# bus available for possible project



## creature (Jun 10, 2013)

matt.
know anyone in VA?

i'm heading to washington state, as i've been saying.
only person down so far is somebody channeling for extraterrestrials, and as neat as that may be, i dun think we are on the same side of the fence...

i have a bus that needs help.

if we can give the bus help & make her do what she should, maybe i'll donate her to your purposes for the length of the run.

i'd rather see her tank on the road than die on a farm when she has life left in her.

if she's ridden respectfully, we can talk.

in any case, i'm out of here & down to try & get her running again... if i do, then the offer is open... if not, then i dunno.. torn between leaving her & selling her, but if she can run again, she needs a purpose.

anyways..

hit me up,

j


----------



## ByronMc (Jun 11, 2013)

creature said:


> matt.
> know anyone in VA?
> 
> i'm heading to washington state, as i've been saying.
> ...


Va,...here I am ! Help on a bus, what does she need & what kind of engine ?


----------



## creature (Jun 11, 2013)

cool cool.. kinda late at night, for me.. will detail the details by this afternoon..

i'm heading out of wash DC ASAP.. where are you?


----------



## ByronMc (Jun 11, 2013)

Richmond Va


----------



## creature (Jun 11, 2013)

Byron.. mornin'.. have some stuff to crank on.. details forthcoming..
message me & i'll fill you in off the thread, unless it's best to post here.

i am out of here tomorrow morning..

no way around it.. been hanging for a month and have **got** to go...

love my family, but the reunion is over, & gotta do what i gotta do..

been wheel spinning & you know how that is.. it can go on forever...

talk to you in a bit,

john


----------



## creature (Jun 11, 2013)

Byron, I'd like to convo you, but can't get to your profile.

I am leaving DC tomorrow morning. May be able to alter my trajectory, but only if there's actual crew. I'm not able to turn around.. way, way way too expensive, so if i head to richmond to pick you up, assuming i delay for a day or two to be able to do it, you'll either need to hang for the ride or find your way back.

been posting for a week about the vehicles, contacted plenty of folks, and now i'm down with my plan. If you're looking at hopping on & doing the ride, that's great. I can change my departure by a day or two, but can't do any turn-arounds.

if you need to get back to richmond, it will be up to you to do so, entirely.

even richmond is a hell of a detour, and i'm not sure i'm down with it, not having had a chance to communicate very much before arranging the launch.

as i've said to matt the past couple of postings, i'm willing to let the bus be used for some STP stuff, but there will be a lot of details to be discussed.

it has to be used respectfully, and has to make it (if possible) back to me, when the deeds are done.

the bus is fairly nice.

i have to check her out, and make sure she's ok (see below)..

even if she *is* (which i suspect will be the case), she'll need a little bit of work & to be checked out... as below, she's been driven a little over 300 miles.. maybe as many 400, with no severe powertrain issues, other than belts jumping a couple of pullys..

this was a major pain in the ass, but appears to have been addressed.

i was, in fact, going to drive her to washington state with my friends, but the fucking alcoholic at the farm totally, totally fucked those plans.. if we had had more time, we would have continued, but that's another story.. we had one day to get her to her new home, & as below, we were *fucked*.

if she *is* going to be used, she needs at least two gearheads, or 1 gearhead & someone mechanically competent enough to help..

in any case, the offer is there.

if a full crew materializes suddenly, i'll use her.

otherwise i'm making the offer to matt, & if he takes me up on it & is down with you helping him, then i'll give you the address & make the arrangements for whatever visiting needs to be done.

that's it for the moment...

separately, though, some bus details follow..

that's it..

peace,

john



=========================


ok.. here's the gig with the bus..

the minor bad & then the shitty bad & then the hopefully good..

The bus has 180,000 on the odometer, and has been driven a bit more than 300 miles since i got her.
She *used* to run pretty fucking good..
issues are as follows:

1) there is an electrical problem with the rear lights, which can be easily bypassed via hard-wiring. I suspect the cause was a general short caused by a faulty junction switch for the removed wheelchair lift, and damaged some internal wiring. Ignition and other wiring is fine.

