Trying to get an old bus running and inspecting it to get it ready for the road again. 4104 

This old bus is a prime example of getting a qualified mechanic to inspect throughly before buying not after buying. Thanks

The neglected bus reminds me of the words of a mechanic in the early '90s; The little Japanese hatchbacks were so reliable and undemanding that many people overlooked basic maintenance. Lady brought in an early Mirage with "It won't start. It always starts!" Hoisted it up and out of the sump came a couple of cupsful of treacle and all filters clogged, nothing else touched since new. Flushed, cleaned and replaced worn bits and bobs. Away it went as sweet as a nut, no doubt for the next five years of neglect. So, with an old bus, multiply the above exponentially and, like doing up an old boat, be prepared as the Boy Scouts used to say, for the project to be an on-going money pit. I know it's your bread and butter, Scott, but it must grieve you nevertheless to see a well engineered unit in such run-down condition, like seeing a '35 V12 Packard used as a beach buggy.

The upside (if it be such) is that you generally can get more for parts than you can for an entire vehicle. So, while it's sad to see a complete-ish bus being parted out, if it's not feasible to repair it, then at least he can recoup some of his losses, and the parts can go towards keeping a slew of other buses on the road,.

The old saying of 'Rode hard and put away wet' really seems to apply here.

sounds like the current owner got ripped a new one buying this bus

I started wrenching in 1958 when antifreeze was a can of alcohol and I put a can of water soluble oil in the water to lube the water pump. The thing I went on to be a career jet fighter crew chief in the USAF (F-4, A-7 and F-16) and learned that periodic maintenance and scheduled maint was crucial to the life of whatever equipment I was working on, from my air compressor oil to the jets I worked on. If things are paid attention to by periodically inspecting them they will probably not be an issue in the future. I also worked on heavy mining equip at a copper mine and we inspected the equipment daily. It's too bad this bus was not paid attention to for so long. I hope you will get to save it and give the care it needs.

You, Scott, have the patience of a saint. It's difficult communicating from one end of the bus to another. #Frustrating That poor neglected bus! There is no excuse for such abuse!

Living in the UK and knowing virtually nothing about US buses, I would have thought you could buy a quite decent bus for the amount you have quoted to get it correct. What amazes me, with all respect to the owner, is why people don't pay a decent knowledgeable mechanic like BGM to check it out. However much you love something, to lose over $50000 is a lot of money. Greetings to all from the UK.

Wow! If anyone needed to get a ppi before purchasing this, it's this. The guy got taken.😢

Thank you for another great video. Maybe the owner will take your advice and move this bus on to another owner.

Old bus checklist: Air leeks - present; Oil leeks - present; Wheel movement independent of axle - present; Strange engine noises - present; Water in air tanks - present; Oil in air tanks - present; Bad smells - present; Failing air bags - present; Failing shock absorbers - present; Bearings and seals failing - present; Sick brakes - present; Coolant hose leeks - present; Vital bits missing - present. All present and needing work. Pass me the engine internals checklist....

A set of walkie talkies would be great for communicating w/the driver......

I think we know what shape the wheel bearings are in. You're right, he should be thinking about getting a different bus.

I'd rather watch Jonathan and Scott working their magic on this bus over having a new bus any day of the week!!! 😂 ❤

Sometimes you just have to cut your losses, stop the money bleed, and move on. Might be some parts on this one he could sell to get back a bit. Hope this young man makes the smart move.

I’ve seen a lot of vintage motor coaches in similar or worse shape safely made roadworthy, particularly on this channel. I would love to see video this 60+ year old 04 screaming down an interstate again. I sure hope the owner is able not to give up on this sexy beast.

I thought that was a water tank! so much water! wow! no room for any air.

You should invest in some cheap two way radios for better communication.

An MC7 conversion just sold with rebuilt drivetrain for $12k a few miles from me. I wanted it but I have my MC8. I’d park that and make a tiny guest home out of it. Doesn’t make financial sense at those numbers.

Run away for this bus. Not worth the effort at any level.

I've seen beautiful older Prevost conversions going for less than what it will cost to make this old bus decent. I would have the owner put the repair money in escrow prior to the start of work.

You know that the customers gut is wrenching when you show him what all is wrong with his ride. Thats why he would have been thousands ahead to have paid you a big fee to go and inspect it b4 the purchase was made, right? Have a nice labor day. The Todds

Why are you dealing with the guy in the drivers seat to turn the ON key when the starter and solenoid are right smack in front of you! A simple remote starter switch will work wonders!!

He should cut his losses and run.

Might be better to just buy another bus

I’m starting to really dig that theme song!

These poor ole things were wore out and put up wet when parked. This one has seen its days.

