Hello all,

I have purchased a 1983 school bus with a ford 370 in it.

I am needing suggestions on how to proceed with it. I basically want more power, not a ton, just enough to pull the bus around easier especially with the added weight of the deck on top. The engine runs good, has good compression, but has some racket going on. Can I rebuild it and squeak out some more horses or can I swap a 429 or 460 into it without to many problems. I thought the 370/429/460's were pretty much a straight swap but someone was trying to tell me the ones put into the buses and grain trucks and such were different.

Please help me out on this if you can. All input is appreciated !!

If anyone wants to lend a hand when I get down to doing the rebuild/swap I will provide all the beer and food we can consume Or maybe we could work out a free night with the bus or tailgate to a game of your choice...

TonyC in Iowa

http://www.skoolie.net/gallery/abdabbs

 

Nice looking bus

Not sure if there is a diff in the big trucks or not. I would asume there is


Where in Iowa are you and when you plan on doin the work?

 

most of the truck engines are different from the lesser weight chassis, but if the bell is the same, you can swap it in. The truck engines usually have a 4th ring, and the water pump setup may be different, and the bell may be different, you will need to check all that out. The heavier chassis used a round bell, to keep them universal for mounting different trannys to, where as the lighter automotive used a more trapezoid type bell. I have seen it go both ways, just have to see what you have. Best way to make power is with more gears, but it depends what kind of money you have to play with. A good towing cam and a few mods can bring in some power too, just depends how you want to go. I don't know why, but the aftermaket almost always can provide better cams and such, I would think the OEM would be best, as they design the thing, but maybe it's the big oil conspiracy...

 

...i have heard some people talking about a rv cam and the towing cam before... i will check on them for sure. i am heading out to one of the bigger ford dealerships here in town to pick some brains and gather any information about the 370 they used in the bus chassis and what 'they' think my options are. the reason i was thinking of doing the swap for more power is that after rebuilding the donor engine i could just swap it in and not have to worry about not having an engine in the bus in case i needed it for ???. i am also going to call Bluebird bus company to see what they can tell me also.

if u have any links to the cams or anything else i would appreciate it.

thanks for the input !

TonyC