2) pulleys had been vibrating heavily to the point of continually slipping off. They are now properly aligned, and the power steering unit fully tightened, so all looks good, but she hasn't been driven very far since that fix, but seems ok. The AC unit has been rotated to a different mounting position, and therefore uses a different size alternator/AC belt than stock.

3) although the the bus is a veg-oil conversion, which was professionally done, the fuel in the tank was a veg-diesel mix, and has congealed.
I was told it was straight diesel, so i dinna worry about it.
the cleanout will be a bitch. If nothing else, the nice, 40 gallon steel tank is intact, as is all the other veg oil equipment, so even if the veg system needs to be rebuilt, everything is there.
stuff is servo driven, but i prefer manual valves, in any case.

here's the shitty bad..

mr. alcoholic redneck who became the bf of the owner of the farm after i parked it, decided it was such a *nice* bus that it deserved to be his..

since he decided this, he also decided he could take whatever was on the bus that he wanted..
fortunately i had locked the shit out of her, so this only included stealing about 40 gallons of diesel fuel (costing me a shitty fucking tow charge, because i wasn't aware he had drained the first time, & got about 2 miles down the fucking road, looking at the fuel gauge, & decided to turn around, *hoping* it was just stuck, or there was a problem with the sender unit..

he drained it so fucking far t could not even go 2 fucking miles.. this was just a short test run, which went fine, but she crapped out..

this guy is supposedly a trucker and diesel mechanic.. he did do some sucessfull work on a tractor, so for a minute i trusted his mechanical knowledge, although he had fucked me personally..

suffice it to say that i accepted his help, & although i have been warned many times against using starter fluid in a diesel engine, he assured me that "just a little bit won't hurt it", and will get the vacuum going through the fuel lines, after we had re-primed them..

i wasn't fully aware of just how fucking much this asshole was a pathological liar, & i don't know how much starting fluid he used, but when i turned the key, the fucking thing sounded like it wanted to explode.. 

it did, however, start, but i was then like "we AREN'T doing that AGAIN, ok?"

despite the insane 4 seconds of noise, she still ran smoothly, and my several starts & short drives after that were fine..

i super *double* locked the shit out of her when i left the farm, with about 10 gallons of diesel in the main tank.
**THE TANK WAS FUCKING LOCKED**
I returned about 3 months later with a buddy to start her up & get her the fuck off the farm and start a drive to Washington state.

Hopped in, all looked good, turned the key & VROOM!!! .. just like that, first turn.. a nice, smooth, beautifull idle..

she ran for about 40 seconds, & then crapped out.

i'm like WTF???

shithead that i am, i did not let the fuel gauge come up *before* starting it, but since she turned so fast, was watching, hoping to see my 1/4 tank or so show up..

ha ha..

empty..

i get out of the bus, go down to the fuel tank & there is a wet spot of diesel fuel right where you would put a can to siphon it off.
despite being locked, this motherfucker went UNDERNEATH the tank, and AROUND the lock & shoved his tube in there, and did this TWO FUCKING DAYS OR LESS before we got there, because the spot was still damp..

the asshole *KNEW* we were coming, and drained my fucking fuel AGAIN...
not to mention what he had stolen from my fucking VAN, too...

anyways, i left this asshole with my buddy, whom i had warned about him, fervently & repeatedly, but the fucking sonofabitch somehow or other got andy to let him "help" him, & when i cam back 20 minutes later, there were a couple of engine wires disconnected & a can of fucking starter fluid..

needless to say, the bus had not started, and at this point i told the drunkfuck to just stay the fuck away...

i turned the engine over & she rattled like hell for just a moment, after which i was like "NO MORE FUCKING STARTING FLUID!!"

andy, my buddy, is a good guy..
he took the asshole to the store, at which the asshole asked to borrow $10 (his common method of scamming), and then by coincidence ran into the OTHER asshole redneck alcoholic who was his best "friend".

after coming back to the farm, having listened to them, andy was like "this place is a den of thieves. we have to go".

mind you, andy used to ***live here, too***, when the farm was working fairly well..

long story, involving a pregnancy, but he left to be with his woman..

the farm fucking *changed*...


anyways, the redneck recently crashed the farm truck, broke his collarbone & some ribs, as well as fucked up his face, and the owner-lady has finally, finally, finally kicked him out.

he was in the hospital, is now gone & may even be fucking dead.

don't know, don't care.

sooo... the bus is now ready to be re-evaluated.

i am on my way down there to do so.

i *think* she'll be fine.

i won't drive her on my own, though.. not now.. just not enough $$ for fuel, because she's going to washington, cali or oregon, if i take her..

