Old White Super Power School bus available in SE Oregon
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Old White Super Power School bus available in SE Oregon
This old White school bus belongs to a friend of mine in SE Oregon near Ontario. It was running in about 1980 when it developed a miss in the old flathead 6-cylinder engine (thought to be ignition related), and the owner at the time sold it to Brian my friend. He towed it home and there it has sat ever since being used as a storage shed. He wants the front bumper off of it for a nice old White Super Power conventional truck he has. You can call him at 208-741-0548 and see what it would take to buy it from him if you are interested. He is usually pretty reasonable, and does like to trade for other old rolling iron.
Rudy, I sure like the old White school buses and trucks. They had that great grill, bumper and headlights. I don't know exactly what year this bus is, but Brian says he has a clean Oregon title for it. I wish I had the time and money to restore a bus like this but with a nice inline Cummins or an IH DT466 and a 6-spd Allison trans with power steering to top it off. Of course it would really be nice to then convert it to a vintage rolling home, a hippe tribute bus if you will! I hope someone will buy this bus and give it a good home, I hate to see it sit there and deteriate until nothing useable is left.
Ontario, eh. That probably isn't the only White Super Power in Ontario, Oregon.
Greg's bus was sold a few years back to a young couple who intended to move it to Missouri. They put a lot of time and money into the bus, having the brake system completely rebuilt by a truck service shop, six new tires, engine parts, etc.
The buyer set off in December to cross the country to deliver his new bus to it's home. He got as far as Ontario when the bus started to miss. We've never quite gotten it figured out, but it seemed like a simple problem. The buyer insisted that it was major engine damage and stored the bus in a self-store lot. We heard stories from the buyer of purchasing a diesel bus and transplanting the engine into the White, but nothing was ever done.
A couple of years later, the self-store was bulldozed to make way for a highway project. For a while it looked like Greg's bus was going to become part of the center median, as it was abandoned by the property owner.
A few months back, Greg got a call from someone who had been storing the bus and who wanted to know if he'd be willing to sign a title for it, as the buyer had abandoned it without ever changing ownership.
So, somewhere near Ontario, Greg's bus, with all those new parts and a nice, cozy house on the back, is sitting on someone's property. That is unless it has been made road worthy and is out traveling somewhere....
Greg's bus was sold a few years back to a young couple who intended to move it to Missouri. They put a lot of time and money into the bus, having the brake system completely rebuilt by a truck service shop, six new tires, engine parts, etc.
The buyer set off in December to cross the country to deliver his new bus to it's home. He got as far as Ontario when the bus started to miss. We've never quite gotten it figured out, but it seemed like a simple problem. The buyer insisted that it was major engine damage and stored the bus in a self-store lot. We heard stories from the buyer of purchasing a diesel bus and transplanting the engine into the White, but nothing was ever done.
A couple of years later, the self-store was bulldozed to make way for a highway project. For a while it looked like Greg's bus was going to become part of the center median, as it was abandoned by the property owner.
A few months back, Greg got a call from someone who had been storing the bus and who wanted to know if he'd be willing to sign a title for it, as the buyer had abandoned it without ever changing ownership.
So, somewhere near Ontario, Greg's bus, with all those new parts and a nice, cozy house on the back, is sitting on someone's property. That is unless it has been made road worthy and is out traveling somewhere....
I used to know where that bus was in a storage lot near the intersection of I-84 and highway 201. A couple of years ago they decided to redo the overpass and bridge at the interchange, and the bus and some other neat stuff disappeared. What an interesting story. I used to drive by and see the bus and wonder how to find out more about it, but you could not get into the storage yard, and the gate was locked and no one was ever around, no phone number or info posted, no close neighbors nearby. Now the mystery is solved! We have a place in SW Idaho about 15 miles from Ontario, and going back and forth to our place in NE Oregon would take me by the old interchange and the storage lot.
Be interesting to find out where Greg's bus is now. I have more photos of the inside, I took many to send to the buyer before he came out to Oregon to look at the bus.
Never did understand what the problem with the engine was. Greg always kept it loosened up, running it often. It always started right up. The carb had been replaced with a Quadrajet, so there was plenty of fuel to move the bus around. The only thing we know for sure was that the buyer (Stephen) said he was not able to find the proper spark plugs, and had "found some that worked", although the plug in #6 cylinder kept getting it's gap closed, presumably by the top of the piston hitting it a tiny bit.
When the bus "broke down" in Ontario, Stephen said he looked in the cylinder and found "valve spring pieces", which is simply impossible. Greg and I both encouraged him to pull the head off (flat head engines are easy) and have a look inside, but he seemed certain that the engine was destroyed.
It all seemed really odd, to fly serveal times to Oregon and back, pay for the bus, put all that money into it to get it ready for the trip, to leave at the beginning of winter, when the roads were about as bad as they could be, and then to abandon the bus without even a weak effort to find out what was wrong, if anything. If I had that lack of fortuitude, I never would have recovered from burning up my EV and Pusher in the desert in July (twice).
I'll have to ask Greg if he has any contact info from the person who is now in possession of the bus (and whom is now presumably the owner). Maybe next time you're passing through there, you could drop in and give us a report...
Here's a pic of the interior for views:
Never did understand what the problem with the engine was. Greg always kept it loosened up, running it often. It always started right up. The carb had been replaced with a Quadrajet, so there was plenty of fuel to move the bus around. The only thing we know for sure was that the buyer (Stephen) said he was not able to find the proper spark plugs, and had "found some that worked", although the plug in #6 cylinder kept getting it's gap closed, presumably by the top of the piston hitting it a tiny bit.
When the bus "broke down" in Ontario, Stephen said he looked in the cylinder and found "valve spring pieces", which is simply impossible. Greg and I both encouraged him to pull the head off (flat head engines are easy) and have a look inside, but he seemed certain that the engine was destroyed.
It all seemed really odd, to fly serveal times to Oregon and back, pay for the bus, put all that money into it to get it ready for the trip, to leave at the beginning of winter, when the roads were about as bad as they could be, and then to abandon the bus without even a weak effort to find out what was wrong, if anything. If I had that lack of fortuitude, I never would have recovered from burning up my EV and Pusher in the desert in July (twice).
I'll have to ask Greg if he has any contact info from the person who is now in possession of the bus (and whom is now presumably the owner). Maybe next time you're passing through there, you could drop in and give us a report...
Here's a pic of the interior for views:
Let me know Sharkey if you find out where it is and who owns it now. I would like to go and see it in person, maby get some pics and an update on it's condition. Who knows, maby it would be for sale too? The question about the engine intrigues me also, I would like to pull the head and see what the problem really was.
The White "Mustang" six-cylinder side valve (flathead) engine was based on a very common industrial engine design. The last I heard, repair parts, gaskets, etc were all still available through parts jobbers who specilize in industrial/big truck engine parts and repairs.
While repowering a bus this old would be preferable for performance and fuel economy purposes, getting the existing engine running again shouldn't be too much of an undertaking. I seem to remember Steve, owner of the Osprey bus saying that his bus got 3 to 4 miles-per-gallon. Dropping in a diesel would bump that up to 10 MPG pretty easily.
While repowering a bus this old would be preferable for performance and fuel economy purposes, getting the existing engine running again shouldn't be too much of an undertaking. I seem to remember Steve, owner of the Osprey bus saying that his bus got 3 to 4 miles-per-gallon. Dropping in a diesel would bump that up to 10 MPG pretty easily.
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