@logicbam Well, you see these old buses are very bouncy. No fancy air bag suspension and such. And the poor little camera I used in this video just did the best job it could. The road was also not the smoothest. As far as your laggy complaint, I see no lagging on my end, must be your connection?
I do have other videos where I was able to use a separate "professional recording device" This was just a still camera that had a video option. Hence the poor audio.
I remember when my school district (Midlothian, TX) had a ton of buses with "standard" transmissions (their entire 1980s fleet) before switching back to automatics (their fleet of 1976 and 1977 model year buses--Loadstar Wards and Carpenters--were automatics) when they purchased the 1991 Blue Birds. All of our bus numbers corresponded to the model years of the buses; for example, while 77-A and 91-B were automatics, 81-A and 87-B were standards. The standards felt really jerky in my opinion.
They don't make gas buses here in the USA anymore... because of environmental concerns, only diesel buses are now produced.... Here in IL school district near Chicago.. we have a fleet of around 130. We traede in about 5 or so buses every year to get the new cruddy IC CE200's (we don't use air brakes) but most of our fleet still consist of the GMC bluebird gas buses with the 6.6 Liter with the vacuum controlled Allison transmittion and the 8.1Liters with the electronic controlled Allison's.
@stcbenz83 Plus another disadvantage to gasoline school buses is also the fact that when gas prices are high people would be siphoning gas from school buses to get out of paying the high price. Many did that during the 1970s oil crisis and I have an uncle who used to do that when he was a teenager. So if school buses were still gasoline powered gas would be getting stolen from the buses regularly. So thats a second reason for diesel buses.
yea i am a school bus fan and always am a fan of the older busses. it seems older school bus has personality and style you know. new buses are nice but nothing beats the sound of an older school bus. the engines seem to be nice and loud and they seem to run forever.
Yeah the older buses did have a lot of personality. When I drove a school bus the newest bus we had was a 1984 Ford, the oldest was a 1977Ford. We had some GMCs and IHCs mixed in between. The newer Diesel buses are just no fun. Well... except maybe the older 7.3L IHCs and the 8.2L natural Diesels. But gas buses always had better "Git up and Go" power.
@jminnesota I'm a big fan too. We had International Bluebird's with Gasoline engines and 5 speed standard transmissions. I can't find those sounds anywhere. The sound of this bus reminds me of the few automatics we had when we had a substitute. I couldn't wait to get the regular bus back. Not that this is bad. But I really miss the gas/standard sound.
@nyconnjersey Thanks! I remember the old standard shift buses way back when I was in kindergarten. My bus was a 1972 IHC 1700 loadstar, and the spare bus was a 1967 Chevy.
But, My school district started buying automatic transmissions in 1974 with the Allison AT-500 first. So, where I lived the standard transmissions were quickly phased out a long time ago.
I've notice that there aren't alot of Gas powered School buses anymore besides the newer GMC bluebirds up here in Canada. Plus the GMC bluebirds are all Propane converted because it burns cleaner. I'm not really sure if the newer ones the GM Topkick series are considered fuel injected or Carburated they have no manual Choke.
yeah, i was curious on that about the chev V8 because once the school bus driver I used to have like 10 years ago showed me the Engine and it had an air breather pot on top of the engine. the bus is a 1996 GM bluebird on propane and i had no idea it was possible to run propane on a fuel injection system.
This video brings back memories, I used to take the bus to school it was a 1996 GMC Bluebird. 366 V8 With the Allison AT545 automatic transmission. What I could never figure out is how come the transmission would slam into first gear and tug forward when the bus slows down turns a corner and starts off again. I was curious on what the problem could be with the transmission.
My bus used to do that. It had a bad vacuum modulator that would cause it to down shift too hard and often it would down shift at the drop of a hat. The new modulator is adjustable and is set for a softer shift.
Thanks for getting back to me on that transmission issue, I had no idea what was causing the transmission to slam into first gear and tug forward when the driver turns the corner and starts off again, Must be hard on the Engine. How does a vacuum modulator work?
