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[Zarcorp]

I've been procrastinating on posting here, but I've finally made a bit of headway on my school bus conversion and figured I would need to consult some of the diesel/International gurus who frequent these parts.

Here's the vehicle:



Side shot of the engine bay, I believe the motor is an International Navistar DTA360:



Not sure which injectors are outfitted on it, as there was a collaborative effort between Caterpillar and Navistar around the era the motor was produced on electronically controlled injectors, but I believe them to be mechanical:



Deceiving shot of the interior with all of the seats removed, also $90 fluxcore-madness on the bed frames being constructed from recycled seat frames:



Gnar fluxcore on galvanized steel and who knows what other kind of metal/paint/coating in a poorly ventilated area. 



Please criticize the shitty welding:



Steady hand:




We're gunning for a hippie WVO conversion a la this guy: http://www.instructables.com/id/Biotour.org-Waste-Vegetable-Oil-Conversion-Diesel-/

Also ripping off the design from another band here in Florida who have an on board centrifuge for de-watering and initial filtration. If anyone has any experience with waste vegetable oil, please chime in; any input is greatly appreciated.

Working on getting it registered as an RV now (currently a Commercial Vehicle) so now I'm starting to wire up this Quiet Power 1800watt inverter I scored off of Craigslist:



Also starting to source parts for the second battery bank, for the "house" which needs to be 24V for the inverter to work properly, most likely going to run a dual-alternator setup as it seems to be the most cost-effective overall.

Any recommendations on models of light duty truck or any vehicles that came with 24V alternators would be more than welcome (assuming that they actually operate in the 25-29V range). I know a few older military Jeeps had 24V systems so I was planning on trying a local Jeep specialty shop, again any pointers are welcome.

Thanks in advance for any input.

[92CXyD]

In for more of this. 

I saw similar setups back in the '80 where a couple of local farmers made their RVs from buses to save money and still sleep a whole family comfortably.

Sort of reminds me of the Partridge Family w/o fucked up colors.   

[Zarcorp]

Yeah, I really dig the Von Slatt bus:

http://www.vonslatt.com/bus-main.shtml





Granted ours probably won't be that fancy immediately, I do want to build something that my grandma would go on tour in.

[DasPoop]

My dad had a bus that had been converted to haul his latemodel shit tons of tools and what not and still had a couch, microwave etc. It had an old gas motor that iirc chucked a rod going to the track one time and they flat towed it home half in the bag after the races with the car in it. idk i was 5.

When you consider that a bus is the perfect height for people and really long I am not surprised more people are not living in them by now.

[HiProfile]

I do want to build something that my grandma would go on tour in.

Is that your target age for groupies?

[dvst8r]

Yes those are mechanical injectors. Based on the mechanical injection pump pictured.

[1991civicsi]

+10 internets for originality

[DSMR]

Single wide trailer with an engine. I love it. KOTTP




King Of The Trailer Park

[Zarcorp]

Yes those are mechanical injectors. Based on the mechanical injection pump pictured.

I figured as much, there are a few sensors on that pump so I was unsure if there was some kind of solenoid to control flow or something. I am no big truck specialist.

Problem I'm dealing with now is the rear right caliper is leaking, since it's a live axle if I wanted to remove the interior of the Dayton wheel I'd have to pull the hub correct? It was hard to tell by looking at it whether or not I'd have enough clearance if I simply remove the tires and rim.

I have also heard to be careful with the split-rim wheels because there can be a lot of tension stored on them. As a precaution I was going to leave the lugs on until the wheels were free on the hub, is there any other precautions one should take when dismounting these wheels? Google searching was fruitful but firsthand experience would be more reassuring.

[dvst8r]

I would assume the "sensors" on the injection pump are actually the cold start advance solenoid, and the fuel shut off solenoid.

Depending on the wheel and the caliper, some of those calipers are actually removable without taking the wheels off.

I haven't dealt with split rims at all so not sure what to say there, Brine04 used to be a tire guy, I txt'd him and asked him to weigh in with his input.

[Zarcorp]

Thanks man, you rule. I've tried to find somewhere that details the disassembly of the wheel and removal of the caliper but with little success, did find a good video detailing how to properly align the split rims when you put them back on though.

[dvst8r]

He is at a concert today, but his reply to me was: "I will look tomorrow, if it is a dayton wheel (which it is) you are fine to pull the WHOLE wheel as one inflated, however if you want to just pull the center out you need to deflate the tire, as without the center support and full air pressure it can crush the rim. If it is not a dayton, you need to deflate before you do anything."

[Zarcorp]

So remembering what I can about live axles, the differential requires a preload to be set after you remove and reinstall an axle, correct?

I pulled out the axle trying to remove the wheel, realizing that Dayton style wheels have the hub mounted to the rim and didn't want to fuck it up putting it back in. Post hoc reasoning: differential fluid smelled nice and burned, needed to be changed anyway.

Anyone on here willing to hold my hand and explain big diesel drivetrain procedures, or recount their experience with them?

[dvst8r]

I'm sorry I am no help here, largest I have done is 1 ton stuff.

[brine04]

From the pics those don't look like split or multi-piece wheels they look like regular one piece wheels but they are dayton wheels. You can pull the full floating axle and just put it back in there is no setup to be done after. You couldn't anyway as those diffs have a 3rd member like a ford 9" so you need to pull the axles to get the 3rd out anyway. If you need to service a hub/brake with daytons you can just undo the bolts in the centre of the hub and pull the whole hub off with both duals attached. At least you can on all the drum brake dayton hubs that I've seen.

If you don't want to do that (hell of a heavy assembly) you can loosen off all the dayton clamps but leave the nuts on, then hit the wheel with a sledge hammer until the clamps pop and then just pull it all apart. When you reassemble it put it in neutral and lay something next to the wheel so you can spin it to see how much it is out and true it as you go tightening in the star pattern. Should only have about 1/16 - 1/8 of wobble when it is all torqued down. Torque spec on a dayton is 250ft/lbs I believe.