what is a wrecked 1986 mci worth?

[idarusskie]

I have located a wrecked 1986 MCI 44. 

It hit a horse on the drivers side front end. Smashed up the bus deep enough to damage all of the wiring on that side.  The engine and transmission have been removed.  its has 925,000 miles on it.  The question is should I scrap it for the metal, part it out or sell it whole for some one to convert.


What do ya do with all the seats?

[belfert]

Personally, I would part it out and then scrap the rest.  A bus like that with no engine isn't worth all that much in non-damaged condition.

[Sojourner]

Or MCI upgrade to this and remove your older engine & trans for power system.

This has the integral power steering system already factory installed...one of big plus.

FWIW

Sojourn for Christ, Jerry

[captain ron]

Properly scrapping it will bring you $5000 If you part it out you might even do better.

Where are you located? Where is the bus?

[idarusskie]

I am still working with the owner for a price.  Its in eastern Montana.  A mine there had it to transport workers.  I take it that if the engine is gone that the breaks are also gone.  I need to calculate the price to get it to my cousins house about 50 miles away.  You could pull it with a truck if it had breaks and you went slow enough.

What is properly scrapping it?

One of the other things is they took the aluminum wheels and replaced them with old steel ones. tires look like they have some wear left in them.
Side windows were all good but the front wind shields are toasts.  I suppose one could carefully take all the parts apart instate as much as possible.  Its good to keep the weather out until you at least sell the seats.

[gumpy]

Personally, I wouldn't give more than $500 for it.  I might even try negotiating to get it free for the scrap value. The company might want to just get rid of it. After all, they've probably been paid by their insurance company for the damage, and have no doubt depreciated it while they've owned it. Right now, they probably have no investment in it.

If I were going to rebuild it and install an engine, I've have to really look over the running gear and air system first, even if it were free. An engine and tranny could cost upwards of $20K for new rebuilt. If the brakes and air system are questionable, that could lead to another several thousands of $$$.

It's a 96" wide coach. You can get 102's now for $10K-$15K, and they run and are not damaged.

If the electrical is damaged in the front junction box, you might be looking at a complete rewire. On the other hand, most of the electrical is towards the rear, and the stuff towards the front is primarily audio system wiring, which would most likely be removed anyway.

If you cap off the compressor lines, you can put a small compressor in it and run it off a generator to keep the air system up. There's an emergency brake fill valve in the compartment under the front electrical panel. You could also tie it at the engine compartment. Put in a little platform in the engine compartment for a generator and compressor, chain them down and you're good to go. Tow away.

[skipn]

idarusskie,

    If the buss is at colstrip they have lowboys going to the mine all the time
maybe you could work out a deal with one of the drivers?

Check with T&E in Billings and see if they are making any deliveries in the near future.

just a though


Skip

[tekebird]

I'll be your freind.....it's not worth anything to you....buy something where you will have alot less work to make it go

[kyle4501]

If you're going to scrap it, clean stainless is bringing ~$1.00 per pound from what I hear.

But the labor & materials to reduce it to clean piles for maximum scrap value may render it all worthless when you're done, just depends on your situation.

As for rebuilding it & putting it back on the road, you can put almost any truck engine/ transmission in it - just depends on what you find & how much effort you want to put into it.

Anything can be fixed, but is it worth the effort?


Even if you buy a running bus, there is nothing to keep it from breaking down later.
So, be careful, the water is deep & can get very expen$ive to get out of.

[captain ron]

Just a couple days ago stainless was 2.00 pound  alum. .80  copper 3.35

[Sammy]

If you can get it for free - take it and scrap it.
Put the money towards a bus in better shape.
This bus can,and most likely will be a bottomless money pit.
I recommend to save your money at this time, I wouldn't touch it.
Gumpy's post says it all. 

[chazwood]

If you ask me.....(and you might have,) these buses are hard enough to convert when they're in great shape. Starting out with one in that condition is ..........is..........well, nuts.

You would put countless hours into scrapping it and for what? After you figured out how little money you made, you'd be better off delivering pizza.

Maybe parting it would make sense but only for the love of helping other buses..... Cuz, You wouldn't make minium wage on selling the parts either.

[tekebird]

generally speaking, if they are worth fixing the company fixes them.

[idarusskie]

Thanks guys. 

Its seems like the only value is to someone who has a bus just like it in need of parts. The problem being you have to keep the old thing around.  Nice if you have the room which most people do not have.

Parting it out would also assume you had buyers for everything all at once.  Other wise you have to leave it like the auto salvage guy who parks cars for years until someone calls for a spare part.

[belfert]

Hey, if someone gave me that bus or any bus I would scrap it out for the money if I could figure out how to get rid of the non metal bits without spending all the scrap money on disposal.

I work at a pretty high paying job, but I don't get paid for extra hours, so I'm losing money instead of making more by working extra.  Scrapping a bus might not make much an hour, but more than watching TV or working on my bus.  I can always use extra money for my bus.  Too many people rate menial tasks by how much more money they could be making at work.  Unless you can work unlimited hours for pay you aren't losing anything doing work around the house and such.