The plan is to pick up the 4104-4797 on Monday the 20th. The adventure will begin in Atlanta MI. Taking the family and recently retired inlaws. Plan is to head north to the Upper Penn. , head west and start heading south / south west . Want to see some cheese and cranberries in WI and visit family in Iowa.
Any sights to see , suggestions for a newbie or recommended places to flap a lip over something good please let me know. Please keep in mind I'm a 32 yr old , dad of a 3yr old and 10 month old twins , so we are a small zoo when we travel.
Looking forward to sharing some photos of the trip with ya'll when I get our new ( 1960 ) bus home.
Bill in KS
just a word of advice. if you haven't already done so, get a good roadside service before even thinking about moving that bus. And get a goos spare if it does not have one...again, before even thinking about moving that bus. And might want to make sure you have a gallon or 2 of oil with you, depending on how far you are going with it you might need some oil added before you get her home. Not just any oil will do, get the right stuff.
Mackinac Island is nice...Tiki RV park north of bridge is reasonable..pasport America park (St.Ignace)..will be cool this time of year...Bob
Bill there is a really nice older busnut in the UP named Cody! He is super cool and would really enjoy seeing one of us busnuts up his way for a change as he usually has to come way south to see one!
He's on the west end of the UP in Baraga.
Look him up, give him a shout, maybe he'll fire up his old bird and meet you somewhere for an overnight camp-out or something!
;D BK ;D
Bill,
Glad to see you found a bus and a 4104 to boot!! 8) Any pictures? From the year and the number one of the later 4104's. Where in Kansas are you?
Rick
I went back over your recent posts and didn't find anything about this bus? What can you tell about it? I have to say, if you're not totally confident about the shape it's in you are a braver man than I am, bringing the in-laws and the kids on the first trip ever in the bus! Man! I would not want anyone to see me trying to figure out how to shift a 4 speed spicer for the very first time! Maybe you have moreb experience that I did when i started out!
Congrats on the new bus, and my only advice is don't go anywhere near Chicago if you can help it!
Brian
thomasinnv:
thanks for the words about roadside ins. I intended on getting some extra oil from the detroit dealer after they service the engine. As for the spare, it will have good tire installed just down the road from the Det. Dealer and I was going to address the spare at that time.
BK:
I would love to meet a busnut while on the road. any contact info would be helpful, not sure how to find his number on the site.
Rick59:
I live just west of Joplin Mo, couple miles E. off 69 hiway. I have tons of photos from the previous owner but I don't wanna show her off until I'm back home.
bevans6:
I would love to share all of the infomation and photos I have but not that type to start party'n until I'm cruising down the road , wife is in the catbird seat & kids are scream'n for more cheerios. I really don't have much experience with buses but have pretty solid mechanical background.
As for the family going, there isn't anyone else I'd want with me even if it is a total failure. I have a VERY tight knit family ( including the inlaws).
In reference to Chicago, NO Way, it just makes my blood boil to think of the current political stuff brew'n in that town.
The ole bus might try to whip me but she ain't gonna win.
Thanks for the reply
Bill
Bill, you are not far from me, I am about 30 minutes south of Branson, there is another 4104 East of me at Ash Flat Arkansas, maybe we can get together sometime and have a 4104 fest.
Good luck on your trip to get it..
Rick
Rick59:
Sounds like fun. If the purchase goes smooth I intend to run over to the Rally in Carthage Saturday afternoon.
thanks
Bill in KS
Quote from: Bill in KS
BK:
I would love to meet a busnut while on the road. any contact info would be helpful, not sure how to find his number on the site.
Bill try sending him a msg here on the board, I have a # but I don't like passing out #'s without permission except in emergencies!
Here is a link to him off the members list & it does have an email address. ;)
http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?action=profile;u=1557 (http://www.busconversions.com/bbs/index.php?action=profile;u=1557)
;D BK ;D
Bill, We'll see ya at the Carthage rally! Can't wait to see it!
Paul
BK: Thank you for the link, sent him an E.
Bill in KS
Bill when are you coming thru?
Hi Bill,
Sept 23 - 26, a few of us will be getting together in Moose Lake Minnesota, which is just a few miles west of Wisconsin and about a 45 minute drive south of duluth Minnesota. We got the big lake, a great railroad museum, and some friendly bus nuts. If you can make it, we would like to meet you all, BTW, i have a 4104 and our friends have a Silverside.
Cody:
I have an appt. @ Gaylord DD in the am on the 20th and then to the tire shop after they are done. Probably be in the UP around the 22nd & 23rd. I honestly don't know how long we'll be in the Up Penn. We intend to just see the sights and move at a snails pace.
John Z:
Thanks for the invite, we'll see how the week rolls out. I think the wife wants to go to the Great Mall, so we might not travel that far west.
Bill in KS
Quote from: cody on September 14, 2010, 05:59:07 PM
Bill when are you coming thru?
Cody,
He doesn't say when he'd be over yer way, but he's gonna pick up the bus 311 miles SE of you on the 20th.
;D BK ;D
Bill if you plan to travel at a snails pace, you will be right along side Cody fer sure! He ain't fast, but he sure is a great guy!
And if you go by the MN gathering and then go straight south you'll be @ the MALL of America!
;D BK ;D
Ahhhhhhhh shuckssss
Bill,
I second the motion on getting a good road emergency service. The cost of one service call will pay for a couple of years at the very least least and probably a lot more. Do not leave home without this, Good Sam and some others also cover all your other vehicles as well. You can't go wrong.
You have a lot of guts taking all those people on your very first 4104 outing. I would never have nerve enough to do that!!
I drove my 4104for 800 miles solo before ever taking the wife in it.
