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Caver Dave

Caver Dave

Just holdin' it down here in BFV
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Mar 10, 2005
Location
Hooterville (24171)
I ran into a guy today that has 2 of these for sale (picture from fleabay, not the actual buses) at what I think could be a decent price. Figured it might be worth grabbing these in the near future to use or turn? Would be an OK towrig/camper combo? or great work vehicle for someone in the trades?

As they were actual public school buses, I'd assume they were maintained well, but just hit a mileage/age mark & were replaced?

Story from owner... bought at huge auction, drove them home from Christiansburg area and HAS started them for 10-15 mins. every 2-3 weeks since May. His wife was starting a daycare service (these were to be the kiddie haulers), but the $$$ man bailed on them. Needless to say he's motivated to move them
now, after having them for the past 8 months!

Both '86 Chevy 30series dually van chassis'
- VIN code "M" says SBC350 & should be TBI
- No OD showing on the shifters, so would assume TH400?
- Large FullFloat Dana(?) axles (couldn't tell exactly because of the exhaust shields around the fuel tanks and appear to not be 14bolts since there was no bolt circle around the pinion?)
- Mileage 138,xxx and 114,xxx (has records/titles stating it's not 2 or 3 hundred)
- Bluebird Canadian conversions
- All equipment (doors, lights, etc.) works fine and in overall good shape (excepting exterior paint)
- One has a wheelchair lift & all seating in good shape
- No AC, but has supplemental heaters at back of coach
- Each missing the the 4 "eyebrow" light fixtures on the front & rear
- No indications of wrecks other than minor bumps on the rear bumpers
- No fluid drips or wet spots (his brother says they've been parked in the same spots)
- Tires very good on 1, 50%+ on the other
- Sticker on drivers door say something about air cylinders inside front coil springs... WTF?

So, what value/worth would anyone put on these?

Potential gotchas?

Too underpowered to tow, much less pull a greasy string from a cats @$$?

Pipedream to think someone else would buy them?
Flame away!
 

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It's the short bus!!!! Yay! (Sorry, nothing usefull.)
 
***disclaimer - take advise at your own risk - all info may not be true, but at least I try***


Would be an OK towrig/camper combo? camper yes, tow rig - as long as you are going downhill

or great work vehicle for someone in the trades? they sell cheap and have a low value because they were school buses

As they were actual public school buses, I'd assume they were maintained well, but just hit a mileage/age mark & were replaced? bad assumption - I've bought several gov't vehicles and was amazed at the lack of basic care

Story from owner... bought at huge auction, drove them home from Christiansburg area and HAS started them for 10-15 - probable true

- VIN code "M" says SBC350 & should be TBI - that's the killer - if it was a diesel I'd say go for it


- No OD showing on the shifters, so would assume TH400? not sure on the trans, but TH400 is possible. They are geared low which will help with towing, but max speed will probably be 55mph


- No AC, but has supplemental heaters at back of coach - think about no A/C on a long trip

So, what value/worth would anyone put on these? last ones I saw at auction went for less than $1000, but market value is between there and 2k

Potential gotchas? - it's a short bus

Too underpowered to tow, much less pull a greasy string from a cats @$$? It would be ok, but slow

Pipedream to think someone else would buy them? If you do a nice conversion to a camper so that you would not be able to tell it was a bus from the outside it would sell well, but that's a lot of cosmetic surgery.
 
If it is an 86 model, then should not be TBI. TBI did not come out on the truck/van engines until 1987, to the best of my knowledge (TTBOMK). (I am talking 86 model year, not a 1987 model that was built in late 86)

Trans should be TH400.

Are the wheels 19.5-inch? That would be cool - I was just wondering. Some of the 8-lug GM bread vans got those, so I wondered about the busses.

TTBOMK rear axle should be D70 if it's not a 14-bolt.
 
Dave, if you wanted to tow with them, and be able to hit the hills, a simple fix would be to drop a 454 in it. It would pull you great.
As a camper, no more cold and or wet nights. Be simple to make it primitive, and even better if you wanted. I know how cheap you are so you probably gonna get it for like $50 bucks or so LOL
 
No test drive yet, but owner said top speed was 35-40mph when the governor would cause it to start surging... so he clipped one of the wires. Said they ran 65-70 back from Christiansburg without any issues.

I could be wrong about the TBI, but it honestly didn't look like a carb (body way too smooth).

Rims/tires are 16.5" and judging by the size of the chunk.... either a D70 or 80.

I don't think the owner is gonna go that low Chip, but if he doesn't deal :flipoff2:

Another potential gotcha... 1 is registered as a "20 passenger" and requires a CDL... the other (w/ wheelchair lift) is registered as "15 passenger". Anyone have any knowledge on registering it as something other than a bus or decreasing the rider count (by removing seats?)?
 
Dave, mine had all the seats. I removed them I do have a CDL class A, but no passenger endorsement. Does not matter how many seats you have, only how many of them you have filled!
If it has a TBI that would be great. But remember school bus carbs do look different. Pull the breather and look at it. Mine was registered as a bus, but easy enough to get it registered as a RV or a "house car" I think is what they call it. All ya gotta do is go to inspectors office and get the list of things to install to make it one. Items as a bed, sink, toilet, stove and so on are some of the items.
If it would hold 20 passengers, let's say 20 200lb guys, that's 4000lbs, so it may not be as big of a slug as you might think. If it would hold 60 or 65 pulling the straights, it wouldn't be too bad. Loose the seats, loose some weight, put in a few creature comforts gain some weight, add subtract and so on.
If it ran out good I would go for it. Pull the governed carb, slap on a Holley and see how it does. Buy them both, fix em both, and sell to recoup investment.

