MCI 9 Vs 102C3

[EddieA]

Hi all:  Its time for me to look seriously at purchasing a bus to convert. Its been about 30 years sense my last conversion, An old at the time 1953 GMC, 6v71/Alison 4 speed. I cant decide if I should get a MC9 or a 102C3. Ignoring engine and/or trans options what is the biggest difference between the 2 buses? Thoughts and ideas would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance. Ed

[luvrbus]

102 wide vs 96 inches wide for the 9,then the head room on a C plus other features owners will tell you about I like the C with the rear radiators mounted like the D plus you can find one with a 8v92 or Cat engine  

[scanzel]

Even thoogh I like my Prevost with it's looks the curved windows are a pain to try to trim out for shades etc. If I was going to buy one now I would want a D series MCI. Flat windows, high ceiling, 40'&45', 8V92, series 60 with B500 trans or some have a Cat engine. Definitely look into a western MCI that has not seen the road salt part of the USA. I have seen where the D's needed some sort of rear air area upgrade because of issues so it may be something to make sure it updated. MCI has a used but site so that may be something to look into.
http://sales.mcicoach.com/preowned/pcoach.nsf/Landing?openform

[lvmci]

hi Ed, as Clifford said the single bigger radiator is preferable to the 9/C3 traditional split system, more cooling for mountains and the southwest. C3 has an almost universal appreciation as a great platform for conversion. I got mine functional, no cosmetics or drawers in 5 1/2 months. the greyhound/mci concepts work well for ease of repairs and conversion as well. lvmci..

[luvrbus]

The air bag arrangement on the D's make it a better handling and riding bus than the C or the 9

[sledhead]

ok ........  do you mean JELLO BAGS

can't remember were I first heard that one   

dave

[Bill B /bus]

102 over 96 all the time. Makes a huge difference in interior comfort. Keep as many windows as possible, We have two forward on driver's side and three forward on passenger side. Guests always comment on 'how light and airy feeling'. Plus until the temperature gets into the high 80's, open windows and vent fans running makes for a comfortable time. In the rear bedroom position the windows almost a full window width forward. We went a half length and it wasn't enough for the side bed configuration.

Bill

Bill

[luvrbus]

I still call it Jello Bags but not as much wiggle in the D's as the 9's and C's

[Scott & Heather]

Ed, we own both coaches right now. So take my thoughts as you wish:

1. The 9 is cheap, plentiful, and has its own classic beauty. We love ours. We live in it full time and have been for four years now. I have a special attachment to it.

2. Our 102C3 we just bought a couple of months ago. The extra 6" width is wonderful. Think about it, across a 40 foot length, that amounts to 20 extra square feet. It's noticeable. Simple things like how easy it is to pass each other in the hall to setting your king bed sideways with the head of the bed on the side wall and actually having enough room to walk at the foot of the bed are reasons to go with the 102" wide coaches.

Also, the C3 has a 3" taller roof than the 9. We raised the roof on our 9  9". The roof on our C3 was raised 8". So the roof on our C3 is 2" taller than our 9. It's crazy tall. We love that. Makes the coach feel huge inside.

I agree with Cliff that the D coaches may drive a little better with less body roll but I just drove my C3 and its jelly air bags 1300 miles averaging 70-75 mph without issue. I love our C3. It has the 8v92TA and it's amazingly powerful. Trust me. Huge improvement over our 6v92 in our 9. Anyway, go with a D or C3 if you can. Anything 102. And try hard to buy a southern coach. Rust stinks. Seriously. We bought our C3 in Texas and its clean clean clean. Our 9 spent its life in Wisconsin and Canada...its rusty rusty rusty. We've repaired a ton of rust and it's a lot of work.

So, currently owning both models, we would encourage you to buy the C3 strongly. I know I post too many photos but I've put a ton of blood and tears into converting our 9 and will be doing the same on our C3 so I post photos. Here are photos of our coaches:



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[lvmci]

hi Ed, the window frames in my C3, allow both dual pane and single safety glass, the dual is two safety glasses, with just changing the rubber. one of the Greyhound quick fix mci concepts. lvmci...

[TomC]

I have a 102" wide transit with big windows like a C3. If I were getting another bus, I'd get a D model and only with a Series 60 engine and Allison transmission. I wouldn't buy anything with a Detroit 2 stroke engine in it (8V-71, 6V-92, 8V-92). It is getting to be almost impossible to find mechanics that still know how to work on the 2 strokes. Series 60's were installed in all makes of trucks at one time. So all truck service outlets know how to work on them. If you stay with a pre '98 bus, it will have the best fuel mileage because after '98 smog controlling programming took away fuel mileage. A carefully driven D model with Series 60 can get towards 10mpg. Even though it may cost more, the D model will be worth more when reselling. Don't even consider a 96" wide-too cramped. Good Luck, TomC

[EddieA]

Thanks for all the great feed back. Unfortunately the wife is not behind me on this dream. As we all know if your wife is not behind your dreams they quickly become nightmares.