Ahhhh, but don't forget, that torque gets multiplied by the transmission AND the two speed rear end. In 'low/low' the gears are likely slower than walking speed, but would move a small house.
Another thought for the IDI's is that, if you found a donor engine from a medium duty truck, engine mounts (and maybe crossmembers if needed) could be fairly simple, maybe even bolt-in. And you may even find one with an air compressor for pit support at the track.
mazdeuce said:I actually do have a welder and know how to weld. It's a Lincoln SP-100T that suffered a bit being stored in the Grosh before it had things like a roof and water resistance. The welder itself seems to work but the wire rusted solid to the torch. When I checked a few years ago new torches were $125, but it looks like there is a solid supply of Chinese ones on eBay for about $55. Time to get things fired back up.
You can also pull out the liner and replace that for fairly low cost as well.
Scott
Interesting. That looks similar to full floater setup used on smaller trucks. Like my F250 Ford. If you are going to pull both wheels center section and drum together, you might want to come up with a plan if that massive thing tries to roll away from you. Or worse. Over you. Might be safer to break that down one wheel at a time.
Anybody know how wide modern school bus axles are? I'm not ready to make this kind of leap, but it's good to think about it. https://houston.craigslist.org/cto/d/2003-international-school-bus/6300559552.html
School bus stuff would be exactly the right size. One of the advantages of the standard 34" frame on medium duty trucks.
School busses just make me think of 80's Nascar infeilds... oh the stories child me could tell. The things I was exposed to at a young age, probably explains a lot about old age me.
Buy the bus for the motor and axles then use the sheet metal and bench seats on a challenge car...
The0retical said:Buy the bus for the motor and axles then use the sheet metal and bench seats to make a modular camper body.
You made a minor spelling error.
Once you realize that a bus is just a bunch of panels riveted together and that you can remove rivets and rearrange panels, a school bus bodied challenge car seems inevitable.
Or even an enclosed car hauler/trailer with a sleeper cabin.
I tend to approach my projects and my marriage in the same fashion. No big grand gestures, work on it a bit every day, a conscious effort to make progress, and try and leave it better today than it was yesterday. My projects never get done, but my marriage doesn't either, so it must be working.
I used the sawzall to take metal that was attached to the truck, and make it unattached to the truck.
I'm hoping the guy that welded the frame is not the same guy who welded the stuff on the back. It didn't fall off when in service, but there are.....issues with weld quality.
The shirt materials are arriving bit by bit. In advance of that I started making a bunch of TTWO stickers to throw in with them. I did the math and figure they cost me right about $0.04 each. While I was working on them Mrs. Deuce asked if they were just for the shirt people or if I was going to send them to other people. I said I didn't know if anyone wanted just stickers, do you? If you do, send me a PM with your address and I'll get some off to you.
I did not request a shirt, but a sticker would be great.
You rock....one day at a time.....
I am dealing with my own teardown now apparently...Mini Cooper Timing Chain....fun to buy new tools, but specialty tools that are probably a 1 time use and are $200 suck....reading you is keeping me steady and not tearing stuff up with a big hammer....plastic, apparently, is expensive. So is exhaust.....broken pieces already 
One good thing I have going for me is my wife and I got together just before the CE light came on and finally and cleaned the garage COMPLETELY!!! At least I have a dry concrete area to work in. Looks like Irma is going to head up to the Ohio Valley, so I am very blessed to have the space to work in.
Also found brake fluid under the rear of my truck...another repair in the waiting....
careful when looking at donor trucks and buses, the one in the CL ad has air brakes, I don't know about Texas, but here in Minnesota, air brakes require a class A CDL to drive.
stick with hyd. disc brakes, keep the single master cylinder at the pedal and mount a remote power booster/dual inline master cylinder on the frame with split f/r brake lines.
Only one data point here regarding the school bus donor, but the similar International box trucks I drove were not rockets with the manual trans, but terrifyingly slow to get to freeway speed with the automatic. I don't know the engine options, they were miscellaneous leases, so maybe the one with the auto had less engine...
I'm not generally anti-automatic in trucks, but unless I got some proof it wouldn't be subjecting me to merging at 40mph, I'd be trying to keep a manual.