Yager can give you some heads up on RV requirements
 
BTW Dave I saw one of these once that had two full size bunks, a potty/shower and a kitchen. They added an RV type AC overhead and pulled a Big full size rig on a heavy looking trailer. Didn't talk to them, to see what engine and so on, but he had stickers on it from all over the place, so it appeared to do some traveling.
 
Was just reading his toterhome thread about the registration... If it happens, I like to do something other than a bus or RV. Afterall, it's nothing more than a "1ton cube van" w/ windows! :D
 
Caver Dave said:
Another potential gotcha... 1 is registered as a "20 passenger" and requires a CDL... the other (w/ wheelchair lift) is registered as "15 passenger". Anyone have any knowledge on registering it as something other than a bus or decreasing the rider count (by removing seats?)?
Click to expand...


FYI...as long as the GVWR is under 26,000, and I have to assume those are...

you just need a Class "C" CDL with a "P" endorsement...

not all the effort of going to get a Class "A" or "B"...

Greg
 
My bro had a thomas G30 'cutaway' van/bus his was a 93 and had 350/4L80e combo... His had just regular insurance as a 1ton van. I've driven it, so here is my advise..

DO NOT BUY IT. with out an OD.

My brother bus was a rust bucket but it was nice, the 350 had just enough balls to move the bus and get the trailer up to speed.. His has a 9600# rating 14bolt rear SRW I'd suggest running 4.10s (stock was 373s)

Get something newer as it will have 16" vs 16.5" wheels. Those buses are out there and they normally sell for <3500$

Also not sure if you realized that many of the G30s are unibody construction. While this isnt a huge deal, id definitly stay away from anything from a snow belt state.

I researched the mini bus setup and just couldn't find one that I liked, with the options i wanted.

Get one with a TBI they have a bit more HP..
 
Thanks Mike!

yager said:
DO NOT BUY IT. with out an OD.
Click to expand...

Any reason outside of fuel mileage? The 400 is gotta be way more reliable than an OD model anyway


yager said:
His has a 9600# rating 14bolt rear SRW I'd suggest running 4.10s (stock was 373s)
Click to expand...

It appears these have either D70/D80 dually rears w/ unknown ratio

yager said:
Get something newer as it will have 16" vs 16.5" wheels. Those buses are out there and they normally sell for <3500$
Click to expand...

I've heard the 16.5"s have that funky bead (lack of a bead area?), but does it really matter on a rig that only sees highway? Unlikely to air down and lose it...


yager said:
Also not sure if you realized that many of the G30s are unibody construction. While this isnt a huge deal, id definitly stay away from anything from a snow belt state
Click to expand...

These are full framed. Despite being from VA, they look pretty good underneath. I figured they were new enough to be from the "it dropped 3 flakes, so school is cancelled today" era and never saw salted roads?

yager said:
Get one with a TBI they have a bit more HP..
Click to expand...

:confused: I'd heard the TBI mills are gutless compared to carbed (because of emissions "de-tuning") :confused:
 
Only way to tell on the TBI/Carb is to pull the air cleaner base.. Later year carbs had computer controlled/feedback carbs.. You could easily do a standalone TBI swap for cheep..

Oh ya, the air cylinders are small bags inside the front coils, used to assist. Should be easy to spot, they do help with the gyrations and can minimize pogo-ing down the road.. Think marshmellow..

Your correct the TH400 is very simple and reliable. If MPG and top speed isnt a huge deal you will be fine..

Id still look to eventually swap off the wheels/tires for newer 16" ones.. I think you would have better tire options down the road.. Run those out just don't buy NEW 16.5" tires..
 
mbalbritton said:
Why not an Oil Burner... drop a 5 speed behind it and let'r roll.
Click to expand...

I am not up on oil burner tech. I know the 6.2 would bolt up, but it isn't much on speed, and has head issues.
Others I am not sure of. I know Dave, and he ain't gonna sink a lot of money in this, so finding a good used 454 would be ideal. An easy swap, most everything bolt up. Has the stroke for pulling, and the muscle too.
 
mbalbritton said:
Why not an Oil Burner... drop a 5 speed behind it and let'r roll.
Click to expand...

In a nut shell... the GM smokers just have too many issues (no sack being the biggest), and with a gas mill, *I* can diagnose/work on it!

While mileage is a factor, smokers below PSD/CTD level aren't that great... the Mule gets 17mpg empty & between 10-12mpg towing (average of 3 Mtn.City, 1 Asheville round trip, and several to Charlotte). Pretty sure I can get a SBC tweaked to get those loaded numbers... my bros 8.1L barely cracks 8mpg loaded.

Being able to run 70mph up Old Fort mtn. isn't as big a deal as being able to make it up period! :D

So, what's the bad juju with16.5" rims?
 
And I juuust happen to know a guy with a full set of 16" dually rims with some purty SS wheel skins.. :D
 
Caver Dave said:
SO... outside of issues airing down 16.5"s what's all the bad press about?
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Nothing that I can think of, if you don't need to air down for off-road, which you would not do in this bus. I had plenty of tire selection for my K30 with 16.5-inch rims, but I wanted to be able to air down when I hit the beach, so I went with H2s (17s).

Granted, I was looking at tires in the 33-35-inch range, so maybe there is less selection of 16.5 tires in the 235/85/16.5 range? A quick search of tire sites on the web would tell...
 
OK - searched on Tire Rack, and the 16.5 sizes are weird, like "8.75-16.5", and yes, limited selection. Maybe other sites would have better results? But prob not. If you are looking at larger single wheel sizes like 33X12.5-16.5, you can find them, but this does not apply to those busses or dually trucks.
 
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