So you want an old bus, huh?
Where to look for your dream bus...
Old Bus Classified Ads: Look under "buses for sale". If you don't find what you are looking for, keep checking back. All kinds of buses get posted randomly. Many have been sold through this site.
EBay Motors: If you are in the market for an old school bus, the best place I have found is EBay. If you are patient, old buses come up for sale pretty regularly. Some times they come in waves. Other times, there's nothing interesting on there for months. Patience pays off. Try searching EBay Motors:
- In Ebay Motors, find the "other vehicles" link to the left and search these areas. search under buses, RV & campers, everything else. Very often, vehicles are not listed correctly. When they are not, they are much harder to find, but you may get it for less money.
- In Ebay Motors, type "school bus" in the main search bar. There's usually about 50-60 in there at any given time, mostly newer models.
- In Ebay Motors, type "bus" in the main search bar ( tons of items will comes up. You're going to have to weed through a bunch of listing, you may want to search by highest first).
Hemmings Motor News:
Pick up a copy of Hemmings Motor News at the news stand or go to the Hemmings.com website. I found my 55 Ford in Hemmings. The site has an advance search that is pretty helpful- http://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/search/
I think I just typed "bus" in, and I found my 55 Ford shorty. The seller was the original owner of the bus, which is pretty rare. The ad had no picture nor a price.
Google & Google Images:
Quite often, I will simple search Google or Google images to see if I can find anything. You may just find a site that has a cool old bus for sale.
Good bus states...
The south western US is the best place to find a clean, low rust bus. The dry air goes a long way in keeping them from rusting out. Fortunately, the sheet metal on these buses is quite thick, as they are built to be abused. Even in the rust belts, these buses hold up surprisingly well. I got my first bus in Montana. I live in Florida, and let me tell you, Montana is a long drive from my house!
To buy, or not to buy...
As an owner of 2 buses, a 1954 Chevy short bus (Wayne body) and a 1955 Ford short bus (Wayne body) , I have come to the realization that they are a lot of work to restore. Sure, they are cool, and worth it, but just know going in that they take some time, elbow grease, and money to restore. I say this not to discourage you, but instead to let you know upfront what to expect so that your new project will become reality, instead of becoming another unrealized dream. I am a believer in trying to find the cleanest, straightest, bus you can with minimal rust. I don't know about you, but I hate rust with a passion...hate it! Why do more work than you have to. Even a clean bus is project enough.
If the bus you are buying runs, all the better. Judging by all of the buses I have seen for sale, chances are, it won't run. It's better to pay more upfront for a nicer bus, versus dragging home a rusty beehive that takes more money to restore than if you had just bought a nicer one. Restoring a rusty beehive takes more effort than most are willing to give. In the end, you will end up reselling it when you burn out, probably at a loss.
Getting it home...
Now here is the part where you need to sit up in your chair and listen. This is the part that can turn a fun experience into a nightmare, and fast. I would resist the temptation to try any drive any old vehicle home, especially if it is very far from your home. Being the stubborn ass that I am, I had to learn this lesson the hard way.
These vehicles are old, and chances are they haven't been maintained very well. The tires are probably going to be checked and dry rotted to hell, when you get your bus. I know mine were. Most older buses any use 20" rims with bias, tubed tires (yeah, there a tube in there), which are an obsolete size, and not so easy to find. In the western states, there is still some, as quite a few old farm trucks are still in service.
If you are really unlucky, your bus will have "widow maker" type rims on it. These are a two piece wheel split at the center. It is illegal and dangerous to put a new tire on a widow maker. No one will a sane mind will do it. My bus had one widow maker on it. I have to drive it home with single wheels in the back. The guys at the tire shop dreaded putting new tires on the other remaining split rims wheels. 10 Hours after I got to the shop, I rolled out with 4 new tires. I was one of the first customers in, and the last customer out the door. No one wanted to put there tires on. They must have drew lots.
Brake parts can be hard to find. These buses are generally 1.5 to 2 ton vehicles, making parts harder to find. Parts for many of the older, smaller (1 ton or less) are common to find, but not on these "big boys." You can find these parts, but you will probably have to order most. I found that NAPA was the best source for parts on the road. Fuel pumps are hard to find, the hoses will probably be dry rotted. Belts will probably be in a similar condition.
