Starting An H3-41 Lots of Questions

jazvedo · March 24, 2014, 09:49:52 AM

I am starting an H3-41 Project.

I need to either: Raise the roof, or lower the floor.

Has anyone ever done the latter.

Also, anyone have pictures of raising the h3 roof. Everyone I can see is far more sane than me and starting with a XL

I'm looking at R&M caps but they don't have pictures....

Thanks for ANY help.

JASON

Ace · March 24, 2014, 01:26:56 PM

I have an H3-40, basically the same coach. Question is why raise the roof? You won't be able to put roof airs on or even a low profile satellite dish. I have both and I'm right at 13'4".
Lowering the floor will be tough because the bus frame below the floor is all stainless steel. Very hard to cut weld and drill! If you DO choose to lower the floor, keep in mind you will be taking away your large bay space!

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robertglines1 · March 24, 2014, 02:00:47 PM

Can't lower floor on XL because the frame is only 1 inch below the plywood floor. Yes a XL actually has a frame.. Not been in to a H structure. Bob

Jon · March 24, 2014, 04:46:13 PM

Ace nailed it. Bob nailed it.

Cannot even begin to imagine why anyone would want to do that.

belfert · March 24, 2014, 05:17:49 PM

The interior height on a 2014 seated H3 is 77 inches. Not real short, but not great either. (A 2014 conversion H3 has 83 inches.) The OP probably wants more interior height and I hardly blame him.

Ace · March 24, 2014, 05:42:52 PM

Belfert he said it was an H3-41. Surely not gonna be a 2014 model! Probably a early 90's midel

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luvrbus · March 24, 2014, 11:07:34 PM

They never built a VIP in the H-41 with the level floors I ever saw but lowering the floors is not that big of a deal in the H's is the dumb baggage compartments and doors

I helped Chad do his H-41 years back and he said he would never do it again he would by a Vip shell the next time we did find out the doors on the H-45 ViP would work but Prevost was very proud of those so he found a wrecked 45 VIP and bought the doors

There are some H's around the roof has been raised I forgot their name but one lived in Texas and a outfit in Virginia raised the roof on his H-40 I always wondered how much it changed the driving characteristics raising the roof on a H as they are a load to handle in high winds in NM to start with BTDT

jazvedo · March 25, 2014, 08:14:39 AM

The plan (right not at least) is to raise 6-8" putting me at 13'0" worst case.

The reason for this is that most of my friends are 6-3 and up and they are uncomfortable in a 6-5 bus. Granted I'm only 5-9 so I'm just dandy in there.

As far as drive-ability.... wow it handles nice, but wind can be a pain. I just drove the bus across the US (3400 miles to be exact) in 3.5 days and there was a time or two I thought we were going over.

On the AC's, I'm going ducted central basement system

Satellite I am building into the roof (wow do I have a lot of fiberglass work to do).

The idea to lower the floor was a harebrained scheme to save bodywork time...

Jon · March 25, 2014, 09:04:35 AM

It's going to be easier to get shorter friends. And cheaper.

belfert · March 25, 2014, 12:59:08 PM

Quote from: Ace on March 24, 2014, 05:42:52 PM
Belfert he said it was an H3-41. Surely not gonna be a 2014 model! Probably a early 90's midel

I didn't have any other place to find specs for the H3. Based on what the OP said about his bus being 6'-5" inside it sounds like the specs haven't changed.

TomC · March 25, 2014, 01:21:40 PM

I wouldn't do all that work just to please my friends. If they want to come in your bus, then just tell them to watch their heads. You'll eliminate weeks of work. Good Luck, TomC

Ace · March 25, 2014, 01:30:43 PM

Not to argue your point but when I first for my H3 I was lead to believe the VIP coaches had more head room inside due to shorter bay space. They didn't need the bay space to carry luggage like a seated coach which is what the op has. You can't have tall bays AND 7 foot interior height without mega and useless work! It's not an Eagle where raising the roof is a snap.
The op stated he's going to duct the a/c. He's gonna need the bay space which he has to do this and still have bay space left over!
Also if he's raising it 8 inches he might want to re measure! Like I said, mine is standard height and aired up with low profile roof airs and the low profile sat dish, and keeping the original 315x22.5 tires I'm at 13'4". I'm 5'10" and I have plenty of head space.
I'm with Jon, get shorter friends or let them build their own!
As for the height and wind, good luck in a cross wind! Your gonna have some white knuckles for sure.

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luvrbus · March 25, 2014, 02:14:57 PM

Wait till he gets a price on the fiber glass from Prevost he will be looking for new friends

8 grand for a rear cap

tomhamrick · March 26, 2014, 05:48:20 AM

The VIP model has a 6 1/2" factory roof raise. The area over the driver is the same height as the seated H3 then there is a hump in the roof for the roof raise. This continues until about 2 feet from the rear where there is another area the same as the seated coach. This area over the driver is where I have the satellite dish. By using low profile AC units that are 9.5 inches tall my overall height is 13' 3" to the top of the ACs. Roof height without ACs is 12' 5 1/2". Head room is 83 5/8" and the bay doors are the same as the seated coach.
Some of this information is from my personal experience and some is from the technical specs in my manual.

luvrbus · March 26, 2014, 06:07:40 AM

The H-41 is a little different than a H-40 the 41 is a nice coach but not that easy to convert to make the floors level from front to the rear the guy has his work ahead of him as the H-41 was never made in the VIP version it will be interesting to see which route he takes
Chris Davenport is lowering the floors on his and has ran into a few rust areas at the rear if this guy lives close to Houston I can give him a address to go see it he may change his mind