Put bluntly this bus has no redeeming qualities whatsoever. The exterior shows every year of its age. Mechanically it's an unmaintained disaster. Driveline, transmission, suspension, cooling system and engine are all in need of major overhaul or repair. The interior is missing and is a total zero. It's already upside down. It's painful to see people get into this kind of no win situation.

is it insured? let it roll out your shop and down the mountain j/k

20k to start???? Cut your loses drive it off a cliff

Yep as soon as he start turning that thing over and it whizzed around really really really fast there wasn't going to be any compression. Good job Scott!! Your sure great to give the owner a realistic appraisal of this old neglected Bus!! As you said it's not cheap to make these buses Safe and dependable!! All the best from Canada PS It sure is great to see what you've done on your property since you moved a number of years ago!!👍👍

Just my opinion.....but some jobs should not be accepted.

Like you said Scott, that motor is spinning over way to good

Holy moly!!! I've been working on air systems for years, never seen so much water come out of a system.

The company that transported it libel for any of the damage they did to it?

Really enjoy the channel 🎉

I just don’t get why anyone would drop the first dime past the inspection on a pile like this! The other part is the future cost of ownership and the need for the owner to be a competent operator & have mechanical abilities to stay ahead of just maintenance. I have a 2010 43ft Phaeton that’s in great shape but it’s a part-time job to keep ready for the road and when on the road to keep it safe & solid!

Tired motor....grimy , and neglected seals , bushings....leaks a plenty....oh my...it's been ridden hard and put away wet...lol

This may be the first video wehre BGM has to break the bad news. It's not worth fixing and he'll have to turn down the job. Maybe BGM knows of a salvage yard that specializes in taking parts donor buses and can strip it down for other vintage bus owners who need the parts.

Maybe just do the engine and transmission side first? Not gonna lie the bill for the repairs will pile up exponentially once you dig deeper. Bad thing is if the owner resells as it is, it it will be a money loss regardless. To me it looks the radiator has been plugged for decades not something that happened recently. At least Scott is honest and tells how things are.

Bus is in damn rough shape. At least it's now in the hands of a solid mechanic that can actually seemingly fix the impossible at times. You guys have your work cut out for you, for sure.

I really do feel bad for this owner. It seems like he’s in well over his head on what’s a passion project for him. Even the decision to ship this bus to Scott given what that cost shows that he isn’t thinking the way he should be about what he’s spending. I hope for his sake he walks away from this one. It’s likely not saleable given how much work it needs so it’s just the scrap value.

I have a big shop air compressor in my shop (dual stage). The difference is that I live in Nevada. I drained it last year, and got nothing. We average about 8% humidity. I have a water seperator on it, and well... I'll go drink a beer. It has more moisture.

Driver of that bus was shitting me to by his ultra low response when you were asking him to start the engine , if future I'd tell them just drop bus off we will call you when we are done fixing it

Anyone for a garden hose ! Gotta luv poorly maintained equipment. Just start a quote with all bearings /bushings /kingpins etc etc would be quicker just to cross of the list . What your customers buses do show is, alot of poor service routines .

If my eyes were not deceiving me the front axle has a crack in the weld where the axle beam is welded to vertical piece the king ping goes through on the side the king pins were first checked.

Part it out. Get what can from selling those bay doors. Too bad that transporter broke so many things. Landall should have been used.

Still would be sad to see it scrapped for parts. I run a 1960 Heidelberg letterpress and pains me to think my kids will load it in dumpster when I go…😏

Good morning Scott!! Haven't seen Tyler for a long time and this video another bus was sitting where his silver side was sitting... Is he okay? Keep up the great work!!!

Looks like a parts bus

Owning a bus is not for the faint of heart, it is expensive.

Looks pretty rough under there.

Be sure you get paid periodically for everything you do on this one. I'd hate to see him run up a $15,000+ bill on it you not get paid. I'm afraid his eyes are a LOT bigger than his wallet because a fool and his money are usually parted well before you meet them.

I once had to drive a "last resort backup" coach a former C&S Trailways 4102, on ballpark scheduled runs if all the buffs, 06s, 04s, and 03s were already booked. That low decker 6-71 was so worn out, it required ether after sitting waaaay out in the back if the yard, sometimes for months in the summer!! The starter would (if the batteries still.had charge in them) roll that thing over just like that, then one jug at a time would fire off. Once I got 4 firing, I could get it over to the wash rack, at least! The pony motor for the AC probably had more horsepower by this time. Scored pistons, stuck rings, bad blower seals...you name it, that thing had it wrong with it! It dud have a nice interior still, and thecAC actually worked...sorta... very rare on any early model. Thd engine on this beater 04 is similarly cooked

What kind of compression numbers did you have? She was cranking way too easily. Always loved a little bit of the old Detroit 'need my rack run' lope.. Absolutely right -- never use the emergency shut off unless it's an emergency. (Unless you want to replace blower seals, too)

I feel really bad for the guy. Just a money pit right now.

You might consider buying a pair of Family Radio Service walkie talkies. They are inexpensive and would preserve your voice.

I suddenly need to pee.

