Dusty's Bus

[Dusty]

bummer ... all that one fingered typing ....

you've made sure it won't happen again , eh , Stu

[rlaggren]

And I was getting ready to publish all the stuff!

Darn Sys-Admins! <G>

[Dusty]

Trying desperately to get some normality back into life ........

So , back to the steering box.

A couple of pages back there is a pic of the original 'box, the brake pedal sweeps real close to it.

The Nissan 'box sits RIGHT where the original pedal went , so .........

Gotta change everything.

Cut out the drivers foot well , build new floor/box/walls etc.

Use Nissan pedal box , make mounts for that , cut out under dash, make top mounts for nissan pedal box , avoid cutting/burning original wiring etc etc .

Here is a pic of the passenger side for comparison. I still have to cut this out to build space for the big Nissan aircleaner, the wee Beddy one won't be up to the job.


Here is the drivers side , its just GOTTA look better when its painted


And the Nissan Pedal Box Im using. THis is shown with just the clutch pedal attached, the hydraulic cylinder is nicely located within the assy.

[Dusty]

The Nissan FE6 engine is located where it is going to be and I'm in the process of fabricating new mounts for it.

The beam is remaining attached 'till all is finally hooked up, 'cause you should see it sway in the 'quakes




and my silly attempt to stop the cold southerly blowing in the bus . It's actually supposed to be our warmest month , but lifes full of teases.

[Lostranger]

Hey Dusty,

Bravo for diving into a repower that's not the least bit straightforward. I love to see people tackle the difficult and unusual. Thanks for keeping us posted. Your progress may seem slow, but it's inspiring the rest of us.

If our current project with the step van (Wisdom in Motion? thread) works out as I think it will, I may replace the 5.7L Chevy petrol V8 with a Cummins 4BT diesel. That's the four cylinder version of the Cummins offered in Dodge light trucks. The 4BT offers modest HP in stock form but HUGE torque for its size. Coupled with a manual transmission, I'm pretty sure I could quadruple the fuel economy.

My repower would not be nearly as complicated as yours, however. The 4BT was offered in later GM based delivery vans, and most of the parts are available over the counter. I'm looking forward to your solutions for your Bedford. Keep us all in the loop.

Best regards from a little place called North Carolina.

Jim

[stuartcnz]

Any more bus updates? Just been looking at a nice little Bedford bus on trademe, with has me seriously tempted, with a 214 petrol engine. Just how bad is the milage on those motors?

[Dusty]

Stuart the 214 in my VAS beddy is good for 15mpg, (at an easy pace)

The engine is finally in the bus , engine mounts constructed , sump well modified, intake modified , exhaust under construction and drive shaft went to the shop to be altered today , pickup next week. pics later.

[Lostranger]

Way to go Dusty,

I'm drooling for photos. I'm so busy with life that I need inspiration to stay focused on my housetruck project.

Jim in North Carolina

[Dusty]

OK Jim , I hope this helps with the inspiration , despite progress being desperately slow , things are gradually happening.

One of my difficulties has been the weight of the nissan stuff, I'm not set up to handle it and the process of doing so has been a challenge.

However, we persevere ............

So the nissan engine mounts and chassis cross member were pulled from the truck and cut/stripped and modified to fit inside the Bedford chassis rails. These are a few pics showing stages of development.

Starting with basic fill in the box bit


then stuff got added till there was enough there to hang the engine off. So this bit goes inside the chassis


Actually , this engine is cradled not hung, so this bit attaches to the one above.


Up front , a piece of the nissan rear cradle is used to fill the chassis and attach the nissan mount to. This is the drivers side , the floor has also been cut and boxed for alternator clearance.


Passenger side , floor again cut (for fuel filter access) and a piece added inside chassis rail for the front engine mount.

[Dusty]

Engine is in place and bolted down


At this stage , I had to deal with the sump. The oil pan bulge was right where the axle/tie rod was , this meant cutting the sump, changing the shape , keeping most of the capacity in the process and not warping to so it can still be sealed.

BIG ASK!

It was a bit of a drama and the sump got attacked 3 times in the end . But it seems ok now , just looks a bit like a dragster item LOL . OH , yeah , and the oil pump pickup had to be cut and shifted and lowered as well.

Sorry I got no before pic , but you can see that this is MUCH better than factory now

[Dusty]

The next little issue is the exhaust manifold .

On the Nissan it originally exits above the chassis rail


It's not possible to tolerate this in the bus , as that is where my seat is

So I pulled the manifold to pieces, cut it up (getting good with the grinder by now ) and changed the exit to straight down between the chassis and the engine block. Much tidier. Fortunately , the manifold is in 3 pieces and I was able to separate them for easier handling.


Then I cut the exit flange off , whittled the shape, bored a hole in the casting etc, etc




I cut a piece of 4mm steel plate and curved it to aid the gas flow and I hope it all works very well

[Dusty]

Tight squeeze in the engine bay (notched drivers side floor).

[Dusty]

And floor cutout for fuel filter/pump access.



You know the engine cover is gonna be an interesting shape

[GoodClue]

Nice work, well done ... tho I personally don't care to fly I would happily ride in your spacecraft anytime ...
Anxious to see the finished product. GoodClue.

[Mark R. Obtinario]

With everything in such close quarters I am curious about residual heat, partlcularly with the exhaust so close to your feet.