| Author | Message | ||
| califbob (199.174.216.10) Rating: N/A |
I bought an motor with a 4 valve head. Took me 2 years due manly to $. Switched to the new style rack, lower the comp ratio, got an exhaust manifold that dumps stright out to the curb side and mounted the turbo on top of the trans( I like stuff thats easy to get too). Ran the exhaust down the curb side, no muffler. Put in a high volume h2o pump,had to have the blower redone to accept turbo, jake brake, air throttle, had the radiator rebuilt( a must)Bore a hole in the pan and beefed it up inside and out to accept the oil dump from the turbo, that is strikley by gravity, can't remember what size injectors. Did away with the old shut down portion of the intake and got one off a 8V53 that facees to the right had to redo the bolt holes. Plumbed it into the turbo.Had to tear out the air manifold from the compressor and mount the compressor on he generator drive and put in a asesarry drive to run a belt driven high amp altanator I am very happy with the results. Most ads for 04s for sale claim 10mpg( I always concider a 20% bs factor) I never got that on the old motor and still don't get that much 6 1/12 is tops, I,v got a real heavy foot, run 70mpg most of the time. It cost a whole bunch of $. If I had to do again I'd go for a 6V92 and an a/t, but it is one heck f a good conversation piece. I'm sure a forgot some thing but will be glad to answer any questions | ||
| HondoJoe04 (216.126.187.141)
Rating: N/A |
If that's the case, I get over 11 mpg almost all the time w/ my 692 powered 4104. Please deduct the 20% BS Factor!!!! If BS was bucks I think most of the Busnuts I know would be millionaires!! Sure would like to see your setup Bob. Joe | ||
| HondoJoe04 (216.126.187.141)
Rating: N/A |
If that's the case, I get over 11 mpg almost all the time w/ my 692 powered 4104. Please deduct the 20% BS Factor!!!! If BS was $buck$ I think most of the Busnuts I know would be millionaires!! Sure would like to see your setup Bob. Joe | ||
| Scott Whitney (66.82.9.38) Rating: N/A |
Cool! In that case, my bus is 48' long, 10'2" wide and has a nearly 8' interior headroom. What should I do with all that extra room?! : ^ ) Scott | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
Hmmm, maybe Crowns have something really cool going for them afterall... No BS... my last week's trip of about 1000 miles- which involved traversing a few 3000-4000 foot grades and cruising at 70-75 most of the time netted me 10.1 MPG This is with 2 A/C's and a big ol' dish antenna stuck up on the roof, carrying 100 gallons of water, fully converted now... and I'm not even running in the middle of the power curve yet... my rear end ratio runs the motor at 2200 when I'm goin' 72, so next month when I get it changed out I expect I might do even a bit better on the fuel! Cheers Gary Stadler | ||
| John Rigby (24.174.233.65)
Rating: N/A |
Bob Thanks for the info,when its time i will take your advice and probably look at the 6v92and a/t although i hear the bottom end is very week and the older engines had problems with the castings holding up. Thanks John Rigby | ||
| califbob (199.174.221.17) Rating: N/A |
Yeah John If you do change make sure you get the silver 92 | ||
| Jojo Colina (Du1jec) (68.8.173.2)
Rating: N/A |
6v92 silvers are supposed to have engine serials of F86000 or higher. One could always have painted a green 6v92 silver so it would be prudent to check the serial #. | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
Hey Gary: I believe every word you says about the great fuel mileage you gets with yours Crown Super Coach now totally converted ultimate motorhome. And....as one Crown owner to another, I will have you know my '74 10-wheeler gets around 11 mpg or soooosss at 60 or sooossss. (1600 rpm, 10th gear) And.....The Banana Boat (her name!) gets such fantastic fuel mileage sitting absolutely still parked and stuff that I CAN NOT EVEN MEASURE IT!!! He he he!!! CROWNS FOREVER!!! | ||
| Tom Connolly (148.78.248.10)
Rating: N/A |
Many thanks to CalifBob! All these years I was unaware of the 20% BS factor, I thought however that I had out smarted the error factor by dividing the total fuel used into the total mileage based on a cross country trip ( FL to NC to CO to UT and back to FL) I got 9.86 and figured it was ok to call that 10 mpg, that has worked out good for me over the years as I have 140 gal fuel onboard I simply plan my fuel stops around 1,000 mile intervals and take on a 100 gal fill-up. Until Last Week! Now that I have amended my calculations to include the 20% BS factor I have started driving 1,200 miles and filling-up with the 100 gal, Well on the Tuesday morning I was running down the supper slab at my usual foot in the floor 70-75 mph and on my 3rd fill-up since using the new formula when about an hour short of home My engine quit, Lucky for me I was able to coast into a rest stop, after lunch I went to work on her, figuring fuel starvation I changed out the filters but could not get a prime so I thought maybe a fuel line leak! Well I finally gave in and called in the service guys, they had my 4104 running fine in no time at all! and it turns out the only thing wrong was that when I started using your new math to figure my mileage they said I was supposed to recalibrate my speedo by the same 20% BS factor, Since doing this I have solved the problem completely and in fact It's great because now I have solved the more power more speed issue too! My 4104 now cruise's at 90 Mph and my wife loves it! Because were able to get to our destination so much faster we can play longer when we get there! Thanks to you again for everything! and don't for get to add in the 20% BS factor when your done reading this! Well maybe use an 80% BS factor cause I do get the 10 MPG, but that's about it, the rest is all BS factor! Tom C | ||
