2021/01 Our 1st snowfall of the year. Still working on the electric (hence the power cord through the window).
2023/09 Starting to pull off the old vinyl color stripes etc (black stuff hanging down in front of window). Some of it on the sides I will have to carefully grind off as it is not peelable with heat or scraping… sigh.
P.S. absolutely LOVE the telescoping ladder as it will adjust in height AND will allow a slight twisting to get it to sit solid on the ground.
P.S. absolutely LOVE the telescoping ladder as it will adjust in height AND will allow a slight twisting to get it to sit solid on the ground.
Finally got the Cabin Heater and A/C units out. Scrapping the A/C as it ran off the engine. Might put in 12v powered A/C later. I am saving the A/C fans for some ventilation projects planned. Also saving the Cabin Heater to re-purpose as well.
Well as it turns out (pun intended) I already have a swivel passenger seat. Took a lot of work to figure it out and get it working again.
Another view of the seat swiveled and the unfortunate state of the drivers seat. The drivers seat air ride works.. sort of, it is missing some bolts in linkages, and is a bear to adjust. I eventually plan to replace it with a modern one, possibly the passenger seat as will in time (very low priority).
Passenger seat fully swiveled and moved to the back of the cab. Leaves a fair amount of space to get in and go to the back that way.
I was searching for the lever to move the seat forwards and back, did not immediately find it, but found a different lever, but it didn’t work as expected. Figured out is was the swivel release (on the seat adapter pan – shown upside down on the left). Did find the lever to slide the seat front to back once I took the seat off. It was pretty hidden and I modified the skirt to make it more accessible. The swivel lever is not useful at all if the seat is facing back to the cabin and the seat moved back. I am exploring a different way to release the swivel, maybe a solenoid.
It only took adjusting the center bold a bit to let it swivel again. It had seized up with age and just exercising the disks brought it back to life.
Interesting that it uses two plastic disks instead of ball bearings. This actually makes a lot of sense as it rotates slowly and safely, basically viscous damped. Only the bottom plastic disk slides on a thin layer of grease.
Before I acquired the Bus, it was owned by an club for 20 years. This is how it looked (minus their logo’s etc.)
Interestingly the Signage glass window above the cab still lights up fine. Although I have to scrape off the paint overspray that someone did at one point in it’s history. I have a lot of TLC I need to give to the paint and fiberglass / aluminum body. Never mind a bit of body rust, which is not in difficult places. AND the frame is fine.
2022/05 – It is in really good shape for its age (built in 1991). I do have to tend to the rubber body gaskets and the window seals.. but it’s all doable. I’m trying to locate a supplier for the windows though in case I have to replace any of them or their parts.
2022/05 – Not bad looking at all. The only problem spots are where the club tried to remove their signage and did a botch job on it. The paint is oxidized as well since it was not cared for well enough. Minor Details to deal with, a bit of dent & very minor rust repair..
I have to replace the lights, including the running lights on the side and roof.
The drivers seat is an OLD style air-ride. The passenger looks like it is on a swivel since there is a release lever going to the base. It’s one of my upcoming projects to remove the seat and see what is going on. Since it was a shuttle bus there is a strong possibility that it does swivel.
I’m also going to at least add power up/down to the passenger window as it is a LONG way to reach across from the Driver’s side. Power locks are also coming.
The ENTIRE dash is planned to be re-worked and made up to date and more efficient. The little box on the engine cover is the High Speed Idle control for when the bus was sitting and A/C was running etc. which still works fine.
Another project is to see if I can change the angle of the steering wheel. I can barely fit between it and the drivers seat (and I am Not a big person)
I have a lot of changes planned for the dashboard, including this area.
This is how the club modified the interior to be an Officials vehicle. The aluminum tables on each side were custom built and have a center leaf you drop between them that makes a big desk. I really wish I could keep this arrangement, but it is not storage efficient.. sigh.
Close-up of the tables with the center leaf in place. Great working area. Sad that it has to go, but I may be able to salvage parts of it.
Without the center leaf.. these tables are built really well.
Looking to the front (duh), and you can still see the tacky old Avis entry mat from when it was a shuttle bus 20+ years ago. All the vinyl and rug floor coverings are coming up and being re-done. I have not yet found any bad spots in the floor itself.. just lots of small holes that folks have put in it over the years.
Already got rid of that useless mirror above the control panel.
This is getting replaced by two doors hinged on the sides instead of being one door hinged on the bottom. It’s too hard to work with it down and trying to reach into the compartment. I’m also relocating the panel. It’s way too high and dangerous to look at / use when driving.
