Starting on a Gillig low floor

[JShed]

Hi all! New to the forum and the world of busses.

We just bought a 2000 Gillig low floor. It?s a 32 passenger and was a city bus for Rochester MN. All in all she was serviced regularly and taken care of.

We have a cycling team that goes on Ragbrai each year (week long bike ride across the state of Iowa). The bus will be a support vehicle. Basically a people/bike/gear hauler. We?re trying to do some upgrades but still staying on a budget.

Plans:
Add a roof ?deck? to transport bicycles.
Rearrange seating to maximize room for gear and people.
Add modest sound system.
Paint exterior.
Update interior.

The floor between the rear duals is spongy so we?re diving into that. Also there was a repair by the last owner behind the rear duals where a beam had fallen? He said it?s a common problem on one side? So there?s a hole in the floor and a piece of angle iron has been welded in to brace it. Anyone heard of this?
Appears we need a new belt to the air compressor. Looks pretty straight forward, loosen bolts on compressor, exchange belts and re tighten? Any tips?
Also there is the message board on the front. Old owner said it cost $900 to the company to use it? Gotta be a way to hack into it and control the display right?

Any common issues with these busses?

Sorry for the long post. Any and all tips/ideas are very much appreciated!

[chessie4905]

Welcome. I'd be concerned about the rear floor, beam patch issues. My concern would be major rust issues in the area. Have it inspected closely.

[neoneddy]

Ah another MN member .. or at least close.  Welcome aboard.

[Iceni John]

Lucky Chow, a contributor on the Skoolie forum , has a Gillig high-floor that is fully converted, and he reports that the proprietary software for the destination signs is something you will either have to pay to use (and it's not cheap), or just not use at all.   AFAIK there are no easy hacks to get around it.   Does the PO still have the software, or could they help you with it?

A roof deck is not a challenge per se, but safely getting people and bicycles up and down there would be.   Maybe a simple winch for the bikes, but people would need to climb up.   Railings to prevent accidents would also be prudent.

John

[pabusnut]

After you fix the "spongy" floor which may be a substantial job, then start on the roof deck.

You may want to make the deck double as an observation deck to relax on like in this video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbUc5nsAPTo

[JShed]

When we bought the bus the previous owner had began tearing seats out, and did do a fix on the floor behind the right side duals.

He also said it draws down the batteries and needs jumped to get started. Not being the most mechanically inclined any thoughts on what could be drawing the batteries down? We bought it and drove it 50 miles home and it was fine. Shut it down and turned the main breaker off next to the batteries. Went back 24 hours later and she wouldn?t start. I have a small trickle charger/booster and that was hooked up for 3 hours and still wouldn?t start. It is trying to turn over and all the gauges turn on. Starter is operating. He appeared to have started it with a larger jump box/charger.

Also there is a battery quick connect terminal in the engine compartment, would that be used to ?jump? the bus?

Beyond that we have an oil leak. Have a heavy equipment mechanic friend coming to take a look at that.

Also interested in any input on adding the deck to the top? Is this drilling into the roof/upper sides and then attaching the deck? Where are the structural supports? I do have a fabricator/welder who is going to look at it and do the work. Really any ideas would be helpful as well as any pics if any know of somemout there.

Sorry to be such a newbie, it?s all a very new and confusing world of busses.

[chessie4905]

remove and get them tested. My money says batteries are junk.

[JShed]

I will start there! Thank you!

[neoneddy]

I have a small trickle charger/booster and that was hooked up for 3 hours and still wouldn?

Was this a 24v charger?  Or is this a 12v system?

I jumped our bus with 2 vehicles one time being that i was a 24v system.  Connected the jumper cables to each bank.

[JShed]

Well good question. Electrical is a foreign language to me that apparently I?m going to have to get comfortable with.

It has 2 of those huge batteries. I?m guessing they?re parallel or in series or something?

The charger was a little hand carrier charger I use to trickle charge my small engine toys.

[neoneddy]

Ok, almost certain it's 24v, but check.   If the positive on one battery goes to the negative of the the other, it's 24v, if positive is connected to positive and negative to negative it's 12v.

If it's 24v, put the charger on each battery separately... (positive to positive, etc)   then when you need to start it, if it doesn't go, put a vehicle on the other bank, each vehicle only delivers 24v.

Then once she's running, you'll want to check the charging voltage. Get a multimeter even if it seems like magic http://a.co/d/3HV71bj  You'll learn.

You're looking for 27-28v for  when the bus is running.  Or 14v or so if it's a 12v system.   If you're around 24-25, something isn't right.

[JShed]

I?ll get started on it tomorrow!

It is a 24v system. Batteries are hooked together with a jumper.

Any thoughts on what the quick connect battery cable might be for in the engine compartment? Could it be a shoreline type connection? I?m a fireman and all our trucks have a shoreline whenever they?re in the station and they run on a 24v system. Just thinking if it needs to be plugged in or not.

[neoneddy]

Could be, if it's a 120v plug it could be for terminal power.  My MCI has a plug fo that to run lights and the heater I think while at the terminal.

[JShed]

True. It does have a regular plug in on the back that I?m assuming is a block heater. I?ll have to check into that. It?s so corroded it?ll need replaced anyway. Seems like I?ve got a lot of investigating to do.

[neoneddy]

Yup, I replaced my block heater cord as well.  they are pretty standard.  Was maybe $20