I have opportunity to acquire a Blue Bird bus, and the price can't really
be faulted: free or cheap. It's owned by a local church whose main
iterest seems to be getting it off their lot. It is a six-wheel with
front motor and drive shaft to rear wheels. Seems to be built on same
chassis as school buses and hence is not a pure road monster. Has had a
new motor installed 2-3 years ago and has not been fired for about 18
months. Has all six tires in good shape. Has a top-hung AC unit to boot.

Am wanting to tap the collective wisdom on the NG as to what to expect
before geting it fired; almost certainly a new battery and routine
maintenance on the motor for openers. People with experience in these and
similar vehicles are invited to write. BTW, to preserve metalworking
content, I intend to possibly use it also to transport road racing bikes
to the local tracks .... and hang my machine shop into it also.


Regards, Hoyt McKagen

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In addition to your technical problems (engine, transmission, sheet metal ..)
you may wish to consider your fiscal and social problems. It can be very
costly to insure anything that isn't an econobox these days. I had a truck
with a boom on it that I had to let go recently because I could not get a
noncommercial policy. They basically wanted $200 a month from me, and that
was more than I could pay for an occasional use. Also, large vehicles cause
large resentments when you park them. You may wind up having to pay ANOTHER
$200 per month to rent a space in a storage lot just to park the thing in.
(Of course I'm a city boy and am writing this from that viewpoint - if you
have 1000 acres somewhere you can ignore the bit about parking.)

Other than that, what you are likely to expect depends on whether it is a
gasoline or diesel engine. I would suggest you inspect it for signs of mold
or other water leakage, and if the glass is badly scarred or cracked I'd find
out BEFORE you buy it if you can e.g. get a replacement windshield. Do the
heater and defroster work? If those cables are frozen they can be a real
bummer to fix. Basically I'm a wimp when it comes to restoring old vehicle
dashboards - those are pure hell to work on IMHO.

Find out how much it will cost you to license this thing.

After you find out how much to insure, store and license this vehicle, and
if it leaks or not and if the heater/defroster work, you will be in a lot
better position to consider owning this vehicle. The initial price is
insignificant compared to these costs in many cases.

Grant

Hoyt McKagen wrote:

I have opportunity to acquire a Blue Bird bus, and the price can't really
be faulted: free or cheap. It's owned by a local church whose main
iterest seems to be getting it off their lot. It is a six-wheel with
front motor and drive shaft to rear wheels. Seems to be built on same
chassis as school buses and hence is not a pure road monster. Has had a
new motor installed 2-3 years ago and has not been fired for about 18
months. Has all six tires in good shape. Has a top-hung AC unit to boot.

Am wanting to tap the collective wisdom on the NG as to what to expect
before geting it fired; almost certainly a new battery and routine
maintenance on the motor for openers. People with experience in these and
similar vehicles are invited to write. BTW, to preserve metalworking
content, I intend to possibly use it also to transport road racing bikes
to the local tracks .... and hang my machine shop into it also.