggie oil conversion. I've run a Mercedes for 50k miles on SVO so that doesn't make me nervous at all. I think that at this price, it's worth getting just for the 21 KW Kubota Generator and the three rooftop A/C's as well as all the interior which would cost me a fortune to do, including the granite floor! I've looked at just about every converted bus and partially converted bus ad online over the last month or so and this is by far the closest to what I want.
Is there a bus nut from the NY area that would be interested in taking a look with me? If not, how wrong can I go already knowing the engine is shot? If I check for rust and other obvious cosmetic/system stuff I should be ok right? It is in Queens/Jamaca. I'm leaving to drive up now overnight from DC so I'm there in the morning. It got listed today and someone is looking at it around 11-12 noon and I want to beat them to it.
I won't be able to check back on this website but will be able to read email on my phone. My address is pickpaul@gmail.com and my phone number is 571-278-3897. It would be great to even have a bus nut I could call to ask questions once I've looked at it. Call anytime if you have the time.
Thanks in advance for any help. I've already learned so much from reading the last year of posts I don't feel I'm going in blind.
Thanks,
Paul.
Paul,
Well good luck, and well good luck!
Wow talk about short notice! If you'd given us more notice Sammy, or some of the others in the area could have tried to assist you! I really hope that someone closer calls and is willing to assist you in your quest for the perfect bus! A link too or some pics of the beast with more detail would help us get a general idea about it. But nothing beats a pair of experienced eyes & hands for a full prepurchase inspection!
Wow and good luck again! Best wishes on the new adventure. ;D BK ;D
I know, it all seems like a crazy rush. Here is the link to the baby...
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/pts/940227474.html
I'm mostly worried about structural rust with it being in NY but it's also the closest bus I've found to DC.
Here is the link to its sister bus that is still running...
http://www.royalbuses.com/Star_bus2/index.htm
She'll need a shower and bedroom but possibly quite the deal for $2500!
Wish me luck.
Paul.
Wow I hope it works out for you! It looks nice if it's in any shape at all then you will come out OK! Good Luck! ;D BK ;D
Paul,
Barring any obvious MAJOR rust, then you can't go wrong. The 21kw Kubota is probably worth $3500 if not whipped.
To check for rust, look in the last luggage bay, at the rear wall for rust. It will probably have some but make sure it's not falling apart.
Also, it's been awhile, but I remember that the 8s had real problems rusting on the airbeams, they are the large boxy looking beams that angle down to the airbag mounts in the rear. They're usually already plated, or rusty. If it runs, then let it air up and look/listen back around the middle axle for major leaks, feel around those beams if safe.
Finally, look from the front of the bus to the rear, bend down a little and follow the lines of the top and bottom of banner boards, it should be a nice straight line on all axis, if it waves in and out then you've got major rust.
Ok, one more finally, in the engine compartment open the two lower doors, then up in the corners there are pull springs, pull those and lift the large rectangular door to expose the squirrel cages. The blowers can be replaced reasonably, but look at the metalwork forming the walls behind and above and around the blower cages (did I mention that you should do this without it running?), see if those walls have any strength to them, are weak or already rusted out.
Pretty much anything can be fixed on these, but you'll want to know what you're getting into. Whatever you think it will take, at least double it, probably triple it. But at that price, you'll probably be alright.
Good luck
Todd
I gave Paul a phone call.
This bus is about 50 miles from here.
All the fixings for a bus conversion already stored in a bus shell?
What's to not like here?
If the shell is ok, that's the bonus, what you're buying is all the stuff for $2500.
I says:
Go for it!
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Please keep in mind that $2500 may not be all that great a deal on this coach. Entertainers, including star coaches were often rode hard and put up wet. The generator may have been run 24-7 for months at a time.
If the engine is so bad it cannot be driven, then it's hard to check the rest of the drive train as well as steering and brakes.
I'm not trying to discourage you but keep your eyes wide open and leave your heart at home.
Len
Recognized the Eagle. I have seen it on movie shoots around New York. I would imagine the MC8 performed similar work. Good luck.
-- Seaton
I think you can pick up a good used 8v71 cheap. The total cost in your bus sounds great if the frame and a few other items check out. Jamaica, Jamaica, Jamaica Is that part of
New York. Another good point is the conversion was done by a pro.
good luck
.
Hi Everyone,
Thanks so much for all the help and advice, especially to Ed who called me yesterday and gave me a lot of great advice.
The bad news is that the bus was a wreck. It had obviously been parked up for at least a year or two with multiple flat tires and no good rubber at all. All the good parts had been picked off including the three rooftop A/C's and the interior was pretty trashed. I'm sure if the generator wasn't shot it would have been taken off. The top half of the engine was missing. The exterior bodywork was in bad shape and the windscreen was smashed. I wouldn't have taken it if it was free!
So on with the hunt but thanks again for everything.
Cheers, Paul.
P.S. Please let me know when the next Delaware meet up is. Ed made it sound fun and I'd love to drive up from DC and checkout your buses!
Looking at garbage buses is a good thing!
Then you know what garbage is, and you'll recognize a good one when it comes along.
lots of buses out there, keep looking carefully!
happy coaching!
buswarrior
Quote from: buswarrior on December 04, 2008, 01:58:43 PM
Looking at garbage buses is a good thing!
Then you know what garbage is, and you'll recognize a good one when it comes along.
Exactly! BW got that one. I even went and looked at buses I knew I wasn't going to get just to to get a feel for what to look for, hear, smell.
Besides might have found a diamond in the rough, and I like going for little road trips anyhow, that's why I have a bus.