| Author | Message | ||
| Johnny (63.159.188.12)
Rating: N/A |
The guy with the 1982 Ford/Thomas has another one! I was turning my Caddy around, when I saw the front of an old (1970's) Mercury Grand Marquis sticking out behind a large shed. I got out for a closer look (I'm always looking for swap-meet parts), & got a shock: behind the Merc was ANOTHER school bus! It was a dog-nose, in fair shape (I give it a 5 on a 1-10 scale, I'd give the other an 8.5), but had been vandalized: spray painted graffitti on the sides, slashed seats, a flat tire, & a window in the rear door shattered. The guy came around (he thought I'd gotten stuck in the dirt lot) & saw me poking around. I asked about it, & he told me the story: this bus is a 1984, also a ThomasBuilt bodied Ford. This one was their only bus for about 10 years, & has a 370/2bbl, a Spicer 5-speed with 2-speed axle, & was parked about 4 months ago. The 370 was on its last legs (knocking & smoking), & they were given the Marquis to swap its 460 into the bus. However, someone vandalized the bus 2 days later. They don't have the money to fix it, so they were going to scrap it. However, junkyards want $100+ to haul away the bus, $40-50 to get the Merc! I asked how much for both, & was amazed: "If you can get them out of here, they're yours." The damage looks bad, but seems all superficial, except for the slashed tire. I plan to paint it, anyway, & the seats are coming out, so that's no problem. The window was covered with plastic, so water didn't rot anything. The body is almost perfect--a few dings on the side, some paint scratches, & a few welded-up holes where the STOP sign was mounted. The lights are still there (though painted black & non-functional), & it has a route sign (currently blank) front & back--which seems unique to Thomas skoolies. GVWR is 25,000, with hydraulic brakes, like the other one. I have a friend who owes me a favor, & he said he'd look it over for me this weekend (he's a commercial truck mechanic). Were I to design a bus to find, it wouldn't have been much different from this one: manual shift, 2-speed axle, no power steering, & cheap! A diesel would be nice, but........... | ||
| FAST FRED (63.215.226.89) Rating: N/A |
Since this is a FORD chasis , get thee to the junk yard and get a late (95 up) model Ford REAL TRUCK ENGINE, not a pax car take out , and have fun. If you get the tranny and a couple of ft of the driveshaft , so much the better. There is a HUGE difference in the design and internals of a truck engine , from a car engine , and for slogging 25,000 lbs up hills , or attempting 75 on the slab , you need a real engine. A diesel is ONLY needed if your going to do 100,000 miles a year , like a road truck. Otherwise the gas works better in lightly used vehicles. Congrats on your find , hopefully the REST of the conversion goodies can come from more digging! WELCOME to a great hobby!! FAST FRED | ||
| Johnny (63.159.175.178)
Rating: N/A |
The only difference I've found between the HD truck/marine engines & the car 460's is the trucks have a steel crankshaft & sometimes 4-bolt mains. Rebuilt, the Merc's engine would be fine--but I don't have to use it. I have a complete 4-bolt, steel-crank 460 from a 1981 F-350 chassis-cab in my shed. Once rebuilt, it will work. I'm a car nut--I've done this stuff many times.  Why would I need the tranny--the 5 and 2 is fine. | ||
| DaveD (216.18.113.69)
Rating: N/A |
You would probably want to add a deeper oil pan and longer oil pick-up as well. Truck engines usally hold more oil. DaveD | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (12.146.33.69)
Rating: N/A |
I would look for a different cam in a real truck engine; ordinarily, pickups don't have truck engine features. The big deal about a real truck engine is the ability to tolerate heavy throttle running for fairly long stretches. That generates a lot more heat than pickup duty. An engine oil cooler would help and the cam improves breathing and helps get rid of chamber heat that can kill a gas engine. You're looking at a carbureted engine and they commonly use 15 or 20 percent more fuel than fuel injected ones. This is one source of waste heat. I would expect different pistons and possibly different rod bearings in a truck engine. And stellite valves would help keep the valves in it longer. I'm not saying that it is a bad project, but if you make too many assumptions without checking things out carefully, it might well become a bad project. For what it's worth. Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 | ||
| Johnny (63.159.192.22)
Rating: N/A |
I plan to use the oil pan from the 370 if it will fit (it looks the same as the one on the 460 bus). If not, I know of a few Lima-powered Ford medium-duties in a junkyard I can get a pan from. I'll add a homemede crank scraper & maybe a windage tray. The engine will be rebuilt--new cam (probably a mild Comp Came Xtreme Energy grind), forged pistons, & severe-duty bearings, stainless valves (maybe sodium-filled), roller timing chain, new ARP bolts all around, probably head studs, definitely main bearing studs, copper head gaskets, & a big oil cooler (I have a humongous one from an old dump truck that should work), & probably a remote oil filter setup with 2 oversize filters. As I said, I've done this stuff many times. | ||
| FAST FRED (63.215.238.7) Rating: N/A |
BE sure the cam is a Torque MONSTER that comes in at low rpm, screaming up hills is hard on the music system. FAST FRED | ||
| Tom Caffrey (Pvcces) (12.146.33.4)
Rating: N/A |
Right-O, Fast Fred. Tom Caffrey PD4106-2576 | ||
| Johnny (63.159.216.12)
Rating: N/A |
I trust Competition cams-they've been doing this for decades. They custom-ground the cam in my Gremlin's AMC 401, & HOLY CRAP does it move. I'm hoping for peak torque around 2500RPM. I'm also considering a Roots-type supercharger... | ||
| Jim Nelson (65.56.23.106)
Rating: N/A |
Oh, yeah. We dropped a 4-71 supercharger on my friend's old Dodge panel, and I'd reccomend it - the smile on his face when it actually got to highway speed with 3 pallets of tile inside was something to behold! Clearance on a 6-71 will be tight, especially if you want carbs and a decent air cleaner on it - although, grafting a cowl-induction scoop on the nose would be fun... | ||
| Johnny (63.159.196.142)
Rating: N/A |
I have almost 12" between the air cleanere lid & the hood. A B&M blower should fit........ A high-rise intake is no problem. |