Rotten support tower

[MrMisfit]

I'm curious if anyone has replaced the front suspension support tower on an MCI 102-DL3 series (this one is a '99)? There's only 1 place within a few hundred miles that'll do the work, but they want me to bring the bus to them before they'll even guess (not an unreasonable request). The caveat is I haven't purchased the bus yet (it's at a bus company I deliver fuel to) and I'm hesitant to purchase it without any clue what it's going to take to fix it. To tow the bus out and back will cost over $2,000 and that's not something I really want to spend on a hope and a prayer that it's not going to cost more to fix than I could purchase a different bus without rot issues for, if that makes sense. It's the right front suspension support tower. I've attached a couple of pictures of what's rotted. The frame looks OK to me and the shop foreman (known him for 4½ years and he makes nothing off the sale), but I'm not qualified to even venture a guess of what it'll cost. Does anyone have any idea?

[epretot]

I think we have the same problem.

I have a guy that owns a hotrod shop who is doing the repair.

I bartered with him...so don't have a cost yet.

The problem we have is, the part that goes through the pillar isn't manufactured anymore.

MCI could make it, but they didn't give me a time frame. Or cost.

The guy doing my repair is going to re-engineer it to delete that part.

[epretot]

Here is an exploded view of the front.

I circled where the part goes.

Mine is completely missing it was so rotted.

[robertglines1]

ch rear first! before starting repair somewhere in front.

[chessie4905]

walk away now before you sink a fortune in it. find another candidate in good condition.

[Busted Knuckle]

ch rear first! before starting repair somewhere in front.

walk away now before you sink a fortune in it. find another candidate in good condition.

What both the above said! Bob is right the DL's had a history of the rears needing repair, and Chessie makes a VERY smart observation!
  BK 

[lostagain]

Look for a bus with no rust.

[lvmci]

If that part is that rusted, most other more prone to rust parts will need the same amount of work or have to be replaced. Don't buy a rusted bus. Your first bus gets you so infatuated that you over look common since. Step back and cool off, look for a bus already converted. 
   The best choice will be a bus converted from a shell. Which are very low mileage and almost all of these have little rust compared to a working bus..

[tr206]

Do yourself a favor don't walk away run away.

[RJ]

. . .The caveat is I haven't purchased the bus yet. . . and I'm hesitant to purchase it without any clue what it's going to take to fix it.

MrMisfit -

This is the most intelligent sentence in your whole post.

The chassis of that bus is toast. Burned toast.

My suggestion: Offer them $1,000, take it home and part it out. You'll double your money with very little effort, just from the S-60/B500 alone.

Then go buy yourself a coach that was converted on a new shell, not a worn-out revenue service rust bucket.

FWIW & HTH. . .

RJ

[Jim Blackwood]

In any conversion the best approach is undoubtedly to start with the best vehicle that you can acquire. Period. That's the number one rule, provided of course that you have the budget to complete and then operate the vehicle and that is really the only justification for starting with anything less. Except if you discover hidden damage and can either fix it or live with it. In my case it was damage from the bus being high centered. Easy to detect if you know where to look but pretty much impossible to fix and live with it I shall as it doesn't seriously impact the usability of the bus. Unless you are a dab hand at structural fabrication it'd be a good idea to stay away from safety concerns such as your rust problem as the repair costs could eat you alive. OTOH if you are good with a welder you CAN repair almost anything. The question is how much time you can devote to it.

Jim