1936 Ford School Bus Build (with 5.9 cummins)

[ncblazerguy88]

make it drag the rear bumper, stop light to stop light

 

[Tacoma747]

bring that motor to me and I will make that bus go fast

Sounds good! I guess you will be paying for all the modifications too right?

 

[BRUISER]

if you have not make sure you do the killer dowel pin while it is out.. just to be safe
if you have time and money switch it to the the P pump fuel pump style, turn up the horse power screw, and rotate inj pump just a little towards engine..

 

[Tacoma747]

Had about 4" of dirt behind this panel, my sister said this one actually had less dirt than many of the others...

 

[GubNi]

How did the dirt get there and what can you do to prevent it from getting in there again?

 

[Tacoma747]

Before and after pics of each side, got all this done today. It still amazes me the amount of dirt that falls out of this rustbucket!

 

[nctom]

You gotta' think that when this thing was built, there weren't a lot of paved roads... Lots of dust! When we strip down a Baja truck it is every where.

 

[Kamel]

Looking good so far. Great progress in such little time. Your shop must have A/C!! Haha!

 

[Tacoma747]

Looking good so far. Great progress in such little time. Your shop must have A/C!! Haha!

Luckily, since this is my sister's project my dad gave in and let us use his garage. Even without the a/c on it stays reasonable in there, but with the A/C it holds steady around 75 which is nice for sure, no way I would work on it as much as I have if I had to do it outside. I pulled a dually fender off the 91' dodge today and was SOAKED after about 20 minutes (always gotta be ONE bolt that won't come out right?).

The fuel tank will be under the floor directly behind the driver seat, the other side 'belly' box will be water tanks, in the area directly under the driver seat will be two batteries. Generator will be in the back driver corner (or center), A/C unit will be 'frenched' into the rear center roof panel so it won't stick above the bus.

 

[doc]

Looking good!!

 

[Tacoma747]

Well the engine is gonna have to sit WAY low to be able to get the driveshaft under the floor. This should be close to where it will be, might move to the rear a couple inches, and maybe down another couple inches. Hmmm, i need to bolt the turbo back up before I go much further...

 

[Tacoma747]

Got the motor mounts and the transmission mount built today, the oilpan is about 8" from the ground as it sits right now.

 

[250krawler]

If you are worried about how low it sits, You could find you a divorced mount t case that has both the output's on one side and angle it down so the engine can ride high and flat.

 

[XJfreakHO]

That cummins looks familiar, did you get it from a guy named Cody in Stokesdale/Summerfield area? If I recall that dually had about a half million miles... Probably just a coincidence, but I remember he was trying to sell it for a pretty good price a few months back.

Build is very cool, high end stuff is cool, car shows will be great. Coming out to a few offroad type events wouldn't hurt...

 

[Tacoma747]

Not real worried with how low the engine is, I am just not used to building things this low to the ground I will probably just build a crossmember under the oilpan just in case road debris gets kicked up.

The truck the donor motor came out of came from south carolina.

 

[Tacoma747]

Decided to cut the frame out of the rear and replace it with 2x6 to make it flat all the way back. I am going to put reinforcement plates around the notches over the axle as well. Looks MUCH better than the mess that was in it. I am also using some Dodge 3500 truck springs instead of the dumptruck springs, hoping for a smoother ride.

 

[Tacoma747]

More pics. Spring and shackle hangers, also a picture of the rear section of frame, the framerail on the driver side does not go all the way to the rear to leave us room to put a generator in that area. The frame will still betied in all the way to the rear though, just underneath or beside the generator. One of the good things about the bus is there are no body mounts, everything is welded to the frame.

 

[Kamel]

Sweet. Nice work.

 

[FishHunt]

Very cool and interesting build. I am looking forward to see the finished product.

<>< Fish

 

[Tacoma747]

Got the spring hangers welded in on the driver side today and put in a few more frame tubes. Also removed the rear center of the roof off. A few more tubes on the framework and it will be ready to be blasted and primed.

 

[Croatan_Kid]

Those are some slick shackle hangers! BTW, if it gives you too much of a problem with fitment of the turbo, you could always find a low mount exhaust manifold. Instead of sticking out at a 45* angle, they tuck the turbo closer to the block and it hangs straight down. If I'm not mistaken there were also some that were a front mount style.

 

[nctom]

Looking good, man! btw... Thanks for the deal on the tool box! It is working out great.

 

[ghost]

Nice... I like!

 

[GubNi]

A/C unit will be 'frenched' into the rear center roof panel so it won't stick above the bus.

How will you keep rain water from flooding the AC unit? You could build a roof over it that overhangs the size of the hole, but water will still get in the hole and the AC needs to breath

 

[Tacoma747]

How will you keep rain water from flooding the AC unit? You could build a roof over it that overhangs the size of the hole, but water will still get in the hole and the AC needs to breath

As much as I was looking forward to having the rear panel louvered for the A/C, she changed her mind. She's going to run a 'portable' A/C unit (like you see in offices and such), that way she can have the overhead room for storage. As for water drainage, it was going to be in a sealed compartment, with a drain hose for rain water and condensation to drain out.