my choice of a bluebird chassis

[snaponjeff]

hi all.and hello mr sharkey

i used your site as one of my many points of reference when selecting my choice of chassis and for inspiration in the design of my build. many thanks to all who participate here, everyones experience is a big help. i prefer to try to not repeat the mistakes of others, although i seem to learn best the hard way.

i have been working on my bluebird for about a year, in my spare time. it is an 1985 all american schoolie, 427 gas, 4 speed allison, originally rated as an 89 passenger(children 3 to a seat), approx 40 foot long.

i choose gas over the 3208 cat thinking it would be a cheaper and easier powerplant to keep up with. i choose the all american chassis because my ultimate goal is to platform the roof for infield viewing at the race tracks. i noticed the all american appears to have almost twice the support ribs(body framework) compared to the school busses i see in service today.

i am about 6' 4" so i couldnt find anything with enough ceiling height to keep me happy. my roof is now raised about 17-18 inches over stock. i am unable to give exact specs because as we went from one step to another on the project, the design changed as we found unexpected challenges.

i would like to share my project and experiences here, as well as ask for any useful(or even useless) information any here may want to share as i continue to my interior and systems construction. i have been documenting much of my construction with photographs, so i have many examples a can share if anyone is working on a similar project.

thanks
jeff

[Abbott]

Hello Jeff,

I would sure be interested in seeing photos of the work you are doing. I am working on a similar project and I have raised the roof 14" on my 1990 International Bus with a Carpenter body. I have just completed the re- skinning the bus and I am moving forward on the conversion to an RV.