November 2014 $5.00 US $6.00 Canada Bus Conversion Magazine Staying There’s Nothing Left A Warming Flxible to Go Wrong Alternative November 2014 1 Publisher’s Note Gary Hatt The Eagle Has Landed…in the Publisher’s Hands Tom talked about his 1967 Eagle with a 500 HP Series 60 mated to an PUBLISHED BY Allison HT-740 automatic transmission. He said he could clear most hills at 70 Bus Conversion Magazine MPH. That’s when I almost fell off the barstool. My MC-9 with a 6V92 crawls over 9852 Katella Ave STE 361 hills at about 35 MPH with a good tail wind. Anaheim, CA 92804 (657) 221-0432 Tom said it was built in Belgium for Expo67 in St. Louis and was the only Eagle Model 08 ever built. At that time 102” wide buses were not legal in the PUBLISHER U.S. so the bus sat in a warehouse until they became legal to drive in the U.S. Gary Hatt [email protected] We receive calls on a regular basis from folks wanting to sell their bus so they can down-size or upgrade to a new bus. This sounded like a routine ACCOUNTING/SUBSCRIPTIONS classified ad call until I heard that the bus was rebuilt from the ground up with Linda Sohn an 8” raised roof and was completely re-skinned. Also, new 1998 front and [email protected] rear caps and double-pane Peninsula windows were installed. Tom relocated the entrance door to mid-ship and raised the cockpit floor so his wife could EDITORIAL TEAM sit up front and be even with him while having a solid floor under her feet. He also installed two power-swivel driver and passenger seats to be used when Chad Laines and Mike Sullivan company is visiting. He installed a $10,000 Dux bed, a Sun Frost refrigerator, a [email protected] dishwasher and an ice maker. Tom spent over $500,000 rebuilding the bus from the ground up. CONTRIBUTORS I was planning on building or upgrading to a new bus within the next Gary Bunzer five years. I had already decided I wanted a wide body with a Series 60, Cruise Bryan and Rhonda Larrabee Control, Jake Brake, large holding tanks, an Aqua-Hot system, Balance Master John and Paulette Lingafelter automatic wheel balancers, a 12.5 KW Wrico genset, three roof A/C units and the coach to be all electric. This bus had all of that and more. I thought to myself WEBSITE “This bus is really unique” and would make a nice addition to BCM. So Tom and I worked out a deal and now it is my Eagle. www.BusConversions.com Questions/Feedback: I encouraged a friend of mine to take the Thanksgiving holiday off and [email protected] help me drive my MC-9 down to Phoenix and back. We took turns driving the Eagle back home. Now I have a new project to work on. I want to fix a few minor ONLINE BBS/DISCUSSION FORUM issues, which one would expect from a bus that sat in the hot sun for a few www.BusConversions.com/bbs/ years without being driven. The plan is to knock out most of these minor issues before the Quartzite Eagle rally in January so I can drive down and learn more Phil Lyons - Forum Admin about Eagle buses. [email protected] MODERATORS Be on the lookout for an article about my new Eagle in which I will provide Nick Badame more information about this awesome bus. If you know anything about the Jack Conrad history of this bus, I would be interested in hearing about it, so I can include it K. J. “Frank” Franklin in my article. This unique bus can be seen between Jan 15 through Jan 18 at the Paul Lawry Rice Ranch in Quartzite, AZ. Mike Sullivan From now on, I too will be soaring with the Eagles. Opinions and techniques expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those endorsed by the Publisher. Bus Conversion Magazine and the authors On The Cover: respectively accept no responsibility or liability for any errors, omissions or alterations, or for 1958 Flxible Starliner any consequences ensuing upon the use of, or reliance upon, any information contained herein. Tasks performed in maintaining, altering and using vehicles may require specialized Owned by: skills and involve inherent risks to the person doing the work or to the safe operation of the vehicle. It is the reader’s responsibility to assess their own skills to determine if they can perform John & Paulette Lingafelter any such task and to seek professionally trained assistance if needed. 2 Bus Conversion Magazine Bus Conversion Magazine November 2014 In This Issue 4 Publisher’s Note ................................................................................................. 2 Index of Advertisers ......................................................................................... 3 Staying Flxible by John & Paulette Lingafelter....................................... 4 There’s Nothing Left to Go Wrong by Bryan and Rhonda Larrabee 10 10 Rally News ......................................................................................................... 20 A Warming Alternative by Gary Bunzer ................................................ 21 Sterling Classifieds ......................................................................................... 26 Classifieds ..........................................................................................................30 Service Directory ............................................................................................ 30 Digital Edition Bonus Content Section ................................................... 33 Staying Flxible Bonus Photos .................................................................. 34 Bus Chat - Eagle Air Pressure Is Low ........................................................ 38 21 Digital Classifieds .................................................................... 44 List of Available Back Issues of BCM ...................................... 46 Index of Advertisers Exclusively in the Ardemco ........................................................................................................... 31 October Digital Editions of BCM Atlantic Custom Coach .................................................................................. 8 Autex ...................................................................................................................19 Additional photos from Balance Masters .............................................................................................. 26 the Cover Story - Staying B & B Coachworks ............................................................................................. 9 Flexible are included in the Byler Rivet Supply .......................................................................................... 15 Digital Edition. Custom Instrument Panels ........................................................................ 12 Engine Heat Protection .................................................................................. 9 Plus, our Bus Chat feature Engine Power Source ...................................................................................... 7 that brings you high interest Fastening Systems International .............................................................. 11 discussions from the BCM Online Discussion Forum. Hitching Post ..................................................................................................... 6 Mobile RV Glass .............................................................................................. 24 Also additional bus related classifieds and potentially RV LED Bulbs .......................................................................................... 23 & 32 other late breaking info. Throughout the Digital Sun Frost ............................................................................................................ 18 Edition, photos with the Click icon can be clicked to open Sure Marine Service ...................................................................................... 13 a much larger view of them. Tommy Kaylor’s Bus and Truck Service .................................................. 18 Wrico International ........................................................................................ 19 Do you receive only a Print Edition subscription and would like to add access to the Online Digital Edition? It is easy to upgrade your subscription for absolutely FREE until January 31, 2015. Just go online to: Thanks to our advertisers for www.BusConversions.com/UpgradeMe supporting Bus Conversion Magazine. Then click the Online Add-On from the bottom of the list to order it. November 2014 3 Staying Flxible by John & Paulette Lingafelter Click Working on vehicles was nothing new for us. At about After having restored several antique cars, I told age 12, I started motorizing anything I could. I built mini Paulette that I thought it would be fun to have an antique bikes, go carts, motorcycles, and a few race cars. I gave bus to use if we wanted to tow one of the cars to an out that all up to raise a family. After returning from the of town show. Surprisingly, when we tow a car to a show, Army I met Paulette and got married. Then for our 17th people are as much or more fascinated with the bus as wedding anniversary Paulette gave me a 1965 Olds 442. they are with the car. In 2006 we purchased a 1964 MCI, It was like the car we both had when we met. I restored gutted and completely refinished the inside, as well as it and I will never part with it. Little did she know that adding fresh paint to the outside. She ran great, but would snowball into several more cars and now buses. it wasn’t long after completion that I saw what I really