15+ yrs of sitting..and the Coach made it home :)

[Gerry4104]

She ran smooth as silk..shifted flawlessly ( up and down) shifter assy is nice and tight...clutched perfect...nearly every light worked minus a couple clearance lights..

I have yet to see this engine, blow any smoke....

all the guages worked althought the speedo is off a bit.and the tach is a bit all over the place at times...

all the dash lights work   

the brakes worked great...

the rear airbags wouldnt air up, and the valve was seeping some air...

it pulls like a monster to the right, it wants to put you in the wheat, but it was managable..

pulled some big hills without downshifting or lugging the motor...

ran perfect temp at idle an in use..was charging fine right in the 14 range while going down the road...air cycled between 90-1120 while going down the road as well even with the suspension valve seeping air....oil pressure between 40-50 going down the road..about 20 + at idle hot...

Power steering was dry but filled it and so far no leaks and works very well...

trip home was about 60 miles and it made it !  without a hickup

Tires are square and boy can you feel it..

no leaks upon arrival home either..  so far so good....

havent tried reverse yet but later today i will know about that...

now the work begins...soda blasting the bus..PM'ing everything..getting the front end checked out and an allignment..all new wheels an tires..simulators...paint and then on to the interior for a massive updating...

and thanks to everyone that chimed in on my posts here...you guys were a big help !

Gerry

[chev49]

Glad that it made it OK.. I once helped one of my friends start a truck with an 8v71 in it that hadn't ran for that long... and it ran on the old fuel after we changed the filters and used ether... I was really suprised..
Now you have all the normal billion things that have to be attended to...

[Eric]

Congrats!! Best feeling in the world isn't it... Now the fun begins!!! Better get a polishing lol!!
Have fun!

[TomC]

That's the great thing about Diesels-they can "sleep" for years and just be restarted like it was yesterday they ran.  I have a 6kw air cooled Onan Diesel genset (really loud) that I had in storage for 7 years.  It fired up like it had ran yesterday.  Unlike gasoline that usually have to replace the carb and other fuel system since gasoline mucks up after a few weeks.  Good Luck, TomC

[Kevin]

Very Cool Gerry!

We have a 1960 '04 and love it. Enjoy bringing her back to life. Sounds like you got a good one!

Kevin

[Gerry4104]

Thanks Kev...I'm hard at work already.....  tried reverse gear today, and what do ya know, it worked like a charm....so far so good on the mechanicals....

Started the steam pressure washing today...and the soda blasting will be following here pretty quick....

pulling all the glass and then painting...Champagne top, black in the window area. and Champagne down to cargo bays....

everything below that, polished aluminum to a mirror finish....

then on to the interior..ugh..that will take a bit....

but looking forward to it all....eta 8 weeks from now done !  we will see.... 

[muldoonman]

Good to hear. Bought my 91 Prevost Conversion last summer same scenario. Stored 10 years with Fella passing bought from wife. 52,000 on silver Series 8V-92, 5 speed. Installed new Batteries. Had A few issues with ac charge (cruiseairs), frige (installed new one) replaced out dated satellite  system and no problems with drivetrain or engine. Mine was stored in a climate controlled bus barn it's entire life which helped,they say. Texas Custom Coach out of Pipe Creek Texas ran all the systems for checkout and installs. Good Luck on the bus and Happy Motoring.

glen

[buswarrior]

On the pulling to the right...

Worn suspension parts in the rear can do that, as well as a front alignment problem.

You need a shop that knows about buses, a truck place will declare the front fine and money will have been wasted.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Gerry4104]

In the rear suspension area ..what should i be looking at for the usual suspects....

the tires are total crap, and i thought that might have had alot to do with it as well...

the gentleman i got it from is 81 and has no reason to lie, and he said the bus went striaght down the road..always.... but after sitting 15+ anything could be going on now...LOL 

I will be checking out everything, but a  bit of guidance would be greatly appreciated...thanks Gerry

[buswarrior]

Radius rods are frequent suspects, they locate the axle assembly. The rubber donuts in the ends wear out and let the axle move in relation to the body.

Inspect the entire axle assembly for broken or missing fasteners that might allow the axle to move in relation to its proper mounting position.

And as you noted, start with fresh tires, and see if anything changes before messing with things that might not need messing with.

The heart breaker is if you have bulkhead failure, allowing the coach to go banana shaped. Look carefully down the line of both sides, there should be absolutely no curve in or out of the body. Not the end of the world, depending on what has failed. But a lot of work for a busnut.

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Ed Hackenbruch]

First thing i would do is get new tires and see how it drives,.......no sense in spending money on suspension parts first.

[muldoonman]

Ditto on the tires. Mine were 10 years old (michelins) with 200 miles on them but didn't trust them. I know tires will make a big difference with these heavy coaches.

[Gerry4104]

Roy, the guy i got it from said the bulkhead has been done already..he made a point of mentioning that...so hopefully that is all good to go....

[pipopak]

Before putting new tires "I" would take a long hard look (at least a visual inspection) at all rubber bushings, parts, links, etc to make sure they are at least decent. Tires develop wear patterns real fast, you know....

[johns4104]

I like your color scheme Idea!