I Bought A '91 E-350 Collins MiniBus

[Eli]

I bought this yesterday:

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It's mostly complete, but not currently operable. Seating for 18 passengers, 7.3 IDI/E4OD/3.54-geared Dana 61, pretty solid shape.

I have questions!
1. What size battery is this supposed to have? Online sources have Group 24, 24F, 27, 65, and other sizes listed. Which one is correct?
2. Does anybody have the wiring diagram for the Collins HVAC stuff? Some idiot took the switch panel that operates the rear heater and air conditioning system - my guess is because it operated the lights - and cut the wiring rather than unplugging it. Anybody know how to make the AC work?
3. The wrecker driver that towed it to my house managed to destroy the driveshaft trying to nudge it farther up the driveway, anybody know which driveshafts interchange? It's an 'E342' with 138" WB.
4. Tires: Is it OK to replace the increasingly hard to find LT235/85R16 tires with the more common (and less expensive) LT265/75R16? My '90 F-250 had it done, any reason not to on an EconoBus?

Lastly, who all has one of these? What do you like and dislike about it? How do you insure it?

THANKS Y'ALL!

Eli

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

1. Should be group 65 but let a van guy confirm...I know there are years where the vans had different sized batteries OEM. So. Weird.
2. What's A/C?
3. Sounds like he owes you a driveshaft.
4. Yes, UNLESS they touch under load at the dualies. Contrary to Br0-science having your dualies touch being SO COOL it actually makes them hot and go boom at speed.

That's all I got! Have fun, hopefully you're allowed to have more than 10 people in it again in this lifetime.

 

[Cubey]

1. What size battery is this supposed to have? Online sources have Group 24, 24F, 27, 65, and other sizes listed. Which one is correct?

4. Tires: Is it OK to replace the increasingly hard to find LT235/85R16 tires with the more common (and less expensive) LT265/75R16? My '90 F-250 had it done, any reason not to on an EconoBus?

65's fit in my 85 E350 RV, but it calls for sizes other than 65.

My much larger RV calls for LT215/85R16. But it's dually, unlike your bus. So maybe 235 is stock? My F250HD (1 ton rear end) SRW calls for 235s, as I recall.

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[Eli]

Looks like I get to measure battery boxes and get batteries tomorrow!
The van is a 'singley' not a 'dually' so it looks like LT265/75R16 tires are in order.

1. Should be group 65 but let a van guy confirm...I know there are years where the vans had different sized batteries OEM. So. Weird.
2. What's A/C?
3. Sounds like he owes you a driveshaft.
4. Yes, UNLESS they touch under load at the dualies. Contrary to Br0-science having your dualies touch being SO COOL it actually makes them hot and go boom at speed.

That's all I got! Have fun, hopefully you're allowed to have more than 10 people in it again in this lifetime.

A/C is this magical thing that makes life in Houston tolerable!
Yeah, I gave him $100 on a $300 to bill, NOT happy that I have to replace the driveshaft and really hoping he didn't damage the pinion bearing and such.

65's fit in my 85 E350 RV, but it calls for sizes other than 65.

My much larger RV calls for LT215/85R16. But it's dually, unlike your bus. So maybe 235 is stock? My F250HD (1 ton rear end) SRW calls for 235s, as I recall.

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Stock is LT235/85R16, they're harder to find and more expensive.

Eli

 

[theSHERPA]

Is this Eli the BM59 expert?


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[Eli]

Is this Eli the BM59 expert?


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One and the same!

Eli

 

[Cubey]

Stock is LT235/85R16, they're harder to find and more expensive.

They look plentiful to me and about the same price, unless there is a very specific tire brand and model you're considering.

 

[pastorjeep]

The wheel well openings look stock size so the 265-75-16 should look nice on there. They did on my 84' 6.9 club wagon.

 

[Eli]

I picked up a pair of Group 65 batteries last night, today is going to be the day it hopefully starts!
The interior was FILTHY, I've spent hours scrubbing it out with more left to do.
Tires will come after it moves under it's own power.

Eli

 

[Jl elevatorman]

I run 235's on everything, Have more than a few trucks and trailers. the 235 is the toughest most forgiving tire I have found. I haven't blown one out yet. Have come out of gravel pit at 14400 with single tire 250. 15 miles to job, no problems.

 

[Joseph Bruce]

3. The wrecker driver that towed it to my house managed to destroy the driveshaft trying to nudge it farther up the driveway, anybody know which driveshafts interchange? It's an 'E342' with 138" WB.

It might be easier to pull the old shaft and take it to a driveline rebuilder. Just Google "driveshaft houston texas" and you should get some results.

 

[kronby]

Nice man! I have the 1990 Collins, basically the same but I don't have any of the HVAC stuff. I couldn't find too much information on the wiring, maybe ask on skoolie dot net. Someone probably has it. I just ended up tearing all of that out. The batteries that came in mine are group 31, but dunno if that is the OEM size. Insurance could be a pain. There are probably others but National General was the only company I could find that would insure it. If you are doing a conversion, they'll make you submit a bunch of pictures of the interior. Overall, not to bad though. Great to see another IDI Collins take the road.

 

[Eli]

3. The wrecker driver that towed it to my house managed to destroy the driveshaft trying to nudge it farther up the driveway, anybody know which driveshafts interchange? It's an 'E342' with 138" WB.

It might be easier to pull the old shaft and take it to a driveline rebuilder. Just Google "driveshaft houston texas" and you should get some results.

I'm going to pull it once I get the %$##$@$#& thing running, and take it to be re-tubed. Hopefully the transmission and rear end are OK!

Nice man! I have the 1990 Collins, basically the same but I don't have any of the HVAC stuff. I couldn't find too much information on the wiring, maybe ask on skoolie dot net. Someone probably has it. I just ended up tearing all of that out. The batteries that came in mine are group 31, but dunno if that is the OEM size. Insurance could be a pain. There are probably others but National General was the only company I could find that would insure it. If you are doing a conversion, they'll make you submit a bunch of pictures of the interior. Overall, not to bad though. Great to see another IDI Collins take the road.

Does yours have any start interlock aside from the standard Ford stuff? I can't get mine to crank, no idea why!

Eli