& that's the main story for the moment.


----------



## creature (Jun 11, 2013)

oh yes.. & he stole the battery & my fucking boots..

as well as the auger off the tractor & my DieselClean &....


----------



## Matt Derrick (Jun 11, 2013)

okay, sounds kinda interesting, but id have to hear back from you when you go back to see it. also, pictures might be good. i separated this into a new thread since it was kinda getting off topic from my original post.


----------



## creature (Jun 11, 2013)

ahh... threw me a bit.. gotcha..




there 'y go..


----------



## Matt Derrick (Jun 11, 2013)

wow, man i miss having a school bus. i had a full size one for about 2 years, it was beautiful.

one of my biggest dreams was to tour around the usa in a bus like this and make a youtube travel show out of it. i'd still be interested in doing it, but id have to do a kickstarter campaign or something to get the funds to make it happen.

just out of curiousity, how much would you let something like that go for?


----------



## creature (Jun 11, 2013)

the bus has a lot of good shit in it...
small fridge, some gold prospecting gear (good functional dredge components, including working engine & suction hoses)
small kickass diesel/kero/veggie/wood/coal burning stove..
insulated top to bottom (OEM on the roof).. i have about 15 gallons of enamel farm and machinist pigments.. red white, yellow, blue orange, aluminum, gold, black, green, etc..

yadda assfuck cool tools, including a small soda blaster..

assuming the engine is ok, with all the goodies intact, she's worth $3,500 *easily*, even with the lights being a problem in the back..


----------



## creature (Jun 11, 2013)

if i don't get crew, or if the bus isn't used, well.. she'll go on the block.. ebay & craigslist..

in any case, as is, where is, although plenty of time to test & check her out, first..


----------



## creature (Jun 12, 2013)

on the road..
not sure the first leg out.. towards lynchburg, VA, then west..

i'll post on the bus status, when known...

good luck, everybody!


----------



## Matt Derrick (Jun 15, 2013)

Cool man, looking forward to hearing about it!


----------



## creature (Jun 16, 2013)

Matt, morning..

hopefullu on the road today..

i was actually out the door & then got a request to help with some family stuff..
we finished up yesterday & then decided i should change the van's serpentine belt *before* heading to the farm, but t's turning into a major bitch..

she was a bit worn, and probably serviceable for a while, but the belt pully on the alternator I ordered and installed was a 16th of an inch too narrow. I could tell during nstall, but circumstances mandated getting the moving ASAP..

She ran fine, and the belt frayed to size as expected, but it's too old to try & do a multi-thousand mile roadtrip in..

all the specs called for a 101 inch belt. it's 102.. might even be 103.. dunno.. got dark last night, putting it in today & then heading out.

the game has changed a bit..

i have a solid job offer in N. dakota, whoring for oil money.. it's a temp gig & i need it, seeing how i've been fucked to the tune of over 7 grand trying to do a gig with a small "humanitarian oriented economic development" group on some shit in west Africa..
no money for wages or equipment, but plenty for the fucking italian marble and fountainworks the fucker was having installed..

what a fucking rape..

i'm pushing for a job at a cranberry farm in washington state, which would be super nice, and i'm in the strong running, but they've been swamped with the work, and haven't been keeping me filled in. Last week they said they "we need you to start now ASAP!" & now it's "well, we still haven't decided on equipment purchases", sooooo...

gotta find work..

Hopefully I'll be at the bus tomorrow.. dunno about today.. it's 10 o'clock, now.. if the belt pops in nice & easy, & i can get going by 1 or 2, that'll be great

i'll fill you in on how she sounds, etc..

hope yer well,

john


----------



## creature (Jun 26, 2013)

Matt, sorry..
Have to make this quick.. heading into grand junction CO tonight or tomorrow..

the bus is fucking dead..

dunno what the redneck did to it, but it's fucked...

long story, & will post later..

just an update..

it fucking fucming fucking fucking FUCKING sucks..

i hate fucking rednecks....

talk to you later,

j


----------

