1982 Prevost Le Mirage( Green)

[Duallydude]

I have seen this bus listed with  The Busman for a very long time..The coach is drop dead beautiful but seems to have electrical and plumbing issues..It got an old 8v71 with 6 speed tranny..The coach is priced within my budget but I would want to repower it with a 60 series or at least an 8v92..Is their alot to doing a repower like that?Ive changed alot of front engine Cats and Cummins but this whole idea of working on the opposite end of the animal seems to spook me..If someone could go over to the site and look at the pics and give me their input or any info they might have on this coach I would appreciate it..The coach is in NC..Also do we have any electrical wizards here in Central florida?..I really look forward to meeting you guys someday..Also I consider it an honor to be apart of this forum..God bless

[tekebird]

think I know someone that went to look at this one.  He walked away quickly.

Don't know what to tell you about an repower on it.

[Duallydude]

If you can remember who it was that looked at it let me know..I really like this coach but dont want to drive up to see it if its really a nightmare..Worse thing I can think of is frame rusted thru but then again would someone have spent that kind of money without knowing the coach was in bad shape..Im waiting to hear back from the owner to get All the details..It looks like a million dollar coach inside and was only used 2 weeks before it had problems?..Even If it needs a new motor,tranny,wiring and plumbing it seems the coach is still worth the asking price,,Yes I priced a NEW one and almost hyperventilated..I told the sales man there wasnt enough room on one check to write all those zeros..lol..God bless and thanks for any help I might get..Im in Lakeland ,Florida who else is close?

[buswarrior]

Just for comparison, at that price point, you can buy a mid 90's first tier fleet trade-in seated coach with a 400HP Series 60 and 6 speed Allison World auto transmission.

Don't buy someone else's 25 year old problem conversion, that doesn't have the drivetrain you want.

Fancy cabinets and leather interior in a 25 year old machine with a 2 stroke and a stick shift for what price?

happy coaching!
buswarrior

[Duallydude]

lol..I agree but I suffer from I WANT IT NOW syndrome..But I do see what you mean

[captain ron]

If you buy a good shell I can have you rolling in style in 90 days or less.

[tekebird]

If it is the coach they guy I know went to see ( not someone who frequents any of the groups) he said it had major issues in systems as well as the powertrain...and the guy who owned it. ( real estate person) was scared to take it anywhere.  Bus was in the Hilton head area if it is the same one?

for what an interior like that would cost done professionally....it may be worth it even if it needs a repower as long as the conversion systems and chassis is good.

I would not go to the trouble or cost to repower with a 60 though....get a new or fresh rebuilt two stroke and be happy with it till you can't drive it anymore.

[Dreamscape]

I think the only way to make an intelligent decision is to go look at it yourself. You cannot go by what you hear from the seller or the owner.

If you do go to see it have a mechanic give it the once over, it may cost up front, but better now than a whole bunch later.

Good Luck and hope you don't open your wallet too quickly, especially since you said it has been for sale a long time.

Paul

[tekebird]

I agree,

go look at in person...no need to have a mechanic there right away....it has been for sale for a while.......it's not going anywhere....and probably won't be any time soon.

with an interior like that even a so so bus would have sold to someone with stars in thier eyes.

I would suspect something major to scare of bargain hunters

[Duallydude]

Ok..you say something major to scare bargain hunters off...What would you consider MAJOR

[tekebird]

depends on the bargain hunter.

go take a look at it if your interested.

[ChuckMC8]

For 60 large I woud rather have a nice solid coach with Seres 60 and World tranny with a sleeping bag and porta potty than a yard queen. with a palace interior..........
    I beleive that most converters would agree that doing the Interior stuff is "fun"..........but that most of us aren't equipped with the facilities to do major bus mechanical repairs (but we do it anyway) it just ain't the fun part...........
     Driving is the fun part.........if I could afford fuel..............

[Duallydude]

Im still waiting to hear from the owner but I made a few calls this morning to a couple coach companies ( Custom Coach,lakeland) less than 2 miles from me and the folks at Star Jet ( Polk City, Florida) less than 10 miles from me and they gave me several good local places and a rough estimate what to expect for the repower to a 60 series..Once I hear from the owner Im going to look up the coach numbers and find out where its been all its life..I appreciate the help and advise..And I might be in Arcadia since its only an hour from me but might be me and my truck

[makemineatwostroke]

you will spend as much on the engine swap as you will pay for the bus

[prevost82]

and you will spend double that to do a decent conversion .... if you get it done.

There are a lot of unfinished conversions on this site, and on ebay ... that may or may not, ever get finished. I would buy a finished conversion with good systems and a interior that I could live with and repower it . I've spent around 90K on the bus conversion and I'm still no finished, 90% done. You can pick up a M11 and B500 or 10 spd auto shift for around 20K, like Brian did. Which would put you in around 80 to 90K, if you did the repower yourself, with a 60K bus finish conversion as you stated. The cheapest 4 stroke bus I've seen is around 70 to 80K, and don't see to many, that's not a Dina or VanHool. If you want a decent conversion you have to put another 70 to 90K into .... so your into in for 140 to 160K min. And one hell of a lot of work to complete the convesion ... which can go on for years.
Ron