87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Hi All,
I am taking on a rather strange restoration/conversion project. I had found my old bus from childhood a few years back. Its a 1987 Chevy B-60 Wayne 54pass with a 366 Holley 4bl/Allison AT545 trans. I just recently completed a nice 30x50 pole building to house my project in. The first thing I am investigating is perhaps an upgrade in power train. I want to take this thing on road trips and currently the 366 is frying its brains out trying to go 50 on the highway. I assume the 6.83 rear end isnt helping any. I also suspect the 366 is a little worn out and so I want to consider either a new 366 engine or perhaps a 427 and of course get lower rear gears. If I am going to get a new engine would it be worth it to bump up to a 427? Perhaps Fuel Injected? Would there be any noticeable power advantage? I have tons of other questions and will post pics of the build in due time. Thanks so much for reading. Jared |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
427 will work. Or even a 454 out of a pickup would be fine too. Get a late enough model to get the TBI and take everything that you need for the conversion. Also ditch the 545. if you want to keep an automatic, go for a Allison 2000 or 2400. The 545's were good transmissions, but they dont lock the converter and they keep the rpms up. Actually I just had a thought. Every once in a while you can run across a fleet truck for sale (schwans and ryder comes to mind) that you might be able to do a whole drivetrain swap from. Engine, trans, rear. Plus sell off extra stuff from what you dont want.
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Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
First off, welcome to the forum!
What about a used/wrecked newer school bus as a donor for engine/drivetrain and switching to diesel? Look on either PublicSurplus.com or GovDeals.com Oh, and.... :wop: |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Thank you so much for your responses!! Those are great ideas! I am definitely going to investigate these options. This forum is so full of great builds - heading back over to that awesome C-50 pickup build with like 30 pages. Cant get enough of this stuff.
And here is my pride and joy: Inside her new home: http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5322/9...e699975d_b.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5118/7...d31183a5_h.jpg |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Wow, that's clean.
Another option of a donor school bus, maybe you can get rid if the Dayton wheels and swap over to some nice Budds. |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
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Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
I've been working on some exterior renderings of possibly what I'd like this thing to be. I want to keep the thing looking like a school bus but upon closer inspection a unique bad ass mild RV conversion:
http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2811/1...c4759dc4_b.jpg http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2881/1...d5ce7e98_b.jpg http://farm3.staticflickr.com/2888/1...5c297028_b.jpg |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
I remember those from my youth as well. I remember the ones I would ride on were manual trans, I'm guessing my rural school district saved some cash by opting for the manual.
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Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
I found this low mileage 1988 427 engine on the bay. What do you all think? 2 main questions - can I convert this to fuel injection? And, IF this is a NON air brake engine would I be able to add my compressor to it? I posted the question to the seller whether this is an air brake engine or not but havent heard back yet.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ENG-7-0L-427...item51b7187503 |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Converting to injection SHOULDN'T be too bad. Trick is to get a setup off of a late 80's very early 90's 454. They used an adapter setup on a quadrajet type intake. Bolt pattern is same a Qjet. Then obviously get all sensors and wiring and computer.
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Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
I have another option: A friend of mine half way across the country has a mint condition 1990 Blue Bird GMC bus with a newer 8.2L Detroit (bus was originally a gas), Allison MT643 transmission (has the lockup converter unlike my AT545), air brakes like mine, budd wheels, an electric retarder ( I have no idea what that is) and goes 65 mph at a decent RPM. Bus is rust free.
So in other words: Axles are a plus - I would gain the budd wheel setup and better rear end ratio Transmission is a plus - I would gain the lockup converter Engine - unsure if the 8.2 is a plus as I've heard some bad things about this engine online. The wheelbase is the same as mine - I'm thinking it might be easier just swapping the bodies He is asking $4000 - I'm sure I could get him down a little What are your thoughts? |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Sorry to be a pest -but here is my update:
I think I am going to walk away from that offer with the 8.2 diesel - too many horror stories with that engine that I've read. I found a 1995 GMC topkick with a fuel injected 427 in it with only 72K miles. I think I am going to pull this engine for my swap. My main question is this - knowing that my 1987 bus is a 366 carberated engine - what kind of electronics should I be looking for off the 95 Fuel Injected 427 to take from the swap? Thanks so much for reading. Here is one shot of the engine :http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/NDgwWDY0MA...9SqwfC/$_3.JPG |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Here is a few more of the FI 427 with some close ups of the wiring going into the firewall:
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7442/1...a2e43b10_h.jpg http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5541/1...127d47e3_h.jpg http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3813/1...0991ff36_h.jpg |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
After a long three months, I finally got a late 80's 427 tall deck rebuilt and installed into the bus. Today i finally got her on the road and she drives really well. To those who think there isnt much power difference between the 366 and the 427, there surely is. I have a very steep hill near my house that the 366 used to crawl at 10mph, today the 427 held at 40mph. I'm sure it also has to do with a much better carb than the old governed holley too.
My real dilemma now is that the thing sounds like its screaming at 55 mph and I believe I have a 6.85 rear end which would be the culprit. Keeping my eye out for rear end more suitable. I have a tach that I am gonna install to see where I'm at when approaching 55 in the meantime. Here are some pics from the build: https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5476/...bf2773d0_b.jpg https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5586/...72ca6e94_b.jpg https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3900/...f85dd0cd_c.jpg |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Hi new to this HH and like the BBC let me spit ball what if you got a OD like a Gearvendor.?
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Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
or get the 2 speed rearend out of softpatch's viking :D
i bought a 56 48 pass rv conversion school bus with a 2 speed rearend out of colorado in the 70s it'd climb mountains at 60 and do flat land hauling at 80 |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
Ive got a 6 Speed Allison 1000 I might be interested in getting rid of. Let me know.
Scott |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
ok so I just installed a factory GM tachometer. I took her out and achieved 55 mph at 3200 rpms. If I go 60 I assume it will be around 3600 or so. Would that be pushing the engine too much? Anyone know what a safe RPM would be to stay under with one of these 427's?
Thanks. https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5561/...6e8b3d74_c.jpg |
Re: 87 Chevy B-60 Bus
A 2-Speed Rear will not get you anymore on the top end. Your last gear on your trans and Hi on the rear will still be the same. A 2-Speed Rear actually only "splits" the gears that you already have.
Bill |
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