GM New Look Fishbowl parts needed in Aus!

[Clunt]

Gday all!

First of all, thank-you for letting me join your informative forum!  

>>>Sorry, this is a re-post as advised from Bus Projects>>>

Righto, so a mate and i rescued this beast:

Shes a 1967-9 Ansair Scenicruiser.
There was 49 made, ours is No10 off the line, and theres only 5 im aware off left in Australia.

She runs a GM 6v53n, 10 spd Roadranger, Rockwell diff and axles
10.7mtrs in length, 5.97mtrs between axles and 24.4mm wide
((35ft / 235in / 96in))

From what info ive gathered, its built on the medium size American GM New Look chassis,
Ansett Australia (whom used to make aircraft) made the body but utilized the nosecone forward of the door
from the US GM New Look and the window frames.

The sub frame is steel but the roof inner and outer, exterior body panels and cargo doors are all aircraft spec alloy. And guess what.... the nosecone and some of the window frames are rusted beyond repair.

And being most of them were scrapped yonks ago, no one knows of one sitting somewhere for me to pillage.

So im hoping someone has a wreck, or knows of one of the 44,484 made over your side of the lake that they are willing to cut up for me and freight some bits over  
The main parts im hunting is-

:the 2 lower windows from the windscreen (mine are perspex and i believe illegal)
:the windscreen frame, be it cut into 4 bits or any small sections that still have the rubber guide lip
:atleast one steel window frame and some of the alloy the window sits in

I also am looking for anyone whom sells the windscreen rubbers so any info would be appreciated.

Il keep you guys informed as we build her if you like, and thanks for any info or leads.
I fear if i cant get a few of the bits required, il have to throw the towel in on her.
I dont want to....

[Clunt]

Heres a bit more of a comparison of the windscreen frame of a US GM New look to Our Ansair.

On ours, below the red line is fiberglass. So im hunting everything above.
The red box in the photo above is what is needed. The orange line dictates possible cut lines for freight.
Either that or on the 45 degree angle, even just the drivers side half..... anything i can cut up and bridge.

Please, ANY info on ANY salvage, scrapyard or bus hoarder out there who can supply some cuts let me know.
Surely of all the Fishbowls made, theres one beyond repair rotting somewhere....

Being one of only a handfull left, the history of these buses touring across Australia for years, and although this has already been converted to a motorhome years ago- and its pretty far gone, i cant let this go to bus heaven if i can help it!

[Geoff]

Unless you have a lot of money to blow, and I mean a LOT of money, I would let this one go.

--Geoff

[Clunt]

How so Geoff?
Between me and 2 Boilermaker mates, we can fab up almost anything.
I build stages for a living, was an LX tech and Ive been hanging out in wrecking yards and building cars since i was 15
Ive brang back from the grave Valiants and Fords in worse condition. And this is made of angle iron, not thin steel.

This already has a been engineered and registered as motorhome and ran outa rego 3 years ago.
Where i live you just walk in and pay with no inspection up to 7 years out of rego

I can understand the $ amount if you were to pay someone to do it, but were doing it all ourselves.
I just thought to reach out over the ocean for some bits if theyre available as there was plenty fishbowls made and surely someone knows of one thats willing to part out?

Hell im even looking at cutting up a trucks cabin over here for sections.

And thats the thing, under the skin it doesnt have to be restored to original

Sorry if this all seems offensive, but i have a knack of making things work, and work well, from garbage 

[TomC]

To me, this bus looks just enough different than our New Looks, where I doubt parts will interchange. The floor level is higher, the windows are totally different, the front-while looking like a new look, looks to me to be different. I like Geoff agree that you should pass on this one. Good Luck, TomC

[scanzel]

If you watch some of the hot rod and car restoration shows on Velocity tv here in the US with the right equipment and knowledge many old cars are brought back to life. If you and your friends are confident that your can do it I would say go for it. In the end if it doesn't work out then you can say we gave it a try. Good Luck !

[B_K]

Maybe Paul aka Paso can be of some help in this area as I know he has a "new look" he travels in and I think might have or know where some parts buses are.
  BK 

[Paso One]

Welcome Clunt
I have the lower windows you need, as well of rubbers.
I have two Fishbowls in my bone yard, as well as I purchased the left over inventory of the local transit company.
I can't imagine what the freight would be from Canada but I 'm glad to help you out.
I missed your post on the weekend and Bryce contacted with your blight.   

[B_K]

Paul thanks for responding so fast!

I thought I remembered that you had a parts bus or 2 (well if you count different models maybe even more than that!)

Clunt here is the link to another busnut site that some of us frequent as well as this one.
Lots of helpful guys over there too and even a couple from your side of the pond as well!
http://busgreasemonkey.com
   BK 

[Paso One]

Clunt  I have lots of the lower windshield glass, and the upper glass. however looking closely at your pictures and reading the width of your bus ( as 96 inch)  both my  parts buses are the 102 inch version.
However it looks like the curved section are identical and the length of the flat part is the difference, so they likely can be shortened to fit you application.  ( not sure how or if they can cut safety glass )
You can have these  free for the cost of getting them to you.

[B_K]

Paul I wonder if the difference in width makes a difference in the size of the glass.
For example back in the day MCI 96A's and 102A's used the same cap on the front then the door section angled out 3" on each side to make the coach a 102" (also B's & C's I think as I'm pretty sure the D's were the first to be 102 from front to back)
Or I'm wondering if the cap is truly different than maybe they used a little more material in the frame around the glass to use the same glass.
Just throwing this out there as possibilities.
And as you said might could also be "cut down"
  BK 

[chessie4905]

Is that GM new look a 102? His looks like a 96 which could account for some of the difference in the front. That Aus. vehicle looks pretty wasted to me. I would personally try to restore a better candidate, even if it is a different brand or model. To each his own  guess....

[Dreadnought]

I don't know about the fishbowl- but I WANT 'Roo bars' like that on my MCI!!!

[Paso One]

Looking at the pictures the front looks like the only area that resembles a fishbowl.
I bet in the day Ansair bought the fronts from Gm as they could be easy to stack and shipped.
The side windows look taller than a regular fishbowl.
Looking at the rear picture it looks like it is a T drive as the American/ Canadian fishbowls were V drive.

[luvrbus]

A neat old bus but I bet the 6v53 with less than 500 ft lbs of torque would give you a workout with the 10 speed lol I wonder if it has ever been above 5th or 6th gear