New Owner!

G-man the Visionary · December 07, 2013, 12:58:27 PM

Hi all, nice forum you have here. Referenced a lot of things here while shopping for our bus. After quite a few months of searching, we picked up a '60 PD 4104 from a nice gentleman in Michigan. He'd owned it for 28 years (which is coincidentally also my age) after purchasing from Greyhound, converted it and used it as a home while being a traveling minister. Seems he took very very good care and pride of ownership. He has done a lot of work that he was very excited to share with me... Raised roof and floor, turbo, differential, end caps, and of course the standard conversion, just to name a few things. Currently it's awaiting our pick up in Indiana, where my parents are located. The transmission is my biggest fear about the 26 hour drive to it's new home, but hopefully there will be no nightmare stories. I'll get to lay my eyes on her this time next week! Well, I hope to contribute to this group, and make some new friends here along the journeys of our beautiful little family...
Cheers,
David

muldoonman · December 07, 2013, 01:09:28 PM

Welcome. Nice looking bus there G Man. Know you'll enjoy it.

robertglines1 · December 07, 2013, 01:09:56 PM

Greetings from SW Ind.. Enjoy the ride... Bob

G-man the Visionary · December 07, 2013, 05:02:00 PM

Thanks guys

LowTide · December 08, 2013, 01:42:42 PM

Big welcome from Arizona

Nice looking ride you have there, be sure to let us know how your trip was.

Bill B /bus · December 09, 2013, 05:03:07 AM

Nice looking '04. Congratulations.
Enjoy your ride.

Bill

Mex-Busnut · December 09, 2013, 05:47:51 AM

Congratulations on that great-looking bus. Now you need to post some pictures of the inside, the engine compartment and the luggage bays. We call such pictures "bus porn" here.

Let me make a suggestion: Do NOT plan on a 26-hour drive home. Everything is slower in a bus. Plus you are just getting used to a new vehicle. And there is a bunch of ice and snow out there right now. So please take it easy.

Do you have previous experience with large vehicles -- maybe a motor home or other? You need to watch your bus's dimensions very carefully: Height, width, length, when passing, parking, etc. YOU MUST KNOW THESE DIMENSIONS BY HEART. Be careful with overhangs in parking lots that can catch your roof. And turning corners takes some practice. Especially, as somebody here has said many times (Who was it?), watch those right-handers. You have better visibility on the left.

I wish you success, my friend!

G-man the Visionary · December 09, 2013, 03:06:24 PM

Thanks for that knowledge! I'm hoping to learn a lot on that first drive home, however it's not going to happen on this trip. My wife doesn't feel comfortable travelling in it without experience and also because of the snow/ ice like you mentioned. Hopefully my parents will be looking to visit us in a few months and I'll drive it down with my dad when they come since he's got more experience with his 34' Winnebago. I'd like to take some new pictures of the inside, but only for before and after pics since it's well outdated. There is one of the engine bay on the 4104 search thread that I posted yesterday.
Thanks again for the kind and helpful words!
David

muldoonman · December 09, 2013, 03:27:30 PM

Yeah G Man, went from a 35 foot V10 Gas Holiday Rambler Vacationer to my 40 foot 1991 Prevost XL. Quite a bit different in turning and driving with just 5 foot and weight. Prevost was like a caddy compared to HR at speed. Take Care.

wg4t50 · December 09, 2013, 10:08:25 PM

Funny, I drove 18 wheelers back in the early 70's and when I bought the MC7, was always amazed at how turning right always took so much area to make a clean right turn, unlike the 18 wheelers.
Always enjoyed the MC7 and never had an issue with turns, just a comment from my view.
Always remembered that Greyhound claimed it cost average $15,000 in damage to train a driver, between body rash and engine rash in the late 80's.

Dave M

twostick · December 10, 2013, 06:11:24 PM

Quote from: wg4t50 on December 09, 2013, 10:08:25 PM
Funny, I drove 18 wheelers back in the early 70's and when I bought the MC7, was always amazed at how turning right always took so much area to make a clean right turn, unlike the 18 wheelers.
Always enjoyed the MC7 and never had an issue with turns, just a comment from my view.
Always remembered that Greyhound claimed it cost average $15,000 in damage to train a driver, between body rash and engine rash in the late 80's.

Dave M

Nothing like an extra 10 or 15 feet of wheelbase to put some sport into the driving experience...

Kevin

G-man the Visionary · December 10, 2013, 09:06:39 PM

Man, just when I was starting to gain some confidence... Hopefully $15k isn't my cost of learning. Thanks for the heads up, I'll try to stay off the curbs (left turns only)!

Ed Hackenbruch · December 11, 2013, 04:48:31 AM

You gotta watch the left turns too! You don't want to take the nose off of the rig that is sitting in the other left turn lane.

G-man the Visionary · December 11, 2013, 05:58:10 AM

Ok, straight aways it is... lol

G-man the Visionary · April 03, 2014, 08:45:40 AM

Looks like the weather has cleared up enough and I'll be bringing Big Blue to her new home this weekend!
She hasn't ran in about 4 months, are there any tricks or tips for getting her started? Anything I need to look out for?
Thanks