Taking the 1974 bus to the shop for an evaluation. Turns out they decided they didn't want to work on it, so I drove it back home a week later. I have a different place to take it next time. Oh well!
Yep. I'm replacing the rear air relay valve (on the '74). I'll probably do a video on it, as soon as I get the correct valve. The one I got in the other day was the wrong one.
@Ranger Don It's either the valve, or one of the brake diaphragms are penetrated. After I finish replacing the valve (it was messed up anyway, as it was corroded), I'll be replacing the brake canister diaphragms at the rear duals. I'll see how that goes and will probably make a video. Thanks for watching.
@Ranger Don I believe that indicates that it is only the air relay. From what I understand, if it leaks with brakes applied or not, it is the chamber diaphragm. I'll be looking at those as soon as I'm finished with the relay.
Looks like it is as smooth as a Cadillac and you make driving it look as easy and effortless as driving a Kia! Seems soo quiet and smooth compared to other MCI videos on here..
@@glennman9890wonder if he was meaning “cup” as in your coffee cup? That’s the only thing that makes any sense to me but in your defense, I saw nothing at all unsafe with your driving whether you were holding your cup or not!
Love what you’re doing! Just found one of your earlier vids, and was thrilled to see that you found an MCI without a restroom! I’m just starting the hunt for a bus, and MCI is very appealing but the idea of pulling all the toilet stuff out is definitely not.
I just noticed your post. I agree that pulling a restroom is a lot of work. The drawback is that you end up with a bus that has the double doors (transit bus), so it's a pain to install a sedan door. It becomes a toss up... get a bus with a restroom, or a bus with double doors. I don't know which is worse!
I wonder if that bus once belonged to Greyhound. I am not sure how many bus companies bought MC8s with automatic transmissions. This was a good job I see here. No manual door control on the dash. I even wonder if the windshield wipers has been upgraded to a single-motor operation. The overall dash that MCI had was also an option on the MC7s. The Crusader design was more of a facelift from the MC7s due to that it was a change on the driver's window, the windshield destination sign location, and the door design.
If your commenting on my '74 MC-8, the windshield has been upgraded to MC-9, so I don't know if they did anything with the wipers. On the door, it appears to have had a manual door control, but it has been removed. Thanks for watching the videos.
How did you find a bus without a toilet? Did you more or less luck out, finding that one, or did you search specific sites with specific wording to find buses without? i've been doing some looking last night and today, and not getting much when i specifically try to search for MCIs without a toilet. TIA
This bus was a very lucky find...10 miles from my house. I wasn't in a market for one either. A guy from my church works for a local fruit company who was getting rid of it, so when I mentioned my bus, he said they had one for sale. A month later I was driving it home.
Hi Glennman, I read your posts over on BCM. I remember when this coach was for sale in the bay area by a nice couple. Somehow the PO was able to remove the fan belt to the squirrel cages and found a better way to cool the engine. Hopefully you found someone to work on this coach in your area. I also hope you found someone to help with the electrical problems in your newer coach when you started removing items to do the conversion. Mike
Hi Mike. You are correct. I bought the '74 MCI bus in the shop from the Bay Area. It drove home fine, and we have used it several times going to the lake and beach. However, it started having some overheating issues, as well as a leak in one of the rear brake cans. I ended up replacing the air distributing valve which distributes air to the rear brakes (tags and drivers). I have yet to fire it up, since I still have to replace the brake can. In the meantime, as all this was going on, I stumbled across the '02 MCI. I've always wanted to build a bus from scratch (this is my 6th bus). We had a '68 GMC "Fishbowl" for years that we drove all over several western states when the kids were small. The others were only shells (with exception of the '74 from the Bay Area and the seated MCI). I plan to get the '74 up and operational either this winter or next year sometime. It's really a great bus and is much more classical looking than the '02, but the overheating issues may be too much to deal with. The '02 is very plain but is very long and much newer. I have the electrical problems l taken care of now for the most part. I just replaced the power steering reservoir hydraulic hose and a tag axle airbag. Other than that, I plan to put on new tires and shocks, check all the brakes, etc. It should be in pretty good shape soon. Thanks for weighing in!
