New owner of Vintage Bus 1980

[freds]

With your talents you should change out the dash to the new full glass dash like a lot of the new airplanes have.
Chuck

Actually I was thinking of visiting a semi-truck junk yard and finding the CAN based sensors and dash to do just that.

Also a Tesla dash is just just linux computer and display with CAN and Ethernet interfaces.

[freds]

With your talents you should change out the dash to the new full glass dash like a lot of the new airplanes have.
Chuck

Actually there is a youtube channel named: "This old bus" where he is working on this on a limited scale to have monitoring alerts.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...MFZ9XTctTIS1fz

[freds]

With the new surge tank doing the degassing functionality I was able to simplify the hydronic output manifold as it no longer needed an air vent in the mixture.

Here's the old rube Goldberg setup:



And here's the new much simpler layout:



A quick note about this type of electric ball valve. It only draws power when it is changing position, one voltage polarity drives it open and the reverse drives it closed:



Very important to test it and record which polarity goes to which colored wires before you hookup all the plumbing and can no longer see it!!!

So in my case I use a DPDT relay so that when it is not energized the default voltage polarity drives it to the open position.

Here's the last picture that I have on hand which show's the temperature probe installed into a tee.



This sensor is out of view in the picture, but I will now have readings on the feed and exit temperatures for the diesel boiler loop.

[freds]

Wondering if anyone has a guess as to who did the original conversion on my bus back in 1980?

This is the info that I found online about my bus:

Serial Number M104-2786-80 Motor Home MR80 [Private] Beckley, G.W. Produced in March 1980

Surviving original details that might identify the converter I think is the generator installation in the following two pictures.

Generator Bay:



Remote Radiator:



The generator is Kohler 12.5KW diesel generator which an external control box; which is not standard with Kohler generators according to a retired expert that they put me in touch with.

[Gil_J]

More great information...keep in coming.

[Joe Camper]

Some of the early conversions were done by prevo. Soneone help here. Where is that thread it was quite a bit of very interesting info. 1 was a Barbara Mandrell coach. It had all that info and documentation I did a search and couldn't find it.someone has to remember it.

[Gil_J]

Joe, I'm not sure Barbara Mandrell had a Prevost, but you can buy her Eagle.
http://www.staleycoach.com/49383%20%...ar%20Coach.htm

I believe it was converted by Hemphill Brothers that remains the big daddy of entertainer coach conversions. Wade Staley is a walking history book of early entertainers back when the Calhoun Brothers started. They are still in business as Florida Coach. Another guy that seems to know the old stuff is Michael Gibson of Imperial Coach outside of Dayton, OH. I know Prevost painted a lot of motorhomes, but didn't realize they did a conversion. I think Liberty may be the first, if not one of the first, to convert a Prevost to a motorhome.

[freds]

Some of the early conversions were done by prevo. Soneone help here. Where is that thread it was quite a bit of very interesting info. 1 was a Barbara Mandrell coach. It had all that info and documentation I did a search and couldn't find it.someone has to remember it.

I think I posted on it before as I had found a site that listed all the Prevost bus delivery's. According to this list in 1980 Prevost delivered sixteen buses marked as motor homes, mine was number 3 and her's was number 6 for that year

Here's the detail record:

[Private] Mandrell, Barbara MY80 Motor Home M104-2818-80 TN

http://www.angelfire.com/ca/TORONTO/.../prevost7.html

It would be probably interesting to go through this entire source and note the number of buses built as motor homes by year.

PS. This site doesn't allow you to select and copy the text. Work around is simply use chrome and do a view source command.

[Gil_J]

Very cool information, My converter, Hoffman Coach, has 2 coaches on that list. Two to Liberty. I guess Marathon and most others weren't even born then.

[Joe Camper]

Thats right it was u Fred. So yours was after these dates? By how much? Gill is right. Send those bus photos to Wayde at Staley he might help.