| John Rigb y (63.185.81.164)
Rating: N/A |
I have to admit having owned and used my 4104 for the past 15 years,I have never ever got more than 7,9 miles per gallon.I have calculated this with both the previous engine and my present engine.When on the superslab I always drive 70-75 mph.we did 4500 miles this summer,still averaged 7.9.However my friend who rebuilt this engine and had it in his 4104 got 9.9 or 10 mpg,but he drove 55-60 mpg on the superslab. John Rigby | ||
| Tom Connolly (148.78.248.10)
Rating: N/A |
John, Mine doesn't seem to care if I drive 65 or 75 mph, run empty or full, toad or not. at best 1/2 mpg difference. I figure that what is lost pulling the grades was gained on the way down, a wash. The ride however is best at 68-72 mph everything just falls in to the groove there! | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
"...My 4104 now cruise's at 90 Mph and my wife loves it! Because were able to get to our destination so much faster..." Tom, you must have figured out how to recalibrate your clocks too!! My wife and I wanna know how! Is that one of the secrets to a good conversion?  Cheers Gary | ||
| Tom Connolly (148.78.248.10)
Rating: N/A |
I simply put a few Diodes in series going to the clocks, with a little trial and error like magic they are now properly calibrated, This is however is causing some problems with eating when we stopped the other day for dinner at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, the sun had not come up yet and Cracker Barrel was closed? And I am still having trouble figuring out what to do with the calendar, though I was thinking of going to 10 month years to fix things because this could extend my life by about 20% as well. I hope to keep this quiet fearing repercussions from the medical community! So far things are looking great with better fuel mileage, getting places faster and living longer who am I to complain! I may bee a little paranoid but since discovering these things, I think I may have someone following me because I keep seeing black helicopters every where I go, the strange thing is, there really really really quiet! I appreciate any sound advice you all might have in this matter. Tom C | ||
| Scott Whitney (66.82.9.32) Rating: N/A |
Hi Group, I am glad most of the technical issues of recalibration have now been ironed out. So I propose to increase the 20% BS factor to 50%. That way we get even faster speeds, better fuel mileage, more free time etc. All in favor? Scott | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
Actually, let's just get the highway departments and map companies to redo their mileage signs and distances to about half of what they are now. That way we wouldn't have to mess with changing time and speed which are a little more difficult and sometimes more dangerous! HeeHee aren't we all busy this morning!! Geez, I oughta be working on my bus's cabinets... Cheers Gary | ||
| califbob (209.179.211.125) Rating: N/A |
Wow did I ever pull some chains!! A frend of mine always responds when asked how many miles per gallon he gets "just under 20--- about 15 under" I sure would like to know how to get 10mpg on my 671. I'v had it for 20 years and the only time I got that sort of milage was on the way back from Lake Tahoe, which is like falling off a clif. | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
NOT kidding!! This was the first trip I ever took with a working speedometer- I got the neat microprocessor style VDO unit from Ron The Bus nut, installed and calibrated it on a measured highway mile (driving at night on the freeway at about 1 MPH past the signs so I got it real accurate), and took my trip from San Diego to the desert about 50 miles past Las Vegas and back. I did as much of the driving as I could at about 70 mph, except the grades which I had to take at about 35 due to my whopping big 220 HP Cummins. I filled up in Barstow, zero'd my trip counter, went to the desert, returned and filled up on the way back at the same station. I was so stoked that I photographed the speedo and the gas receipt for posterity!! Here it is... you do the math... http://www.heartmagic.com/zzGasMi.JPG Cheers And I now agree with Henry, Crowns forever... Gary Stadler | ||
| Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (170.215.60.14)
Rating: N/A |
Gary, Not trying to burst your bubble but........ Are you sure that the tank was full? Looking at your receipt, it looks like the pump may have shut off at the 50 gallon autoshut off mark that some pumps have per credit card wipe. I have a buddy with a Winnebago 30ft "C" class Ford 460 injected, that swears he gets 10mpg and 12mpg with a 16ft enclosed trailer attached. When we borrowed it, we got between 7 and 8 mpg no matter how we drove. This was on the freeway and at about the speed limit, just like he said he did. Turns out it his case, he was making an "allowance" for the genset running which fed from the same tank. Peter. | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
