Ah.. At last I've found you all. I KNEW I wasn't the only nut-job with a fondness for the fat fenders.
I found my truck at the end of a farm driveway with a $1500 sticker on the dash. It had spent it's younger years as a rural school bus. It still has the "emergency door" inside the back doors and a "cap. 12" sticker over the passenger door. I was a junior in college and feeling very flush after a summer living with the parents and working full time. I had visions of piling 25 of my closest friends in the back and legendary road trips. After buying it, my parents (very wisely) insisted that I have the brakes checked/fixed by our family mechanic. (If I couldn't GO, it was MY problem... If I couldn't STOP, it was EVERYONE'S problem.) 4 new wheel cyls. new Master cyl. new lines... He even fixed the E-brake. Great. Lots of stop. Not much GO.
I got it down to school. A difficult trip punctuated with stops to clean out the fuel lines, 2 runs to charge the battery, and a blow-out on the driver's front tire. Younger, dumber, but one of my favorite days of all time. I played with it when I could through my Senior year. (It even entered a Sculpture contest at homecomming when several students put big eyes in the windshield, large wings out the sliding windows and a paper-mache stinger out the back doors. Can you believe we came in second to a yellowjacket made out of watermelons? No justice.) I've since graduated and spent 9 years moving on average once every 6 months. Baltimore, Key-west, Minneapolis, New-Haven, I got married last fall and finally landed in Cooperstown NY. Always in the back of my mind... the bus... the bus... the bus...
With no plans to move in the forseeable future, I had the truck hauled from Iowa to Cooperstown and have begun to get greasy.
I didn't do TOO much dumb stuff 9 years ago, but I DO wish I had drained the gas before I left it. MMmMmmmm 5 gallons of Varnish anyone?
Here's where I stand.
Blew out Fuel line
Rebuilt the Carb
Changed the Oil
Changed Spark Plugs and Wires
New Coil
New Points
Drained and Replaced Coolant
New Battery
Engine starts and runs, but rough.. I think it's missing on one or more cylinders, and I don't dare run it long as I haven't tested the thermostat yet.
TO-DO list
test thermostat
check compression
Drop Fuel tank and scrub it.
ditch 17" wheels for 16" wheel tire combo (anyone want 'em?)
the ol' 12v conversion
Head scratching list
keep 216? How much should I dump into a 216 that many people suggest swapping for a 235 or 261?
I suspect the front fenders and hood are from a 54. Hood bird... green where the rest of the body was orange... was it wrecked? Inner fenders are ripped up.
Finally, What exactly DO I own. Bigger than most suburbans I've seen. Was it sent to a coachbuilder? I'll try to include a pic or two. If they don't make it on to this post, check in the gallery. You'll especially like the Home-made School-bus-passenger-door-opening-device. Ahhh. Mid-west ingeneuity meets a stick welder and some BIG steel rod.
Driver's door Serial #5KSH-2373
Stamped # by Distributor AKCA5I237I
Thanks for enduring a long post. I'm trying to digest everything I can on this site and welcome ANY suggestions and or warnings. Also, if anyone's headed through the Upstate area, I'd be happy to trade lunch for any pointers. Be sure to bring pictures of your ride too.
Glad to be here. You guys are allright.
-Joel
