Once most despised, now the most elusive GM part ever?

[Barn Owl]

Where can I find anything about the engine cradle shields that came on the GM coaches that had the 8v71? Luke said he hasn't seen one in over twenty years so I thought I would turn to the board. I have heard that mechanics despised them and they were usually removed and disposed of in short order. I am looking for a description, picture, or even the real part so that I could possibly fabricate one. My problem is that I live up a very steep and long dirt driveway (seven tenths of a mile and did I mention steep!). It almost qualifies as going off road for the bus because the road is fairly rough. With this hard pull and high rpms the bus stirs up a lot of dust, leaves and who knows what. Looking in the rear mirrors I can see it all going right into the air intake and clogging my new filters. As an experiment I strapped a piece of metal siding off of an old shed to the bottom of the cradle. This made enough of an improvement that I have decided to find a permanent fix. I would like to get as close as practical to what the engineers had originally designed because of possible airflow and cooling problems. Luke said the original had louvers in them. I believe he said that they might have been three or so pieces that made up the whole assembly. I have not found anything in my manuals or the internet. I read an article in an old Bus Conversion Magazine that mentioned them and their rarity, but it didn't have a photo. Even with the dirt that can be stirred up on paved roads wouldn't the shield be beneficial by redirecting the airflow away from the ground? Do the RTS buses have them? If all you have is a description or an idea, please post a reply. If you know someone who could help me, please ask if I could contact them. Anything that could help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[Geoff]

On an RTS there is a bottom shield between the radiator and the engine.  It is heavy sheet metal that bolts to the cradle, the area underneath the engine is open. 

[kingfa39]

t  The 06 had a steel pan under the engine, i had a photo of one, will try to find it.
Frank Allen
4106

[RTS/Daytona]

My '89 RTS 06 had a plastic shield about 5' wide 5' long to protect the wet tank and dryer

Pete RTS/Daytona

[gus]

Owl,

I, too, live on a dirt road and hate all the dust. I've never been able to find one word about them, even in the parts book for my 4104. I just figured it out for myself when I saw the quick release fasteners on the bottom.

I changed my exhaust pipes to point straight out instead of down but now realize that most of the dust is stirred up by the air from the radiator fan. I put it into neutral and let it idle as much as possible which helps some. Going up a steep hill you are sunk.

I'm going to make a couple for the left side to see how much that helps. I'm going to use 22 gage galvanized steel sheet metal and probably add stiffeners since it is pretty thin. It would appear that this would force all the air out the right side louvers. I think it will cut down on all the oil on the rear also.

It does appear that there were at least two and probably three of the pans.

I'm interested to see what other answers you get to your question.

[Clarke Echols]

You can always extend the exhaust and intake to a pair of external pipes up the back of the bus.
Put the exhaust out one side and an air intake pre-cleaner on the other.

Chrome it up and call it a "feature" like the software guys do when the find a problem in the
program they don't want to fix.

CE

[tekebird]

I have a brand new Driver side I beleive for a Buffalo if your interested.