Well, I'm not an expert. But I'll try. The vacuum modulator senses manifold vacuum in the engine. At low speed there's a lot of vacuum, which will cause the transmission to shift sooner. At full throttle there's almost no vacuum, which will cause the transmission to shift at the maximum shift point at about 3600 to 4000 RPMs. My modulator is adjustable, and I have it set to shift at a max of 3500 rpms. It's a little early, but it makes for smoother driving.
The sound of those old gas burner's bring's back memories of the old day's.The 97 International I drove only made the whineing sound when it downshifted.
From August 1989 to about Jan or Feb 1998 when my school district finally retired the last of them, this was the sweet music that carried me to and from school. Theres nothing, and I mean NOTHING, like the sound of a wide open 4bbl and one of these beasts mashing through the gears trying to get up to speed on a 50 mph country road. Its too bad kids today don't get to listen to sounds like this.
dude i love the seats
Stickymajorwow 2 months ago
What with the vibration with audio Very laggy video
logicbam 2 months ago
@logicbam Well, you see these old buses are very bouncy. No fancy air bag suspension and such. And the poor little camera I used in this video just did the best job it could. The road was also not the smoothest. As far as your laggy complaint, I see no lagging on my end, must be your connection?
I do have other videos where I was able to use a separate "professional recording device" This was just a still camera that had a video option. Hence the poor audio.
kaiyoshi2243 2 months ago
allison 545 baby!
540allison 5 months ago
I remember when my school district (Midlothian, TX) had a ton of buses with "standard" transmissions (their entire 1980s fleet) before switching back to automatics (their fleet of 1976 and 1977 model year buses--Loadstar Wards and Carpenters--were automatics) when they purchased the 1991 Blue Birds. All of our bus numbers corresponded to the model years of the buses; for example, while 77-A and 91-B were automatics, 81-A and 87-B were standards. The standards felt really jerky in my opinion.
MavsFan1982 9 months ago
They don't make gas buses here in the USA anymore... because of environmental concerns, only diesel buses are now produced.... Here in IL school district near Chicago.. we have a fleet of around 130. We traede in about 5 or so buses every year to get the new cruddy IC CE200's (we don't use air brakes) but most of our fleet still consist of the GMC bluebird gas buses with the 6.6 Liter with the vacuum controlled Allison transmittion and the 8.1Liters with the electronic controlled Allison's.
stcbenz83 1 year ago
@stcbenz83 You should do a video of those older buses before your school district gets rid of them. 'cause they just don't make'em like that anymore.
kaiyoshi2243 1 year ago
@stcbenz83 hey im a yankee i live in pennsivanya for a year and we have you beet by 200 more buses
cleosimble 9 months ago
@stcbenz83 Plus another disadvantage to gasoline school buses is also the fact that when gas prices are high people would be siphoning gas from school buses to get out of paying the high price. Many did that during the 1970s oil crisis and I have an uncle who used to do that when he was a teenager. So if school buses were still gasoline powered gas would be getting stolen from the buses regularly. So thats a second reason for diesel buses.
MrWill1985 2 months ago
Brings back memories!!!! Wish the buses of now sounded like this! Thanks for sharing!
dmuskd 1 year ago
yea i am a school bus fan and always am a fan of the older busses. it seems older school bus has personality and style you know. new buses are nice but nothing beats the sound of an older school bus. the engines seem to be nice and loud and they seem to run forever.
jminnesota 2 years ago
Yeah the older buses did have a lot of personality. When I drove a school bus the newest bus we had was a 1984 Ford, the oldest was a 1977Ford. We had some GMCs and IHCs mixed in between. The newer Diesel buses are just no fun. Well... except maybe the older 7.3L IHCs and the 8.2L natural Diesels. But gas buses always had better "Git up and Go" power.