Already got rid of the silly mirror. You have to bend your neck so far back to see in it. Put a new regular rearview mirror on the windshield. The control panel is also getting moved to an easier location to see, and totally re-worked.
The back side of the overhead control panel. This mess is going away totally, and what is really needed will be down at the dashboard level instead.
Have not figured this out yet, but some of the labels match the current schematics I have .. but the rest is a mystery to be solved. This is located behind the overhead panel and just behind the Signage window.. hence the algae which will be toast as soon as I can get time to do it.
More electrical to figure out… and use the Respirator because of the dust, it’s everywhere.
It’s from the 1990’s but Still works. I’m having mixed emotions about leaving it intact to light up the front signage window, or to replace it with LED.. which might actually draw more amperage!
This panel is staying but getting updated and more added to it.
Inside the passenger side upper equipment bay. Pretty empty, but important.. I have already labeled the two big relays. The rest I have to work on figuring out. I also have additional equipment that needs to be mounted in here.
Gads, these fuses are wild, old, and I don’t even know yet if they are still made. Might have to replace all of the two banks of them.
The power door is working great, and it is easy to modify for remote control since it is a dual winding motor. One to Open, the other to Close. The Red lever (and its ball handle I took off to get into the compartment) are the Emergency release. It just lifts up the gear off the motors drive gear.
Panoramic shot of the entire power door system and levers. There is a broken microswitch on the left that needs replacing. I also have to add in some other stuff to the system / compartment.
It has an air ride seat that has some “issues”, linkages not connected, etc. Cannot find a manual on it, and I might have to replace the whole thing.
Nice to have the Safety vent. One minor thing broke on it just after I shot this photo, but I suspect it can be fixed. I hope to keep it as well as add in additional ventilation.
I have not found an exact replacement for this assembly / lenses, so I suspect I will have to engineer something to replace it.
This is going to come in handy for sure. There are a lot of screws that are rusted along with other things.
A respirator is very important, you never know what you will find (besides mice nests)
Yep, that is a nest.. and poop droppings .. sigh. But it’s already gone. This is what happens if you don’t seal all openings with at least screens AND don’t move the vehicle often. The club I bought it from only used it a few times a year..
This seems to be in great shape, but if I decide to keep it, it will have to move. Currently it is disconnected from the Engine Heating loop.
The biggest challenge is sorting out all the electrical. I was lucky enough to find a manual for the National Bus body, but an earlier year, and another for very current years production. So I have to interpolate..
This is an interesting problem.. My boot is too big to lift off the gas pedal and onto the break because the break pedal is SO close to the other. I have to figure out a way to shift it over at least 3-4″
Started to move some tools and supplies in to begin work. Had to make a hatch in the floor to reach the gas tank since the fuel pump / gas level sender assembly is here, and not working. One of my many things to fix just because of the age of the bus.
The cabin heater is in the back on the floor. I plan to at least move it, but might not use it at all.
Well I tried to design around the existing seats.. but I would loose a Ton of storage, and they sit too low for my taste. So as they say “Be Gone”. I still might salvage a couple of seat belts from them.
This is one of the two Dual Squirrel Cage fan units that were in the cabin A/C unit. I am going to salvage them for other ventilation needs. I’m documenting how they are hooked up for multi-speed, which is just a tapped wire wound resistor. I suspect I will use a PWM controller I have instead.
More shots of the tapped resistor(s)
This one actually fell apart, but it shows how it works to change the speed of the fan.
One of the MANY Raspberry Pi computers going into the bus. This is the smallest monitor / computer unit. There are 4 more larger ones.. all of which are for running the bus systems.
This was the bus I considered before buying the one I have. It was much newer but I really wanted a passenger seat, and the new designs like this one put the automatic doors where that seat is normally.
The guy selling it bought it from someone in TX & drove it to WA with no regard to the oil and water levels.. so when I looked at it, the engine was totally dry for both – probably cracked the block. To make matters worse, the TX guy had started a “conversion” on it.. and basically ripped the electrical to shreds to the point where it was impossible to consider. You can actually see the actual Engine battery sitting in the back cabin on the floor jerry-rigged to start the thing. A total mess. Too many risks.
The guy selling it bought it from someone in TX & drove it to WA with no regard to the oil and water levels.. so when I looked at it, the engine was totally dry for both – probably cracked the block. To make matters worse, the TX guy had started a “conversion” on it.. and basically ripped the electrical to shreds to the point where it was impossible to consider. You can actually see the actual Engine battery sitting in the back cabin on the floor jerry-rigged to start the thing. A total mess. Too many risks.
