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Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 1:15 pm
by rob.martinson
Hello hello! I’ve been lurking on this and the BCM forums for the past few years sucking up information and figured it was time to contribute something in the hope that it might be helpful or interesting. Time to start our project thread.
Basic details:
- 1968 Silver Eagle M01 #7420
- Detroit Series 60
- Eaton 10 Speed Autoshift (2nd gen)
- Raised roof w side aisle
- Wrico 13kw genset and a bunch of Victron energy gear
- Originally converted by Burl and Ione Goff out of Deer Park, Washington in the early 80s. Christened “GOOF-N-OFF II” Re-powered with the S60 and Autoshift sometime in 2000-2002. Purchased and remodeled by Rob and Mandy MARTINSON in Summer of 2020
- How it looks today
I’m adding several posts below with some of the timeline over the past few years to catch up to today. I’ll do my best to keep it clustered together where it makes sense. Onward….
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 1:45 pm
by rob.martinson
How we got it and why, distance learning!
My wife and I are in our 40s with 4 kids between us between 11 and 14. Early on in 2020 when the pandemic was just getting started and lockdowns were in place, we talked about taking the opportunity to take the kids on an epic road trip.
I’ve always been interested in commercial bus conversions although only in passing and previously had an older gas powered 35’ Winnebago. I love the industrial quality of buses and although I hadn’t yet driven one, I knew they were designed for stacking miles unlike traditional fiberglass RVs. One of our neighbors has an Eagle and I had seen it on a few occasions driving past although didn’t know what it was at the time I really loved the look.
Anyway, late 2020 we received a notice from the kids schools that the school year would start out with distance learning from home. Time to turn this into an opportunity, so we decided to start looking for something we could take the kids on a month-long distance learning trip. They’d be on laptops all day long anyway, might as will be on the road seeing some cool stuff.
Only a week or two in, and a craigslist ad popped up for this 1968 eagle, and it was only a few miles from us.
- Craigslist Ad
The bus was owned by Burl and And Ione Goff. They had run a charter bus company out of Spokane Washington years before. Burl retired in 1979 and converted this bus sometime in the mid-80s originally. He re-powered the bus with a series 60 and Eaton auto shift in 2000 or 2002.
Original Conversion
Burl and Ione spent many years and tens of thousands of miles and lots of adventures on the bus while they owned it. They spent summers in here in Washington and winters in Arizona and were an active part of the Eagle Community. I’d love to hear of any other bus nuts that met or were friends with them over the years.
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 1:55 pm
by rob.martinson
Initial state of things...
When we went to see the bus, it had been sitting for somewhere between 2 to 4 years since last regularly used. The interior and exterior were kept clean, and although there were several incomplete tasks still in progress It was completely clear that the bus was well loved. Burl was in his 90s and wasn’t getting around well anymore. He had many stories about the bus but as things happen when you’re approaching a century, a lot of the details weren’t as clear as they once were. At some point in the previous few years he had started projects that weren’t quite finished. The clutch was unhooked. I think in an effort to put a new master cylinder in. Some areas of plumbing under the bus were dismantled, being repaired or re-routed. Although the interior lights came on, there were several wiring faults and many areas of the underside were a nest. It needed a lot of work, but we were up for it.
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:50 pm
by rob.martinson
Bringing it home.
After visiting several times and talking at length, we made a deal. Although we could see it was a hard decision for them, I think Burl and Ione were happy to see someone take interest that they felt would be able to handle the project and revive things.
Since the bus wasn’t moving under its own power we had to make some decisions about how to proceed. I’m a handy guy, I have a large shop and a lot of tools and mechanical projects don’t intimidate me. That said, trying to diagnose and repair a project of this size in an unknown state several miles away from home wasnt going to be ideal. We decided to have the bus towed to our place. Once we got to the house, the tow truck driver didn’t want to pull the bus over to our shop, which is about 600 ft away from the house. He was concerned about lack of turning space even though we assured him there was plenty. Frustrating, but whatever. We unhooked the bus at the top of the driveway and coasted down into the valley between the house and shop. Then, keeping the bus running for steering and brakes, towed it up the hill to the front of the shop with my Tundra. It was a bit of a sketchy process, but we made it. Finally, the bus is home!
- At the shop!
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2022 2:58 pm
by rob.martinson
Getting it back on the road
We spent the first couple of weeks digging through the bus and trying to track down basic items to get it rolling again. There were a bunch of various air leaks as Burl had previously started working on some project on the air system and many lines were unhooked or temporarily plugged, so we had to track down connections there. Although the bus started and appeared to run great, the clutch was non-functioning as I mentioned previously. Being an Autoshift conversion, obviously none of that was factory so I had to dig in and learn what was built and how it was intended to function. There were several different master cylinders unhooked and laying in the front spare area near the fabricated clutch linkage and the slave cylinder was unhooked with the hydraulic line loosely zip tied up near the driveline which was also half disconnected. After a fair amount of reading and trial and error, I was able to track down a new, like master cylinder and get everything reconnected and correctly bled (bleeding 35ft of hydraulic line with a rise and a drop is a fun process). After getting air correctly plumbed to the autoshift splitter, we were off and running. Success!
- Clutch linkage
Having taken the bus on a few 2 mile loops around our area, it was time to get it out on the freeway for a short shakedown run. We decided to run down to Spangle, Wa which is a quick 12 miles from us down the highway. Everything seems to be working well. Bus runs great. Seems to be shifting normally. Stops well. Steers well. Out on the highway it tracks well clipping along at 60-65. About 7 miles down the road after hammering it up a long slight incline, we completely lose power. Lights are on, still have power steering so I know it hasn’t died completely but pedal is dead. We roll to a stop safely to the side of the highway and it shuts down. After a few hours of debugging and eventually killing the batteries, we give up for the night, lock up the bus and call in a ride home. After returning in the morning, charging batteries off of a portable generator and another few hours of tracing things we found a blown fuse in the main harness to the ECU. Once I replaced that, it fired up immediately and we brought it back home. Several more test drives went well and although I was concerned with the potential cause of the blown ECU fuse, everything seemed normal and we didn’t find anything specifically wrong to cause it (more on this later).
- Stranded on the side of the highway. Oh well!
- Just a blown fuse...easy fix
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:08 am
by rob.martinson
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:45 am
by rob.martinson
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 10:53 am
by rob.martinson
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 8:58 am
by beltguy
Hi Rob.
Just a quick post to thank you so much for starting a great project thread. You have done a great job so far and we look forward to seeing more details.
Jim
Re: Martinson's 1968 Eagle 01 #7420
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 9:44 am
by rob.martinson
beltguy wrote: ↑Wed Oct 05, 2022 8:58 am
Hi Rob.
Just a quick post to thank you so much for starting a great project thread. You have done a great job so far and we look forward to seeing more details.
Jim
Thanks Jim. I’ve spent many hours reading through your posts and your personal website. Given that I ended up with the same power train that you converted to, I’ve learned much from the discussion. Appreciate all the time you have contributed over the years.