Thanks for watching.
kaiyoshi2243 2 years ago
@jminnesota I'm a big fan too. We had International Bluebird's with Gasoline engines and 5 speed standard transmissions. I can't find those sounds anywhere. The sound of this bus reminds me of the few automatics we had when we had a substitute. I couldn't wait to get the regular bus back. Not that this is bad. But I really miss the gas/standard sound.
nyconnjersey 1 year ago
@nyconnjersey Thanks! I remember the old standard shift buses way back when I was in kindergarten. My bus was a 1972 IHC 1700 loadstar, and the spare bus was a 1967 Chevy.
But, My school district started buying automatic transmissions in 1974 with the Allison AT-500 first. So, where I lived the standard transmissions were quickly phased out a long time ago.
kaiyoshi2243 1 year ago
I've notice that there aren't alot of Gas powered School buses anymore besides the newer GMC bluebirds up here in Canada. Plus the GMC bluebirds are all Propane converted because it burns cleaner. I'm not really sure if the newer ones the GM Topkick series are considered fuel injected or Carburated they have no manual Choke.
4751424 2 years ago
Well... I think if it's newer than 1987 then it's probably fuel injected. And Propane is also fuel injected regardless of age.
Yeah, I miss gasoline buses. But Diesels are safer, and propane is a lot cleaner.
kaiyoshi2243 2 years ago
yeah, i was curious on that about the chev V8 because once the school bus driver I used to have like 10 years ago showed me the Engine and it had an air breather pot on top of the engine. the bus is a 1996 GM bluebird on propane and i had no idea it was possible to run propane on a fuel injection system.
4751424 2 years ago
This video brings back memories, I used to take the bus to school it was a 1996 GMC Bluebird. 366 V8 With the Allison AT545 automatic transmission. What I could never figure out is how come the transmission would slam into first gear and tug forward when the bus slows down turns a corner and starts off again. I was curious on what the problem could be with the transmission.
4751424 2 years ago
My bus used to do that. It had a bad vacuum modulator that would cause it to down shift too hard and often it would down shift at the drop of a hat. The new modulator is adjustable and is set for a softer shift.
kaiyoshi2243 2 years ago
Thanks for getting back to me on that transmission issue, I had no idea what was causing the transmission to slam into first gear and tug forward when the driver turns the corner and starts off again, Must be hard on the Engine. How does a vacuum modulator work?
4751424 2 years ago
Well, I'm not an expert. But I'll try. The vacuum modulator senses manifold vacuum in the engine. At low speed there's a lot of vacuum, which will cause the transmission to shift sooner. At full throttle there's almost no vacuum, which will cause the transmission to shift at the maximum shift point at about 3600 to 4000 RPMs. My modulator is adjustable, and I have it set to shift at a max of 3500 rpms. It's a little early, but it makes for smoother driving.
kaiyoshi2243 2 years ago
The Ones my school district had did that to, I'm glad I know what that is now...I wanna buy one of the old birds just for sentimental reasons...
Tubeboy732 2 years ago
The sound of those old gas burner's bring's back memories of the old day's.The 97 International I drove only made the whineing sound when it downshifted.
johnwilliam0825 2 years ago
From August 1989 to about Jan or Feb 1998 when my school district finally retired the last of them, this was the sweet music that carried me to and from school. Theres nothing, and I mean NOTHING, like the sound of a wide open 4bbl and one of these beasts mashing through the gears trying to get up to speed on a 50 mph country road. Its too bad kids today don't get to listen to sounds like this.
funkyjunk22 2 years ago
Ain't that the truth! Those new buses don't have any good sound to them. Hope you enjoy my other vids of old bus audios.
kaiyoshi2243 2 years ago
I think it is so cool to hear the transmission sounds that I haven't heard since I was a kid. I love them. Is is an Alison transmission?
TheGMFishbowl 2 years ago
Yes. This bus has the Allison AT-540.
Glad ya liked the video. I'll see about posting some more.
kaiyoshi2243 2 years ago
glad to see you driving her more!
gajda1984 2 years ago
Same here. Thanks!
kaiyoshi2243 2 years ago