"And because there was no smoke coming out of the exhaust..." Yep ! And now I know that too thanks to you ! If I had one these diesel pushers I would go out of my way to bring it to you for service..

you need some walki talkis

The owner is putting good money into bad.He should have reasoned out before buying it {or starting repairs on it} that the bus needs approximately $30,000. plus spent on it and a similar model healthy bus can be purchased for a lot less than the cost of repairing this turd bus.

Sad ending. So what do you do with a bus like this? Parts? Just let it sit somewhere? Junk scrap? Sad. 😢

Man that's a tired old girl who's been fed a few too many hot suppers. It's a good DIY project I suppose, but dang... Seems a waste of a decent old bus. Gotta be a labor of love 'cause there ain't ever gonna be any investment angle to it.

All in all it doesn’t look much worse than a lot of the buses Scott works on. Just a uniform amount of work to do from nose to tail. The body looks good, sound frame (?). Honestly who would buy an old bus unless they anticipate a labor of love.

I would never-ever trust any old temperature gauge. electronic, mechanical, capillary tube type. following that statement with the fact most will not react fast if there's no coolant in the system or at all, depending on the location. many have been very poorly placed over the years, example in a tee off intake manifold, in the heater hose line. in cylinder head is about the best location, because they'll get radiant heat faster, even with no coolant. but still not good.

before the barrett jackson show came on people never worried about how much they were going to make off something. now its just a bunch of wall street investors dictating the restoration world, the therapeutic aspect has no meaning. if the mans got the time and the desire to rebuild the old bus why worry about how much money someone else is going make. find a bunch of old timers that are sick of retirement looking for something todo (go to any small airport and you'll find old mechanics working on something in a hanger for the fun of it) and want to get away from the nagging ole lady.

It's really quite sad to see a great antique let go like this. It would have a good rig if it were looked after. I do some restorations myself & just shake my head at what people do to gear instead of doing the job right in the first place which always costs more in the long run, their absolute clowns.

why would anybody buy that?

Instead of shouting over a noisy engine, why not use short-range radios between mechanics and the guy in the cab? ;-)

I think call this bus a lost cause don't spend any more money on it

Run away man, bight the bullet and put your hard earned into something better.

At this point in time the best option would be a gallon of petrol and a match, the owner must seriously ask himself whether it is actually worth spending a large amount of cash on the thing. Yes, it is nice to own, but, and there is always a but, does it make any sense to throw money into something that is not financially viable?

She's a might wallered out, son...

Kindest thing the owner can do is weigh it in at a wrecking yard. Unless it has some serious sentimental value, just cut the losses and get rid! Sorry.

Who wants to get involved fixing one of these when the components that are bad don`t want to dissassemble due to rust and corrosion? Not to mention the dirt and grease caked on everything.

At least he has a bus!!! Not many people can say that!!

Sadly, it looks like that bus is destine to become a parts donor,..

The chassis looks like it’s in great shape… too bad it was so poorly maintained for years.

Well at least if you paid for everything on that bus at least you would know it was all "new" and not going to need to be done in 5 or 10 years!!

13:39 I think I'd consider a stout crash barrier between the shop and your living quarters,

This is why I did not buy a bus I was looking at....$$$$$$$$$$$$$,,,

18:15 auxiliary water tank

The Air system was a little... Humid.

Its really time for you to get a pair of headsets so you can talk to the driver without yellin.

Some times you just have to cut bait!

As I posted on the first video of this bus - it should have been dropped off at the nearest scrapyard.

Hopefully it turns out okay for the owner whichever route he chooses as to fixing or cut and run. That radiator is a mess..at least you got it running and able to air up. How long since it has been on the road regularly??

If that Poor Ol' Gurl was a Horse~U'd have to Shoot It! 😭

The owner had High hopes for the bus until you have explained the situation.

At least it was easy to write up the estimate. "Replace everything."

this takes the word clunker or junker to another level.

That bus is a lost cause and will drain the owner's bank account

That’s cool how you can look inside the engine!

Less upside down if he sells it now vs putting all that money into it!

Question: How complicated and expensive is it to replace an automatic transmission with a 10 speed manual transmission on a charter bus? Thank you.

Hey, where's Tyler these days, haven’t seen him in awhile

Korody-Colyer name on the injectors...must be rebuilds or aftermarket.

Ouchie. That's essentially wrecked. Poor thing. Remove the few nice bits off of it, give it some visual restoration, turn it into a stationary caravan like thing somewhere and recoup the costs over the peiod of 10 years renting it out to vacationers. Leave in the shifter, steering wheel and buttons and such. Kids will probably LOVE to play bus driver in it. As much as i'd like to see these things fixed and driven again, unless you're filthy filthy rich it's just too far gone. If the onwer *is* filthy rich, by all means - save it, keep another part of our rolling heritage alive.

to be honest looking at it it's a total heap of crapp he got totally screwed by the previous owner it should be scrapped .

Make a good donor, bus parts bus