Bedford aluminium bus

If I was going to do another bus,  my first choice would be an Isuzu LT.

www.busnews.com.au/detail/isuzu-lt111p-aluminium-body-940675

Decent brakes, big,  Isuzu 6BD1 turbo and 6 speed over drive, rear motor, flat windscreen, 22 inch tubeless,   100kph cruiser and isuzu parts availability   and about 4.5 ks per litre.

Years ago, when the children were still young enough to want to come with us, I bought a Ford bus that was partly converted into a motorhome.  I was (still am) short of money, so it was a front engined petrol.  I overhauled the brakes and learned a lot from the workshop manual. It had a Thetford chemical toilet installed, with a hatch to empty it from the outside. It also had a hotwater service and sink.  Most of the seats were already gone and I installed enough for us to sit around a table. The bed and bunk bases were already there and I had to buy mattresses.  I Did a lot of other fitout jobs. We joined then Motorhome and Campervan Club of Australia and had some good runs and met a lot of nice people. I connected the hot water to the hoses to the shower and handbasin one morning on our first holiday in it and found that the previous owner had put a screw through the hot water hose behind the handbasin.
The problem with a front engine is that my Wife and I could not talk comfortably over the engine noise, although she could serve my sandwiches for lunch on the engine cover while I was driving.  It had been a suburban bus, so gearing was too slow and cruising speed was about 85 KMH.
We found that the cost of fuel and of powered sites at caravan parks made it un-economic to take on long trips or to stay anywhere except free-camping places.
It is cheaper, faster and easier to travel by car and stay in Hotels or Motels but the advantage is that we did not have to unpack food and clothes every night.
We sold the bus, at a loss, after a few years.

 

That's a nice looking one. $8k is a good price.  Clutch air leak sounds like it has an Isuzu engine/gearbox with an air assisted clutch. If it has, then an even better deal.

MAN also had air assisted clutch.

Both my F86 Volvo and Poodle Mack (Renault) had air assisted clutches as well.

Yes, yes, I know.     But would you put a Man's engine in a Bedford bus?  Of course you would. But never a Volvo.   ..... eh Swishy.

But seriously, Isuzu is  the popular engine upgrade and I was just commenting on the notes (or lack of them)  in the description.

jon_d wrote:

Yes, yes, I know.     But would you put a Man's engine in a Bedford bus?  Of course you would. But never a Volvo.   ..... eh Swishy.

But seriously, Isuzu is  the popular engine upgrade and I was just commenting on the notes (or lack of them)  in the description.

It may have been built on a MAN chassis, as was my GBW (Denning clone).
 

One thing to keep in mind now in Queensland (and I believe in the Australian Design Rules as well) any vehicle with permanent beds in it must have a manual opening - towards the outside -  door in case of fire or other emergency. Air, electric, folding/concertina or even the old handle and lever system from the driver's seat are not acceptable. That is why so many converted bus motorhomes including Toyota Coaster types have those crappy household type doors on them.

I always thought it would be worth the effort to weld up the original folding doors and put gate hinges on them to keep the nice smooth lines of the original door.

There may be a grandfather clause for these really old buses but I think a new registration may come up against the safety requirement barrier.

Lang, no folding doors has been a thing for over ten years now. I imagine the rules at time of conversion would apply.