Eagles International Forum

This is a former New Jersey Transit Model 20. I bought it from a guy who had started the conversion but decided to put his efforts back into his GMC. He started the 8" roof raise but never completed it. It was running when he parked it in his barn three years earlier. But we had the good ole Eagle fired up in less than 30 minutes even on old fuel.

Here are the original pictures the seller sent me before I bought it.

The engine was running and sounding good, but we had engine and transmission codes and a Do Not Shift light on the ATEC pad. Eight hours worth of trying to figure it out over a two day period yielded nothing. Finally as I was opening up the front bay to start loading stuff, I saw a black box with an Allison logo on it. I checked all the connections coming out the bottom and they seemed secure. Then I noticed that one of the wires had a tag on it. I read the tag that said 'This wire MUST be connected to a chassis ground'. I traced the wire to find the other end hanging loose. Five minutes and a new connector later and the bus was purring and ready to go!



On the road again! Nekkid Eagle coming through! The looks on people's faces as they saw this bus 'cage' going past was priceless!





This is my favorite picture from the entire 400 mile trip home!

More from the road.



Don Fairchild at the wheel.



My turn!



A room with a view!



DDEC II 6V92 (I think it is DDEC II. Not sure if it was upgraded when the engine/trans were rebuilt)

Here are some of the things I love about this Eagle...

Pantograph doors and Alcoas!



R&M front and rear caps. Fiberglass side panels and Peninsula glass are in the bays.



That's it so far! First step is to get it dried in with the new caps and sides installed. Then maybe the windows. Gotta get ready to steel tent it at Quartzsite in January!

Anybody up for a barn raisin' BBQ in Bakersfield? Come on over and we'll put you to work!

Dale that is an interesting story. I have panographic doors for my 15. It did not come with the bus so I am going to put them on. It is good to know you have them in case I need to look at one if I get in trouble when I am installing mine. Looks like you have a solid bus to start with. That makes everything else alot easier.

Those photos are just super.

Thanks! It really was an enjoyable trip after we got past the stress of getting the bus going. I do hope next time I take a trip in it that it has sides though! haha

Dale, that 20's a diamond in the rough. Welcome to the Eagle world...
Looking forward to seeing your progress....


................Kentucky Steve ......................

Not that it is all that much progress, but we did get the caps out from the inside and set in place. These are the R&M caps that came with the bus when I bought it. After talking to Dan at Silver Eagle, I would probably buy their caps if I had more time. They are not all that much different in price than the R&M caps and they are hand laid fiberglass while R&M uses chopper gun.

At this point the caps are just sitting on there and held on with straps. We have to rebuild all the framing for the caps. The previous owner apparently paid local guys to do what was done who didn't know much about buses. The rear cap was put on upside down so when I turned it right side up, all the framing is wrong. Actually it was wrong when it was upside down too, but we are going to make it all right.

The raise on my bus was already started when I got it, as evidenced by the earlier pictures. Even though I didn't do the raise, I do have some pictures that the previous owner took while it was being done. I will put a few of those here for posterity in case anyone who is about to start their own raise needs to see how it is done.

Everyone always tells me how easy it is to raise an Eagle. Still, I am glad it was already done!