Absoutely Peter! I topped it off very carefully on both fills. It's just good circumstance that the round trip from Barstow to our destination and back was almost exactly 500 miles, and that means the bus consumed almost exactly 50 gallons. I've taken this bus on about 5000 miles worth of trips so far, and I've been doing the MPG calc by measuring the maps for mileage, it's always come out between 9.5 and 10.5 MPG. But this trip was the first time I'd been able to do it "digitally" and confirm it with real numbers. Only once did it drop to 8.5, and that was becuase most of that leg was going uphill 25-30mph in low gear, in high altitude on a really hot day, smokin it's brains out 'cause I don't have a turbo on it *yet*. Even the day I bought it and brought it home from Fresno to San Diego it got 10 mpg but at that point I didn't believe it because I thought the gas tank was bigger and I'd miscalculated. Truly, this Crown gets 10 mpg. It weighs in at 26,000 fully converted, and I'm thrilled!! Anyone who doesn't believe it is welcome to come on a trip with me and buy the gas on a bet! (and my genset runs on propane...) Cheers! Gary | ||
| Peter Broadribb (Madbrit) (170.215.32.184)
Rating: N/A |
Sounds like you have a winner there. I am now planning on converting a semi-truck with a 24ft body on the chassis. I have been told I could get as much as 10 to 12 mpg at a reasonable freeway speed of 70mph if the gearing and overdive trans allow it. So I could be right up there with you. I didn't realise you were refering to a Crown, I assume you have better gearing than the GM boys for those great mpg figures? Good luck with that Crown, I always like their looks. Peter. | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
I trashed the old 5 speed and put in a 9 spd Eaton tranny with overdrive. Coupled with my currently horrible 5:29 rear end, it puts me at 2100 rpm at 70mph. Not bad, but not right in the power curve's pocket either. I fetched a 4:11 pumpkin from a bus graveyard that's being rebuilt and going in within a month or so, which I expect will get me a touch better mileage even yet! At least it will move the split up a bit higher so I can stay in the low range within the city a lot more, and hopefully will help me to not miss so many darned lights ('cause it's such a hassle to switch between lo and hi range!.... I think that the "curviness" of the Crown has a lot to do with the MPG at freeway speeds, at least from reading all those posts a while back on shape, it makes a lotta sense. And a few other Crown guys I know report much the same mileage.. Cheers Gary | ||
| califbob (209.179.214.125) Rating: N/A |
Do these Crowns have gas engines? I kept a log of fuel purchase for the last severa;years. It's fun to go back and figure mpg it gives you the real numbers. On the way to Okie City last year I filled up in Albuqurque and filled in Okie City with 58 gallons. On the way back stopped at the same truck stop and put in 100 gallons, big head wind. bob | ||
| Gary Stadler (Boogiethecat) (68.7.217.217)
Rating: N/A |
Yup, Crowns are diesel. In my younger dumber times I once rode a motorcycle from San Fransisco to Fresno, got 52 MPG. For the return trip late at night, decided to be really stupid and draft a truck the whole way home...about 9-10 feet fron his rear the whole way... got 125 MPG... It's all in the wind.... Cheers | ||
| Henry R. Bergman, Jr. (Henryofcj) (63.224.197.10)
Rating: N/A |
Yea, the older type Crowns like Gary has usually came with the 743 Cummins pancake engine with power ratings ranging from 200 all the way up to the unusual 335 with the factory turbo. Then later Crown hung big cam 855 Cummin's ranging from 250 (like I have ) all the way up to the rare 335, with a lot of 290's to 300's. Mine has no turbo. At the same time later Crown also used the various ratings of the famous (infamous?) Detroit 671 engine, ranging in power from the 210/218 all the way up to the rare 276 or even the 300 turbo. This configeration was the pancake engine location in the middle of the bus with the rounded front and rear ends which really helps the fuel mileage. Very slick indeed. My 1974 Crown 40-foot 10-wheeler has the 250 Cummins and a truly neat Fuller RTO-910 10-speed Roadranger which is really easy and fun to drive. The transmission as Gary is finding out really makes the difference in the road performace of the coach. Why....way back in 1970 or soossss we..... Used to go on Saturday field trips with two Crowns, usually old #22 and #23. Exact type of bus, only #23 had the 10-speed and #22 was two years older and had the Fuller T-905 5-speed. Each had the same Cummins 743 pancade mill set at 220 hp. The 10-speed equipped Crown always walked away from the 5-speed, to the point where it always got there first. No one wanted to ride in the 5-speed, it was noticeably slower pulling the 6 percent grades. The gears with the RTO-910 are sooossss close together, keeping road speed is a snap. Thanks. | ||
| buslady of socal (168.103.232.151)
Rating: N/A |
The Crowns they are talking about are Diesels, Crown did use gas engines back the early days. Hall-Scott, Waukesha, and Hercules mostly, the latter two were really the same thing(i think it was those two) Im trying to get a '54 with a HallScott 504 that's sitting near my aunt's house...not to convert to restore as it was. |