| Author | Message | ||
| FishbowlBrian (Fishbowlbrian) (67.165.212.171)
Rating: N/A |
Well, I've been going through the motions of getting the old girl plated in colorful Colorado. Wish I lived in Wyoming... Friday was the VIN verification, which was kind of joke because there's no VIN and the serial number on the title is nowhere to be found on the bus (old stepwell side is now 3/4" plywood). Also on Friday, the weight slip was interesting, in an FYI sort of way. With about 40 gallons of diesel still in her, and no other tanks with anything appreciable: 15,550 pounds. The scary part happened today, hand-wringing over whether the emissions will pass the State Opacity Requirements. Imagine my shock and surprise when it did! It came out 17 something, with anything under 35 being a passing grade. I happened to notice some rpm and HP numbers on the guy’s clipboard in passing. He showed me a few ranges he measured that the wheels produced. The one that sticks out in my head is (drumroll, please)... 128 HP @ 2300rpm (dyno speed... have no idea on engine speed or equiv. road speed) Okay, you can snicker, cajole, or otherwise demean me and my old bus now! Bear in mind, I'm up at 5000 feet, so I'm certain that my HP will improve anywhere lower. Now, the nice, older gent running the dyno said that my number wasn't so disappointing at all and I should multiply 50% or so higher for a "rated output", since it's normally aspirated. If true, then a 250HP rating wouldn’t be bad, but I can’t imagine a 50% hit. I guess there's the drivetrain loss, the auto trannie loss, parasitic stuff like the generator and cooling fan, the obvious altitude loss, etc. BUT, the "old girl factor" is probably the biggest hit of all, I suspect. Poor compression, questionable rack/ injector settings, etc. The thing will get up to speed, 70mph or so, just really slowly. Anyone dyno'ed a similar engine, for comparison's sake? Time for a re-build? Comments? Slings and arrows? Reassurances? Thanks all, FBB Bus Site | ||
| bruce king (67.170.101.3)
Rating: N/A |
The story behind my bus was that i took an 8v71 out of an old greyhound rustbucket (engine in good shape, frame sucked) and re-engined a NJ transit mci 9, which frame i purchased from sam caylor. So now i've got a bus that is mostly '83, but is some '79. So I titled it as a '79 because in wa. state, if the vehicle is over 25 years old you don't have to do an emissions test. but I had to do one last test. I've never emission tested a large vehicle. I call them. "look, i have a 40' bus. It has a large turning radius. I don't think i can get it into the emissions testing station. " bring it in, no problem, we get large rvs all the time... "no, you don't understand. I've been to the factoria emissions station. you've made the driveway curve all the way around the back of the place, and narrowed it with landscaping, and the turn is too sharp. I'll drive all over everything, the bushes, the sprinkler..." no problem. It'll fit. So I took it over there and ran all over the landscaping, broken the sprinkler heads off, mashed a bush, just basically flattened the whole thing. but got it into the area. "sir, this lane is closed. If you can move it over to the next..." um, i can't. i can't make that turn. that testing lane is not 8' wide -- I can't fit into it. "ok". the only reason i fit into the lane that I chose was that my mirrors were over the metal stairs they had on both sides of the lane. "what year is this?" snicker. 1979. "What is it?" it's an mci bus. "how many cylinders?" 8. So after much headscratching, they finally had me rev it up. 2300 rpm pls. finally they hit a few keys and I passed. Near as I could tell they just gave up trying to figure out what the acceptable levels were and punted. Bruce oh yea; on the way out I squished all of their tulips. | ||
| FishbowlBrian (Fishbowlbrian) (67.165.212.171)
Rating: N/A |
Weight typo: Sorry, that should have read 25,550 pounds NOT 15,550. If I was 10,000 pounds lighter, I'm sure she'd do great with 128 ponies. FBB | ||
| TWO DOGS (63.185.73.195) Rating: N/A |
yeah...Bruce...10-4 on that...I have a friend that is willing to do a few things on my bus & he says..."bring it over"....I tell him it wont fit through his cluttered ,curved driveway..he says : "well I think it will fit"....kinda like :"IF you were a good driver you could get it in here"....I've driven big trucks over a million miles ...& can tell wheather things will fit,by looking the situation over...asked if I could go around & drive over his grass & he freaked out...kinda a no win situation..he sure does have a nice wire welder ,....but...can't get close to it... | ||
| Johnny (4.174.91.233) Rating: N/A |
That's what cords are for! Have him bring the welder to you! I had to.  | ||
| TWO DOGS (63.185.64.124) Rating: N/A |
sure...have you got a thousand foot three phase cord & a way to move a 500# wire welder...out in the wind,will you shut the wind off for me for a couple of hours... | ||
| madbrit (67.136.90.6) Rating: N/A |
Two Dogs, sure I will shut down the wind for you. Just name the time and date and it will be done. I can hold back lakes and oceans too, but only on Wednesdays......... LOL. Peter. | ||
| Niles (24.227.105.115) Rating: N/A |
Peter Lets see you try it with hurricane Frances , unfortunately I don't think it will wait till next wednesday - LoL - Niles | ||
| madbrit (67.136.90.6) Rating: N/A |
Sorry, even my powers have limitations....... LOL. Peter. | ||
| Johnny (4.174.103.153) Rating: N/A |
2D: You didn't say it was a 220V welder. I could put five 500lb welders in my truck & it would barely notice.  There's always the genset...that's what I'm doing. |