Open Knowledge - School Bus

01:48 pm - School Bus

If you ever want to buy a school bus, Greg Archambault was recommended on the schoolbusconversionuts mailing list.

Update: Mr. Archambault also gave a very prompt and detailed response to my query about a car he had for sale. I've pasted it below since, it contains some interesting information about converting diesels to run on WVO (waste vegetable oil):



Hello. Thank you for your interest! I wish everyone wanted to learn about burning alternative fuels!

First of all, my Mercedes is a 1973. It is a 4 cylinder 220D with a 4 speed stick shift and power steering/brakes. The a/c still comes on, but the feon is too low to blow cold air. It still drives great, but the engine is showing LOTS of blow-by and consuming quite a bit of oil. It simply hasn't been driven enough to free up the rings and get it working properly, again. That comes with use! And this car needs to run!!

The speedometer died this past summer. I assume the cable broke. The car's overall mileage is in the mid-40000 mile range. It hasn't been ran very much over the years! I bought it used from an estate where it had sat for a few years.

There is NO conversion kit on this car. I don't believe in them :-) In Florida, there are only a few days (like the next 3) that it is too cold to start the car on the straight veggy oil. I poured a little diesel fuel into the tank yesterday... I'll see if it will fire up tomorrow morning when it is down around 40 degrees. Perhaps it will.

The natural operation of a diesel forces fuel back to the tank. In pumping it and pressuring it up for the injectors, the fuel gets plenty warm enough. On this car, it has to run about 15 minutes before the fuel is 'naturally' warm enough to perform properly. In that time, I can drive the car. It just makes a more steam and less power!

I have built my own heating elements for these 220s. In two instances, I have converted these cars for others so they could operate them up north in the cold. It isn't hard to do... and doesn't cost much. Kits are way too expensive and 'profit' is the motive behind them. If you want an oil heater, we can build one for less than $20!

As far as a Racor filter or such, when I do use a primary filter in addition to what is on the vehicle, I prefer the Goldenrod filters from Tractor Supply. They cost 1/3 as much and do exactly the same job. 10 microns is 10 microns! A filter for "industrial" use (Goldenrod) is MUCH cheaper than a filter for boats and/or airplanes. With Racor, you are paying ONLY for product liability insurance! Goldenrod doesn't recommend their filters for airplanes, thus saving themselves all of that liability! AND THAT IS THE ONLY DIFFERENCE... so don't be fooled (or scared).

On this Mercedes, I have an inline filter ahead of the main fuel filter. BOTH are stock filters from the factory. I get the inline filters on eBay... 7 for $10. In nearly a year of running on WVO (maybe 100 gallons, total), I have yet to have to replace the larger, secondary filter. The inline filter gets dirty every couple of tanks, though. You know when it is getting clogged up because the engine loses performance. AND, when this filter is clogged, it is NOT 'clogged'. It is simply dirty enough to restrict the flow of COLD veggy oil. In EVERY case, I have back-flushed the inline filters with gasoline and installed them onto small engines of one sort or the other. They work like new in gasoline! And backflushing them would get your performance back up, also... so you really wouldn't have to throw them out!

Burning veggy oil is too simple! Diesels were originally designed for this purpose and still do it very well IF not computerized. When you search the web or otherwise find information on the subject, you are almost always faced with people with an agenda... usually PROFIT. You and I could go into business producing kits for others, too... but that would mean trying to 'sell' others on the fact that they need our kit. NO KIT IS NEEDED!!! And if a heater is needed, build one. It is VERY easy. IF separate diesel/WVO tanks are desired, find one! And buy your own cut-off valves so the systems can isolate themselves. Every auto parts store in the world stocks the valves which switch fuel tanks on vans and pickups. USE ONE OF THOSE! They are LOTS cheaper than the Greasel or GreaseCar valves and are designed for this!

ON the last two conversions I did out here, I used an old windshield washer jug mounted under the hood to store diesel fuel. Switching to that small tank just before shutting the engine off allowed the engine to restart on straight diesel fuel... thus, the cold starting problem SOLVED. TOO SIMPLE!!!

