Hello Brill, bye-bye "Birdie"

[Brill-o]

Hello fellow Bus-ites-

Well, she finally made it home yesterday eve', but without having a few small issues happening—

First off, a tire was low- but took air and held.

Secondly, the prior owner wanted one last look inside—and forgot to close the door. The hauler moved the bus, took out a small bush and it pushed the door in- warping it slightly.

Finally, he got a little too close to a tree and broke the pass side mirror.

This was the second retrievals place I contacted, as the first guy took my $100 deposit for the haul—and disappeared...


This is going to be quite the undertaking!

I crawled underneath and found the bus has a "Swiss cheese" type of frame with support struts running to the sides. The under-floor is wood (not too bad a shape) with protector plates and heat shields under various places. A lot of surface rust, though.

I located 6 spark-plugs facing down on the bottom (?) of the engine and one distributor.
The carb/intake (?) set-up is something I've never seen before
There is a pulley that connects to a large box with a fan in it and another pulley in a different area that looks like it hooks up to a large 2-cyl pump (A/C?), and there's wires and pipes running everywhere underneath.

Where to start?

I suppose tackling this thing like an early automobile might be similar—

I going to give her a bath, pull the plugs and check their condition first, then check the oil (I can't find the dipstick!).

If it looks good up to this point I might try to turn her over. The fuel tank looks like stainless or something, because it is very clean with no signs of corrosion or wear—that's the outside of it.
I'll run a new separate line to what-ever I can figure out- for the intake side. If the plugs are rusty and there's any water in the oil- I'll let her sit for a few weeks with the cylinders soaking in a lubricant, then try it.

I think this will be "no walk in the park" doing this as a conversion, but if we can—we are only looking for the basics—beds, shower, stove, and loo.
Nothing fancy at all.

With this in mind, I feel I must let the Blue-Bird go—

I know this is not the place to sell your bus, so I won't even try.

Can some out there give me some ideas as to a (general) value and where to sell this?
I'm not too fond of the "Bay".

I would use the proceeds to help pay for the Brill conversion—the Wife's words (orders, actually).

Lastly, I documented the trip home with it, and have a few pics but it seems as it takes me forever trying to resize them to fit here-

I tried last night and gave up. Can I load a pic or attachment from a photo service—like Photo-bucket?  I can then put up a normal 3X5 pic instead of a speck smaller than your pinky nail!

Thank you for all your tips, tricks, and ideas!

Cheers..

Mind the gap!

[Busted Knuckle]

Well Brill-o I'm glad to hear ya safely got 'r home an I'm also sad to hear that the first hauler charged you a $100 deposit and then turned yellow and disappeared! But the GREAT thing is ya got it home with what sounds like very minimal damages, and yer off and on yer way to a very challenging and also rewarding task of bringing the old Brill back to usable condition! GOOD LUCK! And be sure to ask as many questions as you need and keep us up to date as it progresses! Have a great day! BK
"TN FALL BUS BASH" is gonna be a BLAST!

[TomC]

Brill-O- I gather that the engine in the Brill is a Hall-Scott? Or a White?  I know that the Hall-Scotts were gasoline engines just about made like a Diesel (although Hall-Scott tried to switch to Diesel without to much success).  I don't know what your direction in this conversion is going to be.  If you're going for original, then I guess you'll keep the gasoline engine and its' 2-3mpg.  But since those big gasoline engines have not been made for MANY years, I'd suggest changing to one of the lay down Diesels like the 6-71 natural or turbo or the Cummins NH or NTC (preferred) engine.  You'll be much more happy with the Diesels getting 7-9mpg, having good power and being able to find parts and people that can work on the engines compared to the old dinosaur gasoline engine in it.  BTW-the belt driven 2 cylinder compressor is for the air brake system.  Good Luck, TomC

[Brill-o]

Hello-

I just thought I'd share the delivery photos of my Brill-

BK:
You sound like a real nice guy and from what I've read quite talented and very helpful. It's a pleasure to have your acquaintance—
Yes, that first scam sucked, but what can you do? I had to "move it or loose it".
I wish my Brill was up to going to your bash—sounds like it will be a blast! Halloween is our Wed. anniversary!
I would also like you "work" on my bus. Nothing in particular, but being as old as it is, you wouldn't have to look far to find something needing attention.


TomC:
Thank you for the info on that twin cyl. pump. I'm just learning all this stuff since this is the very first bus I will be working on.

Yes, it's a Hall-Scott. I've read some of the points you made elsewhere. I would consider a diesel if I could find one cheap enough and if it would be an easy conversion (is there such a thing?).

I've done a little research on my own once I found out what it was, but the biggest help was from right here:

The member here- 46Brillbus, has come to my aid with tons of info, tips and specs. This is one truly helpful guy who has gone out of his way to answer many questions, and provided some excellent photos for future ideas.

It is because of him that I can plan to try and have it running before the end of the week. Seriously, I hadn't a clue on this bus other than I thought it has a nice look.

His has a 9-speed Eaton-Fuller and gets 10 mpg—and it has a gas Hall-Scott (balanced and blue-printed!) I would think it would be even better with a big diesel—even with some pumping loss.


I'll give another update w/pics once it's cleaned and ready to (and hopefully will) fire-up.


Cheers..

[Busted Knuckle]

Thanks for the kind words! Keep on work'n on that ol' Brill and before ya know it you'll have a super nice rare bird! Keep us posted! BK!

[kyle4501]

What a great piece of history to have!

Good luck with it &

Enjoy your quest to restore her!

[46Brillbus]

Brill-o...thanks for the kind thoughts. As you proceed with your project you will begin to understand my enthusiasm. It can be a lonely world out here when you own, drive and work on a 60 year old gas drinking dino!!!  When I realized that there was actually someone out there who just might be as crazy as we are...I had to step in and try to encourage the sickness!
If you can just hang in there...take your time...and enjoy the process of putting her back together I know you will never regret a moment of time invested...not even the money! Stay in touch and I will help any way I can...if nothing else but to crawl around under Frieda Roam and try to figure out what a particular part is supposed to do!
Even though most of the folks on the board drive the big busses with diesels and all the good stuff...I have seen that they never hesitate to step in and try to help solve a problem. There is a lot of collective knowledge and wisdom on the board and it is appreciated!
Best Regards,
Clint & Janet & the 1946 Brill