Just an update from the computer lounge at the hotel in Gaylord MI: Spent the last couple days have a tune up (adjust rack & set Gov.) / R&R oil / filter / R&R some coolant lines @ the detroit dealer. Replaced 3 braided oil lines in the tire shop's parking lot & adjusted the free play in the clutch. Had two new steer tires installed and replaced the drives with some nice caps. Tires that were on the bus were 17 years old !!!
We plan to head out tomorrow and put the bus on the road. I will update when I get home.
Big thanks to this forum, I have learned enough to be dangerous and gained some contacts and much needed knowledge.
Cody: might give you a call when we get close, were are heading for the U.P. in the morning :)
Bill in KS
Bill, looks like we'll be heading for Marquette tomorrow so we'll be right in your flight path, marquette is about 70 miles east of us, the route I always take is US2 west from the the bridge to Blaney Park (65 miles) then north on M77 to Seney (16 miles) then west on US41/28 to shingleton (35 miles) continue on the same road to Munising about 10 miles further west then to Marquette another 40 miles, we can meet up there if you want libby's cell is nine oh six three nine five six one eight oh. Libby has a doctors appointment at 2pm so we'll be in the area, looking forward to saying hi.
Cody:
It looks like we are heading to the bridge for a stop, then to the Soo Locks in Marie then on to White fish point. From White Fish Pt. to Muninsing. Muninsing to Silver City. It would be around Friday when we'll be in your area. I will give you a call when we are heading that way.
thanks
Bill in KS
Bill -
FYI, the procedure for adjusting the clutch starts up front, under the driver's seat in the exterior compartment. It's not just the little wheel back in the engine room - there's a whole lot more! Should have about 1" of free-play at the pedal. All this is outlined in the shop manual.
If you haven't already, you might find reading this helpful:
http://www.busnut.com/bbs/messages/12262/16204.html?1167073154 (http://www.busnut.com/bbs/messages/12262/16204.html?1167073154)
Whatever you do, DON'T LUG IT!!! Good way to burn up a Detroit 2-stroke quickly. Drive it like you just slammed your hand in the door and that old 6-71 will be a happy camper.
Remember - STRAIGHT 40wt, CF-2, 1% or less sulfated ash oil in the engine. DO NOT USE MULTI-WEIGHT!!! Chevron Delo 100, Exxon/Mobile XD-3, and Shell Rotella are three popular brands. Usually not sitting on the shelf at Wal-Mart, easiest is thru a local petroleum distributor. Hopefully the DD shop used the right oil - sometimes they forget!
FYI, PD4104-4797 was delivered new as fleet number P-7624 to Western Greyhound Lines, based out of San Francisco, CA. It was part of an 84-bus order delivered between May and July of 1960. Since it's near the end of the VIN's for that order, most likely it was middle-late June when it left the factory. WGL took very good care of their equipment back in those days, and usually sold them off after the summer peak season, 10 years after originally being purchased. Thus, this coach most likely worked it's way up & down CA until 1970.
You can now rightfully say that you've got a "retired Greyhound bus!"
Oh, and remember Aesop's Fable about "The Tortoise and The Hare?" You've got the Tortoise. Keep that in mind as you cruise along, and everyone will be happy. Try to be the Hare, and you'll just get frustrated.
Congratulations on your purchase of a rugged old workhorse! May you enjoy many, many (s)miles with it!
FWIW & HTH. . .
;)
Bill while in Munising, check out the shipwrecks, the bay is littered with old ones and they use glass bottomed boats to tour them. Also after you leave munising, you'll go thru marquette and onto L'Anse and around the head of Keweenaw Bay on your way to Ontonagan and Silver City, at the head of the bay you'll pass within 100 ft of my daughters house where we'll be sitting, right at the top of the hill in Baraga, home phone here is nine oh six three five three eight seven nine seven.
Cody,
We'll also be close to your neighborhood sometime next week. The Wife wants to look for rocks at Pictured Rocks. Any suggestions on where to go and what to see at Pictured Rocks?? The only schedule we have is to be in Ft. Leavenworth, KS on or about the first of Oct.
Bill in KS,
If you are rockhounds, Whitefish point has been cleaned out. All the good rocks are in the bay of our bus >:(. Spent last week near White Fish Point at a friends house in the middle of no where. It rained most of the time we were there. It is indeed a pretty place, got some good pictures.
Pictured rocks is pretty much a boat trip, high cliffs of colored and banded stone, very pretty but hard to get too, west of there on our area there are miles of beaches for rock picking, you can look for agates on the lake shore and find nice ones in the quarter sized ares or you can hit the big huron river where the mother load is and try to pry out some in the 500 to 1000 pound sizes lol. big chunks of float copper are hauled out now and then, they just loaded an 80,000 pound one onto a sand bank and got it on display, it's kind of a big chunk of pure copper, the COE are trying to figure out how to get one off the bottom of the lake thats the size of an aircraft carrier, the 80,000 pound one is a chip off the big one.
We are are home !! She never missed a beat !!
Cody: kids started getting wild and I started heading the bus south at Munising and never let off the throttle. We intend to go back to the UP , our " pictured rocks " tour was cancelled due to rough water. Wife had her heart set on seeing those rocks.
RJ: Thanks for all of the information.
Bill in KS
Hey Bill,
Glad to hear you made the trip with no problems.
Now how about a picture or 2??
Rick
Thats ok bill, we'll catch up on the road, the UP will always be here and we kinda wander around a little from time to time too, just glad no major malfunctions hit, it's always a gamble until you get to know the old beast a little better and that goes for the bus too lol. Maybe we can connect at the MACC next summer, thats an incredible week and one the kids will enjoy, if they play any instruments I can get them onstage for childrens night, it'll give them bragging rights at school lol. Muscians Against Childhood Cancer, it's a benefit for St Judes each july in columbus ohio, great bunch of people and all well known performers.