87 Chevy B-60 Bus

[jaredg]

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

[mrolds88]

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.

[63 & 64 Bowties]

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....

[jaredg]

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:

[63 & 64 Bowties]

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.

[jaredg]

Originally Posted by 63 & 64 Bowties

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.

Oh you read my mind. I'd love a set of Alcoa Aluminums on this and I hear its a huge undergoing to try and swap the hubs of the Daytons - might as well just get donor axles.

[jaredg]

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:

[MalibuSSwagon]

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.

[jaredg]

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

[mrolds88]

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.

[jaredg]

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?

[jaredg]

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 :

[jaredg]

Here is a few more of the FI 427 with some close ups of the wiring going into the firewall:

[jaredg]

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:

[Softpatch]

Hi new to this HH and like the BBC let me spit ball what if you got a OD like a Gearvendor.?

[_Ogre]

or get the 2 speed rearend out of softpatch's viking
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

[Biscayne Stocker]

Ive got a 6 Speed Allison 1000 I might be interested in getting rid of. Let me know.

Scott

[jaredg]

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.

[C10 - C90 Bill]

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