1935 Chevy school bus

Discussions about all things to do with buses, trucks, and the homes made within them.

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somewhereinusa
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by somewhereinusa »

No image here.
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hi Dick. That's strange, I can see them in the last entry on page 47--maybe I'm just special. :D Jack
tango
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Nice Bird!!! And righteous whitewalls!
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Thanks Tango. I've always wanted a '57 tbird but could never afford one so when this '03 retrobird showed up real cheap at a tow yard lien sale I snapped it up. The fins, tail lamps and head lamps are all '57 parts I hacked on. The white walls are made by a specialty tire company near me. They "recap" the sidewalls of new tires with white rubber for about half the cost of Corker brand white walls. I promise the next pic will be bus related.
Jack
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Great job on the update Jack! Or...is that a "back date"? Either way it looks much better than Ford's attempt at a retro look Bird. I just wish someone here could do the whitewall recap number on mine. Must be a Kaliphornia thing.
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somewhereinusa
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by somewhereinusa »

Jack, pictures are there now. Nice job on the bird.
I've always been a Ford guy. my first car was a 55 then, a 56 Victoria then a 59 Skyliner. When I was about 16 I found a 57 Tbird that I thought I could afford but dad wouldn't let me buy it. :(
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Just wanted to wish all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanza or whatever excuse you need to celebrate the Season!
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Hey Jack...I've read that Dexron III is what is speced for the NPR power steering. Is that what you have been using? Any thoughts on the subject?
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hey Tango. Dextron III is what my service manual recommends. It also recommends burping the system with the front wheels off the ground. Jack
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Good to know. Many thanks Jack.

Hope you are staying warm out there in the California sunshine. Been miserable here for the last coupla weeks. Rain, then, cold, then freezing rain and colder. Needs to break soon as I am getting even further behind. I don't know about you, but I can only lay on frozen concrete for so long.
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All. Today's ramblings come from the "can't leave stuff alone" file. :screwy:

A short while ago I was crowing about finding a new gas valve for my bus heater. I no sooner finished that up when the gas valve on the wall heater in out “granny flat” failed (or at least so I thought at the time). By the time I finished researching a replacement valve I realized that both the bus and the flat used the same basic valve. Since the flat has a wall thermostat it requires a thermopile to generate the millivolts required to run the thermostat while the bus with a manual temp set uses a thermocouple. Other than that the valves are identical. While I waited for the new valve from e-bay I monkeyed with the heater and after cleaning the pilot tube and getting the scale off the thermopile the heater works just fine.
E-bay came through with a new valve, a new thermopile and a new thermostat. Not wanting all those goodies to go to waste, I tore the heater out of the bus and adapted all the new parts to it. It works great and I don’t have to crawl around on the floor to set the temp. Without thinking I shared my success with Wifey who looked at me with that raised eyebrow “Yea sure” look—I swear, it just happened that way even though I really did want to make the change in the bus heater back when I repaired it----.
Things often happen to me in sets of three. Today the thermopile in our 5 year old water heater gave up the ghost. The fixins for that ran $187.50 and I didn’t even get any spare parts!
Jack
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hello All, busy at the typewriter.

Well, I learned a lesson—but not without considerable pain to reinforce it. Gasoline really does go bad. A year ago I replaced the Yamaha ef3000iseb genny in my bus with a brand new model of the same ilk. Same rip snorting electron pushing device I had but with all the eco friendly junk like a charcoal canister and exhaust sniffer or something. I figured I was set for life. Not so. After only 24 hrs of metered use, the thing began surging at idle with wild fluctuations of rpm’s and flashing red lights. It worked fine under load but I’ll bet that wouldn’t have lasted. Per the net, this apparently isn’t all that uncommon regardless of the generator brand. The fix seems to be carb repair and gas tank cleaning.
I removed and dissembled the carb in which I found an amazing amount of varnish. I did a though cleaning of the float bowl and all the jets and emptied the tank. After reassembling the carb and adding fresh gas, the genny is purring like a kitten again!
Feeling good about my success with the Yamaha I decided to have a look see at the Powermate Genny on the pop up camper I tow with the bus Toad. I’ve only used the new PM once since I installed it about a year and a half ago. Damn thing wouldn’t even start! I finally got it to run on ether—but only until the either ran out. This is where the pain comes in. I put the PM on a work bench next to where the Toad was parked and proceeded to vigorously pull the starter rope. With each pull the genny moved closer and closer to the Toad until it was just close enough so that a good yank on the rope brought my elbow into contact with the edge of the rain gutter on the Toad. The result was a new hole in my shirt and a new hole in my elbow and a really pissed off tendon.
The PM is a knock off of the Yamaha, about a third the cost and half the power and a tad bit noisier. The carb looks like a miniature of the Yamaha and had clogged up in all the same places. It too is again purring like a kitten.
Lesson learned (X2) : Look before you pull the starter rope; add fuel stabilizer to the gas.
Jack
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tango
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by tango »

Brings to mind a great old Blues tune by Lightnin Hopkins. (sorry...all I could find online was the lyrics but the guitar is sweet)

My starter won't start this mornin'
Boy and my motor won't even turn
My starter won't start this mornin'
Boy and my motor won't even turn
You know I've been runnin' with a fast, trashy womens
Now they'll call my little car to ruin
Yes my starter won't start this mornin'
Somethin' must be wrong with my little machine
You know my starter won't start this mornin'
Somethin' must be wrong with my little machine
Mechanic say "Your car's all right like
You just been burnin' bad gasoline."
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by Stealth Camper »

ol trunt wrote:Hello All, busy at the typewriter.

Well, I learned a lesson—but not without considerable pain to reinforce it. Gasoline really does go bad. A year ago I replaced the Yamaha ef3000iseb genny in my bus with a brand new model of the same ilk. Same rip snorting electron pushing device I had but with all the eco friendly junk like a charcoal canister and exhaust sniffer or something. I figured I was set for life. Not so. After only 24 hrs of metered use, the thing began surging at idle with wild fluctuations of rpm’s and flashing red lights. It worked fine under load but I’ll bet that wouldn’t have lasted. Per the net, this apparently isn’t all that uncommon regardless of the generator brand. The fix seems to be carb repair and gas tank cleaning.
I removed and dissembled the carb in which I found an amazing amount of varnish. I did a though cleaning of the float bowl and all the jets and emptied the tank. After reassembling the carb and adding fresh gas, the genny is purring like a kitten again!

I have done that 'old gas' trick a few times over the years - very big pain in the backside to clean up that mess. A few years ago, found something that helps a lot - I even left a gallon of gas intentionally for an old chain saw through one year as test. Obviously didn't use it much, but it started pretty easily every time I needed it..even 1 year later. The stuff if Opti-2. Opti-2 is for oil mix for 2 cycles. I just put some in the gallon and it acted like a really good conditioner/treatment. I put some the next year in my 4 cycle B&S lawnmower gas and have been doing that ever since in both 2 and 4 cycles. There must be many things like this, but it has worked so well, I haven't looked any further. Usually don't keep much overwinter, but when I do it has been working well every time.
ol trunt
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Re: 1935 Chevy school bus

Post by ol trunt »

Hey SC, I'd be the first to admit I don't know what I'mm talking about when it comes to gas additives. I went with Sta-bil because it was available I guess. Of course I'll never know if it really works because I have marked my calendar with monthly start/run cycles thereby taking all the science out of it. Jack :?:
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