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Hello again Fred! As far as any particular brand being better than another, they all have their strengths and weaknesses. If you're interested primarily in inter-city coaches, the other major brands would be: Prevost - a quality Canadian builder who's still building $$$ coaches, though lots of older shells and coaches are available Very well built. GMC - stopped building inter-city buses in 1980. Lots of them still found, again well built with aluminum and stainless, but use a transverse engine and V drive transmission like a transit bus, most all have 2-cycle Detroit Diesels, though I've seen a Cummins "C" series installed in one as a cleaner "repower". Van Hool, Neoplan, Setra, and Dina are all good European style buses, more modern (more $$ to buy) and not as easy to convert mostly because they are not commonly converted in the US. Motors depend upon how old a coach you are looking for, and how much money you want to spend. For the most part, almost all brands up through the early '90's used the Detroit Diesel 2 cycle "71" or later "92" series engines available in either 6 cylinder (6V) or 8 cylinder (8V) configurations, though as I said, GMC installed them sideways. These are great motors, but they all leak, are noisy and produce copius amounts of smokey emmisions. The later ones are electronically controlled (DDEC) and have particulate filters retro-fitted which help. Parts are plentiful, but they are not modern motors. (Though they're workhorses). The newer coaches offer lots more horsepower from a cleaner package from Cummins, Caterpillar or Detroit Diesel (their 4-cycle "Series 60"), but at big $$. As for repair, expensive is a relative term. There are places that specialize in working on bus conversions, and some RV dealers can repair water, sewage and other RV based systems, but heavy mechanicals would be repaired at a diesel shop or truck or bus repair facility. For Web sites, try searching "MCI bus" or "Eagle bus" & you'll find hundreds. By the way, I'm an Eagle fan because of the styling, ride, and because they're "different". Good luck in your quest! |
RV and bus conversion info since 1996.
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