Eagles International Forum

It's about dang time you got here, Mister!

For those of you that haven't met Hall, he has one heckuva modified Eagle. I can't even tell you all that has been done to it. Maybe if we keep bugging him enough we can talk him into a very extensive Project thread with lots of pics.

Hi Hal,

Holey Smoley! Very nice looking smooth sided Eagle!

As Dale said, please start a project thread showing off what you have done. Would love to see pics of the interior and any other modifications you have done.

Welcome to the best Eagle site on the net!

Welcome Hal,now there's another fine example of what can be done with an Eagle,WOW!

Hopefully Hal will tell us more but I know this bus is stretched, widened, repowered, smoothed, facelifted, pantographed, and I don't know what all else. And the interior is absolutely beautiful.

Dale ,are you shure now that you don't want to go smooth sides?nows your chance.Just think of all that extra canvas you'd have to do the santa fe scheme

I know! I may have to take another good look at Hal's bay doors and stuff while we are in Quartzsite.

Hal's Eagle is another design example of something I would like to see coming out of Brownsville.The aerodynamic front end I think brings Hal's Eagle up to date,head light assy is clean and adds that extra to the marker lighting that I think should be added to the front blinky lights,just my two bulbs worth.

Hi guys,
Some years back Hal's Eagle was featured in MAK's publication. This rig is truly a fine looking conversion and very unique! Makes me want to go dig out the back issues.

Sorry I haven't responded sooner. I am using my work laptop and am quite limited in what I can do with it and downloading pictures can be a real problem.

The bus started life in 1974 as a 05 but there really isn't much of the origional structure left. I widened it 7 3/8" to get it to the legal 102" (they are really 94.5" wide from the factory). I replaced the floor and just about everything below it. I didn't tack on additional metal to get the additional width, I replaced everything.
I cut the bus off behind the drive axle and added 4 1/2 feet to accomodate a new 20,000lb air down/spring up tag axle. I cut the front off at the rear door post and added an extra 6" to get to the 45' legal limit.
I removed the drop box, turned the rear around and installed a R10 center section (same as a 01 Eagle) facing rearward. This gave me a 45' bus with the turning radius of a 40' 05/10/15 Eagle.
I raised the roof 8" and built a 13'5" slide with homemade slide mechanism.
For go power I've used a 14ltr Detroit that put out 609 hp/2000 ft of tq. I have a world trans in front of it with 4.10 gears in the rear. I've averaged 8.5+ mpg over 63,000+ miles which isn't bad for a 43,000+ lb rig.
Building a smoth sided bus was a huge job-no rivets or fasteners showing makes for a huge challenge. The panographic doors took more time to build than the slideout.
So, thats the most of it till now. BTW, I did all the structural and bodywork myself in my garage at home. I have a few things I'm getting ready to tackle soon as retirement is just around the corner.
Have fun, Hal

Hal, Nice report on what you have done. When you are able and have the time please start your project thread so others can learn. It's amazing that we have so many talented guys here that tackle such a tedious job. Well Done!