Body parts: hoods, fenders, grills, etc. can also be more difficult to find, since the larger trucks (1.5+ ton) have larger fenders, hoods and grills than the smaller pickup trucks of similar year (1 ton or smaller). Bear this in mind if your future bus is going to need these items. I recently dropped an additional 1K to have a straighter front clip shipped to me from an EBay seller in California. I am glad to have the parts, but wished I could have found them locally, and saved some money.
The bottom line...
In the end, it will save you money to have it towed, especially with the price of fuel what it is. One brake down, and all of your effort and hope of saving on the hauling bill just went out the window, take it from me.
Please learn from my mistakes...
I bought my bus in Billings Montana in July of 2007 on EBay. It was supposedly in driveable condition, so my son and I flew out to purchase the 1954 Chevy short bus for $2400.00 and drive the old girl home. It was to be a father-son road trip to be remembered, always. Yeah, we'll remember it always, but unfortunately not in a good way.
Well, as it turned out, the tires were dry rotted badly, and bus had little or no brakes (big oil drip under the bus). It took 3 pumps to get the bus to stop, which as way to freakin' scary for me. The seller knocked $100.00 off so that I could buy a new master cylinder, and offered to drive the bus to the tire shop for me. While my bus was getting new tires, I had to drive all over Billings by cab to find the right master cylinder. $100.00 in cab fares later, I found one.
By the roadside, by flashlight, my son and I installed my first master cylinder on a bus, which is under the drivers floorboard. When I finally got a pedal (about a gallon of brake fluid later), we drove over to Walmart to get new oil ( it was black) and some supplies for the trip.
Eager to "get the hell out of Dodge", with the bus running good, we headed for home. It was 12:00 am in the morning on July 4th ( another big mistake). 40 some miles later, we broke down outside a small town of Hardin, Montana. The bus had been progressively going slower and slower. I thought it was the terrain (hills) that were causing me to downshift so much. Several times, I came to a crawl along the roadside, unsure of what as the trouble. One time, the bus stopped dead in the right lane, with traffic coming up from the rear in the darkkess. That was scary.
Little did I know that my all along, my right rear brake was locking up. When I finaly locked up solid, and jumped out of the bus to have a look, I noticed that my right rear brake drum was glowing cherry red and smoking. After an hour of sitting there in the darkness, the drum finally sopped smoking. My worst fear had come true. Were were broken down, the adventure over. We were all alone, out in the middle of nowhere.
First thing I did was to call AAA. What a waste of time that was. They said I was too big to haul, that there was no help nearby, and were on out own. They said they could at least have someone drive me back to Billings so that I could catch a flight home. They renegged on that a few hours later. BTW, thanks for nothing AAA, you suck.
At 1:30 am in the morning, an old grouchy man in his 70's, and the only mechanic is town came and got me, his eyes just glaring mad. After about an hour of kindness (and $100.00), I softened the old guy up. I left the bus at this shop in Hardin untill I could figure out what to do next. My son and I sadly flew home on the 4th of July with out tails between out legs.
$1400.00 later in repair bills, I got the call that the bus was ready to be driven safely home. I paid the bill my mail, packed up the van and set out for Hardin with my wife, my son and every tool I had. Man, you talk about a long trip. You don't realize just how far it is until you drive it yourself. I was convinced that I was insane for even attempting this a second time. I was right.
Wouldn't you know it, the rear brake was apparently fixed, but now I was leaking fuel, as the fuel line was dry-rotted. I ended up fixing a fuel line, replacing all hoses, thermostat, keyswitch when I got to Hardin.
Then I headed out a third time to try and get home. At the local gas station, the rear right brake locked up again. I later(2 months) discovered the brake problem. In my ignorace, I failed to leave enough clearance in the master cylinder linkage. It was binding, and residual pressure in the system would eventually cause the brakes to lock. I guy on Stovebolt.com told me that was the problem, and boy was he right.
I found out later that the local mechanic hosed me, doing little to nothing to fix my bus. I like the old guy, too. Boy, did he turn out to be a real disappointment. He wronged me badly. I wonder if he even cares.
Beaten and discouraged, we left the bus again and headed for home. I, personally, hit a new low this time. I eventually found a hauling company with a lowboy trailer when I got to Florida to bring the bus it home for $1900.00. (and that was a bargain compared to the other estimes I received up to 4K). In Octover 2007, "Old Blue" came home. Only later did I realize that I somehow lost the title in all of the confusion.
So you still want to drive it? In a nutshell, I broke down 50 miles from where I started. It was $2300 to tow it home the first time I was in Billings. In hindsight, that was a good deal. I am sure that I spent 5K or more getting the bus home.