The car I have is OLD. That is it's "major defect". Every hose, fuel line, and maybe even fan belt, are original. Along the way, you may encounter some failures :-) Luckily, I have NOT had problems with anything. Well, the other night, I burned out a headlight. I had to remove the ORIGINAL sealed beam from the right side and install a new halogen. It makes the other side look YELLOW compared to these 'new' halogen bulbs (which have been out a couple decades, now). Also, the alternator belt has worn so thin that it squeals when charging hard. Once the battery is back up to charge, there is no squeeling. That belt needs to be changed, though! So do the wiper blades :-)

I am not afraid to take off with this car anywhere. I've had it 100 miles from home, before. IT was set up with a towbar so I could use it for retrieving school buses from around the country, but it never worked out that I could use it. Know why? I had it parked in my backyard last summer. The hurricanes came and our lake came up so high I couldn't get the car out of the back yard! So, it sat there these past few months. Just a month or so ago, I was able to drive it out of the yard. The water wasn't even up to the wheels :-)

This thing gets gReAt fuel economy, too. My best guess is nearly 40 mpg when driven easy. HOWEVER, as it currently runs (with blow-by and set-up rings), it does use a couple quarts of oil between tank-fulls. That is still pretty cheap driving! AND, once the car is driven daily and had a good servicing, the oil consumption will disappear. I've had ALL of these engines do this same thing to me when they sit too long!

There is one more 'flaw' in the car worth mentioning. The floorboard on the right rear has carpeting, but the sheet metal is mostly gone. Someone apparently spilled something on the floor back there that eventually ate the metal. The carpeting didn't really stain or anything, so it wasn't bleach. It could have been a box of salt or most anything corrosive. I have no reason to repair it, but the repair wouldn't be too difficult as long as you weren't trying to resell the car as a restored classic. Just take some tin, cut it to size, and rivot in there. Then, a can of undercoating OR roof cement can be used to seal it up from underneath. If someone jumps on the carpeting back there, they might fall through :-)

Oh, there is another thing... the left passenger door doesen't open very easily. It somehow jams up against the body. I'm sure it is just an adjustment somewhere... but there is a slight wrinkle in the car on that side in the rear quarter. That may be the cause of this door problem. It opens, but sometimes it needs a FOOT against it from the inside :-)

Otherwise, it is just a dirty, old car. Sitting through the summer storms didn't do it any favors for staying clean. I have it out and running. It has went to town 4 times in the past 4 days!

Why am I selling it? ONLY because I don't really have a use for it right now. I don't want to insure it. Insurance costs me too much, now! My bus business runs over $4600 every six months for liability, I have 3 other vehicles insured, and I am only one person. When choosing which car should go, if any, I have to choose the one I don't really need or use very often. Besides, when I want another one, I'll just go find one :-)

For an old, dirty car, I think you would be impressed. The seats are NOT bad. The glass is not bad. The steering and brakes are good. The exhaust is fine. The battery is great. The lights all work. There is a lot there to work with!!

One last thing, I want $1000 for it. I will NOT entertain less of an offer. Just because I don't need it now doesn't mean I won't miss it. It is FUN to drive around in this old girl :-) And the exhaust smell gets EVERYONE'S attention :-) Besides, it is my eldest granddaughter's favorite car. We have to take it to Checkers and Sonic whenever she goes :-) It is just an old car... nothing more and nothing less. I drive it whenever I wish. You could, too!

Thanks for asking! Have a great weekend.
Greg

ps. where are you located? If you call, you most likely wont' find me this weekend. Where I am working/playing (outside at home) has no cell service most of the time. IT is weird... maybe 1/4 of the time we have a cell. Where is it the rest of the time??


Christopher rasch <crasch@openknowledge.org> wrote:
Dear Mr. Archambault,

I saw your add for the WVO-burning Mercedes Benz on your website. Is
it still available? If so, would tell me a bit more about it? In
particular, I'd like to know:

1. mileage/age
2. WVO conversion kit
3. engine specification
4. any major defects
5. reason for selling

If you'd prefer, I'd be happy to give you a call. Thanks!

Chris