Power and gearing and all of that needs to be considered. That's one reason I'd like to get it running and driving with the 304. It will give me an idea of the RPM range I'd need to spin a motor at if I keep the transmission/rear end that I have in it. The short bus that Toyoman grabbed for his bus is also a pretty solid blue print.
In reply to Ransom :
The diesel/auto international buses that came out something like 10 years ago with the bigass tailpipe through the bumper are a hell of a lot faster than the older ones, when I was still in high school my route got a new one, took a few months for the driver to lose her muscle memory of constantly flooring the old one, it would knock over anybody standing when that happened.
That said it seems very wrong to me to get rid of that cool column shifter.
I think stickers would be awesome, however, I drive an employer owned car so I couldn't stick it there.
And with that in mind, looking at the stickers sideways I couldn't figure out why you were printing out a wrench and 2 padlocks.
The bus would be a fantastic donor or new idea. I know you could somehow fashion that whole rear end to Ferdinand.
In reply to OldDave :
That's a common misbelief. Under 26,000 lbs nothing is needed even with air brakes unless you're carrying more than 15 passengers. Over 26,000 lbs in an airbrake equipped vehicle and an you get a class B license if you take the test with airbrakes or Class B with an L restriction if you take the test in a non airbrake equipped vehicle.
In reply to mazdeuce :
One of the axle nuts may be reverse thread. They were on our newer fords and internationals. I had a number of IDIs and the latter 444E and would gladly take one again.
mazdeuce said:With that out of the way I noticed that I had the special spooky haunted house brakes. Must have been a factory option.
Wow! I probably would have set the grease on fire as I used a torch to make sure all the spiders were really dead!
Wall-e said:In reply to OldDave :
That's a common misbelief. Under 26,000 lbs nothing is needed even with air brakes unless you're carrying more than 15 passengers. Over 26,000 lbs in an airbrake equipped vehicle and an you get a class B license if you take the test with airbrakes or Class B with an L restriction if you take the test in a non airbrake equipped vehicle.
This is all true if operating in interstate or intrastate commerce. If it is for personal use, no special licensing is required.
In reply to KevinGale :
My theory was the spiders were South Dakota spiders and thus pretty harmless. The wasps it was delivered with were the only dangerous living things on board. Probably.
In reply to csmith1510:
You don't have to put stickers on a car, in fact they don't need to go on something that you have ownership of at all. 
Send me your address and I'll get you some to stare and and contemplate. I'm sure you can come up with something.
Stickers in the mail to Tuscon and Colorado Springs. I think I'm getting all my PM's but if you asked for some and you aren't from AZ or CO, let me know.
I see an empire forming! T-shirts, stickers....mousepads, trucker hats....onesies for the kids.....
I got into iron on inkjet designs when my daughter was first born. My wife liked the funny sayings people had on "Pinterest", but at $40 a pop for a shirt that the kid was growing out of in 2 mos....no thank you.
May I suggest taking stickers to a car show. When you see something either really well done, or, really poorly done, slipping one under the wiper or in the driver side window.....for many reasons wiring comes to mind as an example.
It is fantastic to find fellow "Jacks of All Trades", even if we are never masters of any.
In reply to BrokenYugo :
Those newer buses were probably just spec-ed with more power than the old ones. And the transmissions have gotten better too, which helps. Historically, school buses and fleet trucks were spec-ed with pretty low power options unless they had a need for more, even when better options were available.
There is a rhythm to working outside that I enjoy. I like rolling out with my coffee when it's just getting light and the air is heavy with moisture. The birds are singing, it's still cool out, great way to start the day. I think my ultimate garage would include a slab of concrete outdoors.
The recent tropical storm dropped a lot of leaves and the flowing water piled up a bunch of dirt and debris. Three wheelbarrows of stuff and things are nice.
The other fun things that happened with the recent rain involved the exhaust that I tossed over to the side. If you remember, it was packed with mouse stuff including a ton of seeds.
Some of them are still good and decided to grow through the seams in an old joint. Small things like this make the outside worth it.
And then it was back to the wire wheel and chemicals. Things are getting cleaner. I need more paint stripper and I'm thinking of trying to drop the springs to get at the hangers and shackles. Project creep is a problem.
Four sets of stickers out today. Interlochen and Washington PA should also have them on the way.
You'll need to log in to post.
