1961 Gm bus

[friday1]

This is our 1961 GM  PD4106 bus. It has a 568 cubic inch Supercharged Detroit diesel 2 stroke motor. It has ported intake and valves for the exhaust. Has a V-730 Alllison tranny and is like a high end apartment inside with shower, bedroom, full galley, toilet, cedar closets, salon area up front. It gets about 7 mpg at 60 mph. Hope the pic comes through but my computer skill are not many.  Friday

[90GTVert]

The pic works. Very cool.

[scooterpimp]

Love those old Detroits. , nothing else sounds like it.

[friday1]

I went out to Phoenix to pick it up a year ago in April. Drove it home to NW Ohio in 2 1/2 days solo on 10 hours sleep. It ran fine. The previous owner had it 20 years. It had been cross country 3 times and once to Alaska and back to Wa. state and many trips to Az. from Wa. It came with extensive history and all receipts for 20 years of ownership. That is real important with an old bus. It had every piece of info for all the on board systems, parts books and official GM and Detroit manuals. Originally it was a seated bus running in Wa. and Oregon for about 10 years. If you aren't turning wrenches on an old vehicle yourself you better have some really deep pockets. The motor was replaced with a GM crate motor 85,000 miles ago. The previous owner didn't pay close enough attention to the water temp and toasted it in the Rockies. Detroit 2-strokes are dinosaurs now compared to an electronic diesel, but there is still some life in this one. 

[FrankenMech]

Nice rig!

RVs are hard to get serviced and worked on. Pushers are also hard to get anyone to work on them other than specialized mechanics. That takes deep pockets. Conversions are also harder to get people to work on them. My father did the RV scene for many years. I ended up working on most of his rigs at one time or another.

Watch your weight. It is easy to overload your RV with junk you don't need.

[friday1]

Most of the weight on this one is the spare parts and tools. Not a single belt on the engine so everything is gear drive. Try taking a gear drive alternator into your local NAPA looking for a replacement. So I take a spare alternator, regulator, fuel pump, water pump, gaskets, and tools. Know what you mean about weight. It was made to carry 40 passengers and their luggage when it was a seated bus.

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[milly]

I remember they fitted the 2 stroke Detroit diesel to Befords over here in the UK for a while but people did not drive them properly and tried to drive them like they were the old long stroke diesel engines they were use to plodding along in and fell out of favour. My mate had one he lived in, in a coach body went well just had to remember to give them plenty of stick like a 2 stroke motorbike and not expect them to plod like a 4 stroke engine.

[friday1]

milly, The old adage for truck drivers was to "Slam your fingers in the door of your truck and start your Jimmy up and take the pain out on the 2 stroke motor." They don't like low RPM. We went to Marblehead near Cedar Point last week for a couple days. Met another bus nut at the campground in a 1975 MCI that he had for 20 years. I love driving mine. It is so smooth. Got 6.992 MPG. I am doing a trade for a new set of rear wheels that will give me a taller rear ratio. The current tires are 510 revolutions per mile. Going to a 24.5" wheel I can run a Bridgestone tire that gives 460 revs per mile. It has a 4.11 gear. Should give a little better MPG and pay itself off in a couple years with diesel fuel prices the way they are.

[milly]

Good saying that friday1 😊

[moofus02]

Nice ride. I've driven those strokers for years. 475hp 892 v8 twin turbo and supercharged. As long as the oil pressure is good and oil and water tempare good you can lug them all you want but as soon as pressure drops or the oil or water temp start to climb it is time to get the rpm up

[gsx600racer]

Iv always liked the sound of detroit 2 stroke engines. Especially when there are 2 sticks involved.



And a little jake brake added in.