Want a mechanic to take my money! MCI102A3 in SF Bay Area

Busted Knuckle · October 10, 2020, 08:59:43 AM

Quote from: dtcerrato on October 10, 2020, 06:47:31 AM
Let us not forget the persuader!

OH yeah I own a couple BFH's and even a couple WBMFH's!

Also have of prybars from 10" long to 72" long too!

BK

6805eagleguy · October 10, 2020, 03:24:50 PM

Quote from: Busted Knuckle on October 09, 2020, 09:37:07 PM
Hey I own a 1/2" wrench and both a phillips and a regular screwdriver!
BK

I just use a pair of pliers and vise grips....

dtcerrato · October 10, 2020, 05:40:52 PM

Lets not forget the tie wire & duck tape.

freds · October 10, 2020, 06:10:16 PM

Hey you forgot used clothes hanger wire!!!

BUDBUSBUDDY · October 10, 2020, 07:43:34 PM

daveola. I have the same problem. I live near Salem, Oregon. Have owned several buses but only little mechanical experience. I recently found a gm 4106 I want to buy but cannot find a mechanic (will not stay running). Nobody knows how to work on 8v71 or it's electrical system. Does anyone know a mechanic in this area? Thanks in advance for your help. Bud

windtrader · October 10, 2020, 08:17:50 PM

QuoteDoes anyone know a mechanic in this area? Thanks in advance for your help. Bud

Southern Oregon was once a hotbed of bus conversions and 2 stroke buses. Others can provide specifics of who is still around but even if shops have closed there must still be mechanics in the area.

luvrbus · October 11, 2020, 08:13:46 AM

Quote from: windtrader on October 10, 2020, 08:17:50 PM
Southern Oregon was once a hotbed of bus conversions and 2 stroke buses. Others can provide specifics of who is still around but even if shops have closed there must still be mechanics in the area.

David and Dennis at SOD stopped working on buses because they were screwed by a few bus owners ,they still work on buses if they know and trust you.Detroit dealers stopped because people with a bus worth 10k would have 30k of work done and never come back leaving a dealer to go through the problems and money to sell the bus to recoup a portion of their money,all bus owners are not that way but the few that are has caused the honest people a big problem

chessie4905 · October 11, 2020, 05:53:38 PM

Yep, quite common.

luvrbus · October 11, 2020, 06:16:58 PM

Quote from: chessie4905 on October 11, 2020, 05:53:38 PM
Yep, quite common.

Yep WW Williams had a Blue Bird Wander Lodge with a $51,000.00 repair bill for a 8v92 and a 741 Allison rebuild,it took them 1-1/2 years to sell the bus for $11,000.00

windtrader · October 12, 2020, 08:02:51 AM

I know owners ditch vehicles at repair shops and leave the shop left with unpaid bills. As a business person, it seems not only acceptable but necessary to take partial payments for repairs when the labor/parts grows anywhere near the wholesale/quick flip price of the vehicle. Many small shops, maybe not like this one, would suffer harsh economic damage being stuck with this loss. I'd suspect even the shop manager at Williams probably had to explain how such a loss got onto the books.

luvrbus · October 12, 2020, 08:39:35 AM

Quote from: windtrader on October 12, 2020, 08:02:51 AM
I know owners ditch vehicles at repair shops and leave the shop left with unpaid bills. As a business person, it seems not only acceptable but necessary to take partial payments for repairs when the labor/parts grows anywhere near the wholesale/quick flip price of the vehicle. Many small shops, maybe not like this one, would suffer harsh economic damage being stuck with this loss. I'd suspect even the shop manager at Williams probably had to explain how such a loss got onto the books.

That can be a double edge knife,I have a MCI 9 in the yard a young man paid a large deposit on and the shop couldn't do the repairs and sent it to me in boxes.Then the towing company did a lot of damage and won't pay because the owner did not hire the towing co the shop did,I have spent almost 2 years gathering parts to put this bus back on the road,Eric has the most exspensive MCI 9 shell around the shop or towing co even lost the DD3 brake chambers and drive shaft,I can see the light in tunnel now thanks to some that gave me parts

daveola · October 19, 2020, 03:44:38 PM

Yup - I should have mentioned that I know about Bay Cities in Benicia and Ted up in Williams.

Bay Cities did my engine/transmission swap, and they are great, but only do engine work.

Ted is amazing, and his place is absolutely worth a visit - I make a point to stop by on every trip up North if I can, but it's worth noting that he's not an MCI fan and it can be difficult to inspire him to do work, since he has so much work just on his property to begin with. I've thought about taking my bus to him, but not sure about the timeline. I can handle months of it getting fixed, but not a year or more.

daveola · October 19, 2020, 03:46:28 PM

The link to the Bus Friendly Mechanics on FB is fantastic - joining that and hoping for more info.

I've talked to Complete Coach Works before and I don't think I was able to get any sort of work done with them but I'm not sure why - perhaps I am remembering wrong so I'll give that a try again.

As far as Oregon - I have actually had bus work done up near Portland, heading out towards the West side. Could try to look up the shop if you can't find it, but I seem to recall having a fairly easy time finding bus friendly shops outside Portland.

BUDBUSBUDDY · October 19, 2020, 07:52:42 PM

Thanks for all you who gave me feedback. There are NO shops in Salem who will work on an 8v71 and its electrical system. As for W. of Portland there is a shop, Hillsboro Diesel who will work on the engine but not the electrical system. So in the end I will look for another converted bus. I should have kept my 4106.... oh well. Thanks again, Bud

daveola · October 19, 2020, 11:12:25 PM

The "Bus Friendly Mechanics" group on Facebook is a gold mine!

I wrote some software to convert the spreadsheet into a map, hopefully this will be helpful to people:

http://bus.getdave.com/Mechanics/