Anyone near Allenton, WI want to check out a bus for me?

I'll say this: Avoid Chicago traffic. That E36 M3 will berkeley you up.

In reply to OHSCrifle:

These busses don't exist in the Southeast. The majority are well west of me. This one is within striking distance. It's also about 1/3 the price and running/driving. It's already titled as a RV.

Usually they are $10k and DOA. Finished they are 4 times that.

Take your own window squeegee. If the wiper fluid thing doesn't work out you can just clean it yourself occasionally.

Also, take a proper cold weather sleeping bag and warm clothes. Cuz, well, it does qualify as shelter if you need to just sleep in it until daylight.

Appleseed wrote: I'll say this: Avoid Chicago traffic. That E36 M3 will berkeley you up.

Everyone says this, but 294 is no treat either. I actually loathe anytime I have to get on the Toll Road and it's not because of the tolls.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

I'd be tempted to go west ~20 miles and head down through Madison/Rockford/Bloomington to take I-74 over to Indy and pick up I-65 there.

294 IS Chicago traffic.

RossD wrote:

Toyman01 wrote: A couple of questions for the WI crowd. How common is snow up there? Allenton has it forecast for 5 of the next 10 days. Is that the exception or the norm. Does it stay around until spring and turn to ice, or do the roads actually get a chance to dry out between storms?

Snow stays not quite year around but the roads are usually dried out in a day or two with as much salt that hits the pavement. Literally the roads will look like theres a dusting of snow but its actually salt encrusted. Its quite effective. Its the B roads (county trunk rads they are called here) that will stay slick a while, but even those, not much more than a week. They usuall just get greasy feeling because there is enough salt present to keep it from being ice but not enough to get the road dried out as fast as the hi ways. Dont bother with getting tire chains, i dont think they are legal, useful or sold here. The southeasten part of wisconsin is pretty flat and boring. Id be more worried about down south mountain passes than up north tundra. Good luck.

I'd wager that a one-inch snowfall in Tennessee is worse than a 12-inch snowfall in Wisconsin, regarding how the highway departments can handle it.

And the local drivers.

OK, the deal is on. The road trip is being planned. Leaving South Carolina on 1/29 and hopefully returning with a short bus on 1/31-2/1.

Ya'll stay close to the computer that weekend, in case I have to beg for help.

I have three options here.

1 Rent a car, load tools and parts, drive up, return car and drive bus back to SC.

2 Drive my truck up with tools and parts, drive both back to SC.

3 Fly up, buy tools and parts, drive bus back.

Price wise, there isn't a whole lot of difference. I'm pretty sure flying is out. I plan to have a full compliment of tools and spares. My only qualms about the rental car plan is if something drastic happens, there isn't much of a back up short of a tow truck.

How much do you trust a 60 year old bus to carry you 1100 miles?

I guess a catastrophic failure is going to have to be towed anyways. With the rental plan, I can carry enough tools and parts to fix anything minor.

Decisions, decisions...

In reply to Toyman01:

If I-57 becomes your chosen route, I'm a little over an hour south of Chicago.

Can you have it shipped?

Totally lame I know but its probably the cheapest way to get it home.

I'm thinking 33 west to 26, then south to I90, then I39 to I74, then to I75, then I40, the I26 and home. That's tentative, it's going to depend on the top speed I'm comfortable with. If it won't run 65 comfortably, I might have to stick to some of the back roads.

33 ad 26 will let me put a couple of hours on it at reasonable speeds before I hit the interstate.

Robbie wrote: Can you have it shipped? Totally lame I know but its probably the cheapest way to get it home.

Shipping is going to run $1200+ dollars according to U-Ship. If nothing breaks, I can get it home for about $600-$800.

It'll be a great story some day. How bad the trip goes will determine how many years or decades it takes to become a great one.

What a cool story this will be!

I know it's probably later than you're trying to get up there, but if you end up delayed until May, I finish work the 12th and would be up for a road trip or fly and drive back

In reply to classicJackets:

You would have to fight my eldest son for right seat privileges. He wants to leave tonight.

I'm going to start another thread with a little more appropriate thread title.

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/the-bus-thread-1956-ford-b-600-general-questions/109517/page1/

Completely nutso idea: Find a semi-desirable, rust free Carolina car/truck and advertise it on the appropriate CraigsList. Offer to drive it up to the seller. Make the deal and have the happy new owner drop you off at the bus.

In reply to Appleseed:

Hmmm.

Rental car, two drivers on one vehicle is better than one on two, especially a vehicle likely to be uncomfortable and taxing to drive in its current state. Worst case something serious fails and you dump it at the nearest RV storage yard until spring, though from what has been provided, I can't see you losing anything besides brakes or a tire, both of which should be pretty readily available. Change all the fluids and go for it.

Toyman01 wrote: In reply to OHSCrifle: These busses don't exist in the Southeast. The majority are well west of me. This one is within striking distance. It's also about 1/3 the price and running/driving. It's already titled as a RV. Usually they are $10k and DOA. Finished they are 4 times that.

looking forward to the transit and the rebuild story

Toyman01 wrote: In reply to classicJackets: You would have to fight my eldest son for right seat privileges. He wants to leave tonight.

I'll take back seat privileges, that's fine