Mike Hohnstein's "PRISON BUS"

[iamflagman]

I am starting this thread to show one of Mike Hohnstein's past projects, what he called his PRISON BUS the color kind of gives it away.

This will show what is possible with a $2000 project. I gotta admit I hate it for any one that is going west with a 391.

As an aside, I was fortunate in that the interior proved to be usable and the wheels had been upgraded to one piece Alcoa's. The glass was all good and the side windows were 1985 type as well as the interior frame details.

On the down side the wiring was a total wreck both house and chassis, there was no storage capacity and there was a lot of water damage from leaking rear air unit and road side bed room window.

I had to graft a Ford truck steering box to the front end and make that work with a GM steering pump.

The juice brakes, in my mind, are a deal breaker. They are inherently unsafe and inadequate for contemporary highway speeds. I had a working transmission retarder and that feature along with the brakes stopped the 20k# bus pretty well, as long as you took the 'long view' on the road.

I would recommend one hold out for air brakes unless the vehicle in question is in like new condition. My experience with the juice brakes is parts are impossible to find.
MH

Here are Mikes photos of some of the modifications and upgrades that he did to his PRISON BUS.

Checkout;

DSCN0058.jpg 02-Feb-2009 11:28 114k
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DSCN0218.jpg 02-Feb-2009 11:29 109k

I will let Mike take it from here with any comments and answers to your questions.

[rwoody]

man..........its cold a long time up there

This is a project to work on for a While for sure you had here.....

My hats are off to you for the amount of work and time that you spent on this bus.....

Thats appreciation for a BB for sure!!!!! Keep the project pic coming!!!!!!

[Crit Bliss]

Mike,during our bus search, I once drove a 4104 with a 406CI in it, it was not bad on power based on the terrain and speed, how does that 391 do? The overall condition of the Prison Bus is beautiful!

[iamflagman]

Originally Posted by Crit Bliss

Mike,during our bus search, I once drove a 4104 with a 406CI in it, it was not bad on power based on the terrain and speed, how does that 391 do? The overall condition of the Prison Bus is beautiful!

I'm sure that Mike will THAW OUT eventually and reply, but until then, he replaced the 391 with a big block Chevrolet and after completing the modifications and upgrades I believe that he sold the 'Bird.

[Mike Hohnstein]

Ya, as they say up nort. At the barn pumping heating oil dis mornin'
PB came with a 391 and the good old MT 42 Allison 6 sp with grade retarder.
MT's were in production until early 70's. Laid out like a 4L80 new fangled GM OD found in 91 and up vehicles.
I tend to get involved in expensive projects and the PB engine was no exception. After one particularly long and painful journey through western mountains with a P30 motorhome I determined I needed a bigger big block. It took a while but I ultimately crafted together a really fancy 520 cu. in truck block based 450 dyno proven hp monster. It works very well in the PB, and for those that love the sound of a big spirited engine, it's all good. At 60 mph, towing my 240D, got 5.8 mpg. I had to try it out once before I sold it and it pegged the 85 mph speedo right now. Only issue for the long term is the engine is good for 6000 rpm, went there on the dyno run before installation. Allison input speed limit is 4000 rpm. Hmmm.
The new owners says he passes ALL the semis on the western mountain grades.

[rob]

Mike is awesome I wish I could beam mine from new mexico to Wi

[Crit Bliss]

A quick Google on 520's tell's me they show up in boat racing these days, must have some grunt. Pretty cool, mpg isn't bad either.

[White Hat Guy]

Prisoners in Alabama would be so lucky to ride around in that one. The incarcerated folk here ride in 30 year old repainted/recycled school buses, rarely BBs.

[Mike Hohnstein]

This 520 was 4.280" bore X 4.5 stroke. Dyno sheet showed 600 # torque @ 3000 rpm.
As it was a truck block, I used the stock Holley flange intake that featured two thermostats. I was concerned about the intake performance but it obviously worked perfectly for the end use. My engine guy did up a 850 double pumper and set up the distributor for no vacuum advance, to my dismay. However, he proved his point.
After the PB went down the road, I picked up a 345 Airstream Classic with a fresh 454. I always wanted one and this rascal was pretty nice. I had to do a good bit of work to get up to my specs, screwed in a 700R4 GM OD trans with a Gearvendors OD behind that. Added headers and rewired most of the engine specific components, replaced the mickey mouse fusible link wire with circuit breakers and seperated circuits etc. etc.
Some of the under coach framing was rusted out so when we removed the rear axle for service, delt with that. 2 X 2 square tube, my Marvel saw and my little mig welder we had repairs made in good order. The Classic is the only P-30 I"ve diriven that is worth a ****, the shape is great in the wind and I do like Airstream trailers, so the Classic is real friendly to me and the wife. All that being said, towing the same toad as the PB, it only gets about 1 MPG better. So I guess that 520 was a pretty good mill. However, more than a couple weeks on the road, I want my 'Bird.

[cornerman]

WOW..... Very impressive! These are the kind of projects I day-dream about! I can imagine there would be a few nightmares thrown in as well.
Very, very nice work Mike.
Jerry