I saw this Scenicrusier pic at Bonneville on the HAMB site. Does anyone know who it belongs to?
That looks like PD4501-104
Last I heard, it belonged to:
Greg Bush
Tulsa Ok
Sure is a nice one.
Thanks Kyle.
I didn't know there was a class for buses to run in. Wonder what kinda top speed she's got?
Well, ya better hold on 'cause when this baby hits 88 mph, you're really gonna see some s####!
They could always bring the streamliner that was at Nick's Delaware rally:
http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12686.0;attach=13093;image (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=12686.0;attach=13093;image)
:)
Greg's Scenicruiser is Cat diesel powered so who knows? Not that I'm bias toward CAT or anything being from Peoria.
Tom McNally
Peoria, IL.
Greg purchased a cat v8 military diesel, modified everything so it would fit and work and down the road he goes....z00m....... My MC8 will run over 80 also..thats fast enough so I won't take it any faster to see where it will top out....
I believe I was parked next to Greg at a BCM rally in Costa Mesa CA about 13 years ago. I had to replace a 671 head at that rally.
John
I talked to Greg at Bonneville. The engine is a warmed up CAT 3408. Has lower compression (can be hard to start), but big boost. He has it connected to a 15 speed transmission. He used an Eagle shift tower and then did a bunch of modification (really neat machined parts) to make it work with the Eagle tower and the Scenicruiser linkage (see photo). I will be using a photo of this bus for my engine conversion article for BCM as an example of "unusual engine conversions".
There are a lot of classes at Bonneville, but nothing for buses. He was parked in the pit area for a neat streamliner (33 The Maro Special) that never did make a good run.
For those of you interested in diesel engines ;D, the Mormon Missile (468) set a record of 305 MPH (exit speed of 340 MPH) with a modified Duramax engine in a streamliner.
BTW, I have been trying to find the displacement of a 3408. It was a huge engine that CAT developed to compete with the 8V71.
Jim
Cat 3408: 1099CID bore and stroke 5.4010 X 5.4020 about 3500 lbs.
Ah yes the 3408 greatest boat anchor CAT ever built! LOL!
Sorry just a personal observation, back in the days I drove local dump trucksI blew 2 of 'em up 2 weeks apart! Never did like that engine! Now the 3406 B model was a different story! That sucker'd run now! FWIW ;D BK ;D
Quote from: rv_safetyman on August 16, 2009, 06:54:23 AM
For those of you interested in diesel engines ;D, the Mormon Missile (468) set a record of 305 MPH (exit speed of 340 MPH) with a modified Duramax engine in a streamliner.
I guess the JCB Dieselmax runs in a different class - it was built a few miles from my house and did 350mph at Bonneville back in 2006
(https://busconversionmagazine.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fregmedia.co.uk%2F2006%2F08%2F22%2Fjcb_dieselmax.jpg&hash=7f55c2243e4ee575cb396c4a15f03f0e8090e892)
Jeremy
I wonder where you would have to go to get 'High Speed' tires for a bus?
The JCB car runs AA/DS while Mormon Missile runs B/DS (DS = diesel streamliner)
I believe that the Phoenix, a 43 IHC K-7 with a 16V92, still holds the record for unlimited diesel truck. The record was 272 MPH. I tried to verify that record, but the SCTA site is messed up for that category.
The truck is described at: http://www.ugofadini.com/phoenixstory.html. (http://www.ugofadini.com/phoenixstory.html.) I did some work on the car and learned that they used 737 plane tires on the front and 747 tires on the rear. The technical folks did not know how to deal with something that big going the fast, so they made them put large skis on the front axle in case a tire blew. Unfortunately Carl Heap died short after he set the record (cancer) as did the other owner a few years earlier. Really fun loving people and to watch it run was unbelievable. When he went into an over-fuel condition towards the middle of the run, it looked like the world was on fire with all the black smoke. If you watched from the starting line, the truck disappeared over the horizon and all you could see was the smoke.
Jim
Jim, the 3408 was a industrial engine 18 L (used in the D9 dozers and 650 scrapers) made to compete with the Cummins KTA neither ever worked for transportation engines.
The old 440 V8 Cat in the late 60's and early 70's competed against the 2 stroke.
Cat, Cummins and Mack took their best shots but look what survived LOL
good luck
Well, it looks like the CAT 3408 is not all that well thought of. I recall several years ago, there was a company selling "Hot Rod" semis with fancy paint and HUGE sleeper/living boxes on the back. They always made a big deal about the truck having a CAT 3408.
Dallas, if I did my math correctly, that 1099 CID is 18L! That is huge. What I did find on the engine always mentioned terrible fuel mileage. Guess that is why.
While it might not be a engine of choice, I thought it was a "fun" and "unique" conversion ;D
Jim
Jim,
I drove one of those "Truckstop Queens" as a favor to a friend of mine after he broke his leg.
My opinion is about the same as BK's.
Awhile back I was teasing Frank (Slowrider) about stuffing one in his MC8. But I just can't really think of a good reason to use one in an on-highway installation.
The one I drove would pass anything except a fuel pump, was constantly overweight on the steering axle, went through crank pulleys way too often, (probably from the varying rpms), and still wasn't the fastest truck on the road.
I had trucks with 855 cid Cummins out run me and out pll me on the hills.
But, yes, it would be a great conversation piece to show off to all of your friends.
thanks Dallas I forgot about all the 900.00 dollar radiators I bought for my KW from the fans going through them when the pulley failed. I don't remember Joe ever telling me a 855 Cummins ever out pulling him.
Those engines with a 4 axle low boy and a two axle jeep and a good heavy load would destroy the rear driver tires if you were not careful the one I had would pull the thread off the casing (new tires) with a 5 speed and a 4 speed aux transmission.
I could not believe the service the 3408 gave in a 50 yard scraper to be so bad in a truck other than a head every now and then they gave very few problems for me just keep the fuel truck close and they would work about 6 hrs from 240 gals of fuel
good luck