1965 gmc spa5

[chessie4905]

Bought this old coach or conversion with no title or engine. But had this old GMC medium duty truck that had a title and engine that should work. Careful transfer of serial number plate and apply for replacement title with some changes as a special construction or house car or motorhome. Used it for a little. Either lost interest or moved on to a newer or better conversion. Tried to sell it. No buyers. Parked it for years. Here it is! Free! SUCKER!!!!
The one question I have is...why no torsiolastics? It should have then unless this is the first model, before they changed to them. Or someone grafted Flxible assemblies to an old GMC coach or bus of some kind, hence the v6 GMC engine and spring suspension.

[richard5933]

Bought this old coach or conversion with no title or engine. But had this old GMC medium duty truck that had a title and engine that should work. Careful transfer of serial number plate and apply for replacement title with some changes as a special construction or house car or motorhome. Used it for a little. Either lost interest or moved on to a newer or better conversion. Tried to sell it. No buyers. Parked it for years. Here it is! Free! SUCKER!!!!

That's one possibility, but since this is clearly an early Custom Coach conversion there's more to the story.

I had an old Jeep once, and the VIN was based on the engine's serial number. When I changed the original flathead 4-cyl to a OHV from a Ford Pinto I had to get the title updated. The state trooper did the inspection and then I could apply for the new title. The new number came up as a Ford, and they tried to get me to change the vehicle's registration from Jeep to Ford. These things can get messy through no fault of the owner.

Without knowing more about this particular situation it's really hard to know more than what we know. Hopefully the old-timers left from Custom Coach can shed some light on the confusion when Bronson makes contact with them. If that thing left their shop with those plates in there they should be able to explain, at least somewhat, how they got there.

[chessie4905]

Conversion doesn't matter Richard. The engine and spring suspension and plate doesn't add up regardless.
If you look up Wikipedia on Flxibles,  Custom coach took over the conversion business from Flxible. Maybe if you do a query to the Flxible owner's club, someone there can explain it all.

[richard5933]

Flxible was buying running gear from GM. He's confirmed that the bus has leaf springs, matching the one plate. Could Flxible have bought the complete chassis & gear from GM and then built their body around it? If so, then there should be another plate somewhere from Flxible. My stepvan has plates from both Ford (chassis) and from Grumman (body), each with their own VIN and other specs. Confuses the hell out of the DMV people, and I'm surprised it's got a correct title.

[luvrbus]

The Flx's with the old straight 8 Buick engines never had GM  data plate ,I don't think GM had anything to do with a Flx  chassis there is nothing on one that even looks like GM.If I recall A O Smith was building all of GM frames in that time frame

[Jim Blackwood]

I think I'd have stamped that Jeep engine number on the frame rail in a conspicuous spot, thrown some lye on it for a day or two, brushed it off, hosed it down, let it sit for a week, wiped it with a grease rag, and left the title alone.

There wasn't much consistency in early vehicles and nobody alive today knows all the different ways they were identified. Might as well take advantage of that.

You might find someone somewhere who knows for sure what this thing is and how it got that way, but for sure it isn't going to be a state trooper. All you have to do there is pass muster, and to do that it only has to look legitimate. Frequently nobody really cares. But whether it's a Flx or a GM, it's a cool bus.

Jim

[bronson]

Have been communicating with Custom Coach. They responded with one that they thought it was and sent me the drawings. It wasnt the correct one. Hopefully they will dig up something.

[Astro]

As one with a couple of leaf spring Flxible's, I can confirm there is no GM data plate on them.  It is my opinion/guess that a previous owner "updated" his old Fix with some newer Flx or Dina parts (nose & tail) and maybe some from other buses as well (front cap).  Probably happened after the Custom Coach days.  He could have aquired the coach without a title as a project and found that making up a model number was easier than arguing with DMV about reality.  I'm guessing he found a data plate with no model number stamped and took advantage of it. I never see data plates with extra holes and new style pop rivets. Old buses have lots of rivets.  Rarely would they be open pop style.

[Jim Blackwood]

Hard to say on buses but on other vehicles pop rivets are pretty common on number plates. That by itself shouldn't be too suspicious. Also, some DMV's have been known in some cases to issue a number and sometimes even a plate to stamp it in, particularly in dealing with trailers. Wouldn't really be that much of a stretch. I'd think nails would be a different matter though.

I've also known of restorations where a 3rd party plate was ordered pre-stamped and pop riveted in place with new rivets. Long as the old plate was still available no questions were asked. Sorta like that Jeep, stash the old block behind the barn or in a shed in case anybody ever questioned it. Eventually of course that stuff all gets lost, but by then nobody cares anyway. Unless it's a Ferarri or something equally valuable.

Jim

[luvrbus]

Regardless if the bus had a Flx title it would sell for a lot more money as it stands now the bus has little value IMO

[bronson]

Would numbers be stamped anywhere else on the bus for identification?

[bronson]

Here is the closest thing that I have found, a 1967 Land Cruiser Motorhome built by Custom Coach. One big  difference is that its built on a Ford Chassis. Front cap is the same, appears very similar on the outside. The GM data tag says motorhome on mine. here is the link
http://trombinoscar.com/camper/champion6701.html

[luvrbus]

There are numbers law enforcement uses when in doubt I find most of the time they are on the passenger's side usually at the rear so the officer is out of harms way when checking

[luvrbus]

Here is the closest thing that I have found, a 1967 Land Cruiser Motorhome built by Custom Coach. One big  difference is that its built on a Ford Chassis. Front cap is the same, appears very similar on the outside. The GM data tag says motorhome on mine. here is the link
http://trombinoscar.com/camper/champion6701.html

Not a Ford chassis just has the 534 Ford engine that was mention in a prior post .I know the owner of that one

[bronson]

My mistake, It says "This is a 1967 Champion Land Cruiser by Custom Coach Corporation. Custom Coach built this coach using a Champion Carriage chassis and Flxible front and rear caps. They did this because they wanted a coach with an air ride suspension. Flxible buses did not have air ride at the time. This one looks like a Flxible Hi-Level. This coach is powered by a 534cid. Ford industrial gasoline V8 and an Allison 6-speed automatic transmission.