The Bus God's Sent Me A Real Beauty, Maybe Beauty Only A Father's Eye Can See...

[JeffsMagicBus]

  Hello!
I've been up for almost 4 days straight wheeling and dealing but I finally got a Wanderlodge! It had Wandered into limbo about 4 years ago where I found and rescued it. It's a real trip, a trip back in time... She's a Real Beauty and would make Steve Irwin say Crikey! He might have said: Crikey Dude! What's Up (or Wrong) with YOU?
I don't even know the exact Blue Bird model it is but it's 31'. It has a giant Ford Industrial Gasoline engine and it's a pusher configuration.
I'll keep you posted on my progress!
                                                  Take Care,
                                                                   Jeff

[Airbag]

Pictures mate pictures. I love Wanderlodges being an ex school bus driver.

[Dreamscape]

Cool!

Have fun!

I sent you an email, check it out.

Paul

[bevans6]

Wanderlodges were the bus that got me interested in buses, several years back.  I just thought they were so cool!

brian

[TomC]

You got a good one.  Built on a truck chassis with big axles and brakes.  One of the few that has spring suspension that rides well.  The engine you most likely have is a 534cu in V-8.  And the transmission is the iron case 6 spd (easy to tell if you have a shifter that has R/N/3-6/3-5/3-4/3/2/1. Or similar).  It is a 4spd with 2 low gears.  Unfortunately, both the engine and transmission have not been made for years and parts are getting very scarce.  If you're going to keep this bus for many years, I would highly recommend you changing out the engine/transmission for a modern setup.  A Cummins ISC 8.3 @ 330hp and 1,000lb/ft torque with an Allison 3000 series transmission would be a great setup since both are still being made and are going to be continued being made into the future.  You could either get one from a crashed truck, or wait until you're done with your modifications to get a 2010 model with Urea exhaust injection-then you'd be fully up to date with a clean Diesel engine.  Smog laws are the main reason Ford stopped making the big 477/534 cu in engines.  Good Luck, TomC

[luvrbus]

Jeff you will amazed at the fuel mileage the 534 will get with the right carburetor and without the governor connected I have one in a old Carpenter bus.
Check old truck wrecking yard Cat had a bolt on Diesel conversion to work on those engines used back in the late 60's and 70's era in Ford trucks they are tough and are a sleeved engine.
I love to hear one idle at a low speed a sound you never forget. 
I start the old Carpenter sometimes just to hear the sound  

good luck

[JeffsMagicBus]

  Hello Again!
I still don't have my motor coach at the house yet but I should hopefully have it here by the end of the month. It's only an hour away but that makes it very hard to work on it.
I've found out that I have an Extremely Rare Prototype and that Blue Bird only produced 9 models with the front door! I was told that Jimmy Carter owned one of the 9 when he was campaining but had it converted to a mid entry when they were repowering it for him at BB. So technically only 8 exsist. Now I saw one of them in Oregon for $17,500.00 and one of them in Asheville, N.C. for $16,000.00. So 2 of the 5 left have been accounted for. It's safe to say that at least 1 or 2, possibly more, of the remaining 5 have gone to the Big Camp Ground in the Sky due to accident, neglect or a dozen other reasons.
My coach has a 391 CI Ford Industrial Gas engine with the 6 speed Allison automatic. The odometer is showing 67,*** which appears to be actual. I recently made my first trip to check out the coach. I installed a dead bolt on the door, secured the windows and killed off 4 years of wasps! I got there at about 1:30 am and stayed until about 6:30 so I could take some photos in the daytime. I had a midnight snack sitting on the front couch and then sat in the chair for awhile. I even layed down in the bedroom for awhile just so I can say I did it. I mean it's old and crusty buy I Love it and all I see is a brand new shiny coach sitting there as True Love is Blind!
I've been offered a fully operational 1980 Wanderlodge as a trade but I haven't heard back from the guy in a few days. He told me he saw a '70 model on display at the factory as a kid when his parents where there picking up their new coach! I like his coach but mine has much more character and no matter what I did to his it would always still be an FC model! But I'll trade with him if he really has to have it!
I've taken some "Before" photos of my coach and a slide show of them can be seen at the following link:

http://cid-c6ec323e6ef26dd8.skydrive.live.com/play.aspx/1970%20Blue%20Bird%20Wanderlodge-Only%20Nine%20Models%20Were%20Produced!%20%7C5Before%20Photos-As%20I%20Found%20It%7C6?ref=1

 I should start working on it in a couple of weeks and will keep you posted on my progress.
              Take Care,
                              Jeff

[John316]

Congratulations Jeff. Looks like you got yourself a good project . How much did you pay for it?

BTW, you might be aware of it, but there is a wanderlodge board (I am on there too)http://www.wanderlodgeownersgroup.com/forums/index.php. FWIW

God bless,

John

[Dreamscape]

I'm also on the Wanderlodge Forum, just like to keep up with other brands, have already made some friends, imagine that!

Good project you have, I've always had a fondness for BB's and anything older than me!

Paul

[John316]

Paul,

I thought that I saw you over there. Posting about awnings, I think....

God bless,

John

[Dreamscape]

Yip, that was me as most BB's have Zip Dee. I eventually followed Cliffords advice and bought the parts from Zip Dee and used his instructions to mount it. I just was hoping to find some used parts as our $$$$$ are in short supply! 

Paul