The material contained in this book is an accumulation of ideas developed over a fifteen year love affair with buses, and the satisfaction of seeing these, and ideas of my friends, turned into functional hardware. I make no apology for lifting ideas from other innovators. Having received my degree in engineering from a national leader in collegiate football over forty years ago, and with the intervening experience, one thing I have learned is that I have no monopoly on creative thoughts. In fact, I seem to have a talent for picking up on the ideas of others, and converting them to practicality.

Most of my background was spent as a designer for a couple of major airframe manufacturers. I went through a love affair with sailing for a decade and a half, then the next decade of recreation was devoted to flying, during which I became an instrument rated pilot. I found both sailing and flying were limited, in that you could visit many marinas, or landing strips, but not much more. So, I descended from these lofty pursuits to become an earth-bound bus driver. In these past fifteen years, my bride and I have traveled, in the company of a unique class of individuals, the depths of Mexico, the magnificence of the United States, and parts of Canada, totalling in all, over 150,000 miles.

In these experiences we have made mistakes, and hope we have learned from them. In that time I have converted two coaches for ourselves, and have helped many friends convert their buses. Many times, I have been tempted to go into the business of conversion, since its popularity has grown immensely over the years, but I remember the demands of being in business, its set backs and disappointments. Moreover, we cherish our freedom from obligations; our ability to pick up and leave when we want. And, if I get an overwhelming desire to put something down on paper (or video screen) my trusty computer is never very far away.

A few individuals must be mentioned that have influenced my busing. Bob Howell, sometimes known as the Father of the Eagle Conversion, is foremost not only for his uniqueness, but his friendship. Jack Headley, former skipper of the Wild Goose, John Wayne's private yacht, must be singled out for his innovative ideas and wry sense of humor.

Mention must be made of Mike Kadletz, publisher of Bus Conversions magazine, and Larry Cronkite, its first editor, who were kind enough to include me as one of their writers. Larry Plachno, editor and publisher of the National Bus Trader, a hard task master, has my gratitude for his inspiration and for motivating me to actually put this book together. Although Larry and I don't always agree how to write about a subject, his professionalism is greatly admired.

Dick Wright, a close and personal friend, probably knows more about busing than most people you'll ever meet. Dick is always ready to help a novice. Then there are the many, many friends who allowed me to experiment on their coaches, Phil Barger, Bill Young, Jerry Liotta, Jerry Averhart, and too many others to mention. George Thornhill, the expert on the venerable old GM4104, must be acknowledged for his incisive mind and his desire to teach. Harold "Ike" Eickmeyer, an electronic talent and full timer, has my gratitude for his ideas and his friendship. Morrie Maxwell of Bakersfield (my favorite breakdown spot), is always ready to help out. Thanks to "ZIP" Zepede for a great idea, and to Russell Davies of Mapleton, Utah, a real talent.

Most important, my gratitude to my loving and patient co-pilot, Roberta, who agreed to proof read this manuscript and take the blame for all technical and typographic errors. After all, isn't that what wives are for? I would like to thank Dick Wright, George Phillips, Dale DeWitt, Suzie McDonell and Jack Filion who served as a peer review board, calling gross errors, both technical and grammatical, to my attention. Finally, my thanks and gratitude to my editor, Fran Jessee.

Keep in mind, while going through this book, the ideas presented here are just that, ideas. No claim is made that any idea is better than the next. The designs presented are one way of solving a problem. This is not to say they are the only way to do it. If there were only one answer to an engineering problem, no doubt, we would only have one bus shell , or one automobile instead of many to choose from. Most of the actual designs and fabricated ideas discussed in this book are centered around the Eagle coach. Although, I have worked on MCIs, GMs, Prevosts and Flxibles, the Eagle offers an exceptional versatility for innovations. For those of you involved with other coaches (OBs, that is, other brands), the concepts are the same, only the structural details may be more complex.

Putting this book together has been a labor of love. I hope it is a beginning, and that the readers who are critical of some of the things in this book will contact the publisher and let their ideas be known. In this manner, the content will continually be improved with subsequent printings.

ENJOY THE BOOK!

Dave Galey

Fall 1995