R163 School master


IHC in the early to mid-fifties.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Sat Jun 08, 2019 12:12 pm

Re: R163 School master

My Dad used to say, "If we all liked the same things, everyone would be after your mother. "
To me, it looks like a pile of junk. It does not matter what l think. You are the only one who needs to see possibilities in it.
The last bus, like this one, on the forum was close to mint barn kept condition. If I remember, it had a nice custom motorhome interior. One of the Edmonton area garden farms owns it. Maybe you should make a few phone calls .
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive

Freshly Restored
Freshly Restored

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Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2012 10:49 pm

Location: Eastern Kentucky

Post Sat Jun 08, 2019 12:31 pm

Re: R163 School master

The chassis number 667C is the serial number or vin number in todays world. Getting the DOT to understand that can sometimes be a pain. Also, after looking at the pictures, I think you had a 4 piece windshield, two curved pieces and two flat pieces, one on each side. Be very careful taking the curved piece out. There are people who can reproduce it. The straight edge on the curved piece makes me think that. You might also take the curved piece to a junk yard or glass supplier and find an old curved corner windshield that could be cut to fit. Also save a piece of the windshield seal.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Location: Lyman, IA

Post Sat Jun 08, 2019 12:46 pm

Re: R163 School master

Dan, I thought of that but don't think so, it would put a seam right where the wiper and view needs to be.
50's were full of highly curved windshield, it was the fad of the times.
If anyone remembers Windmiller, he worked at the proto type dept of an auto mfg and described the process for making up "bucks" for forming curved glass.

Also, I think the proccedure used for cutting flat safety glass would not be sucessful on highly curved glass.
Working on the old British buses, that have the curved corners, we ran into the same problem. IIRC we cut the opening to fit an obtainable windshield rather than try and cut glass to fit.
9670's and some firetrucks used curve corner glass, but I know we never tried to cut a curved windshield as we were told it is stressed already and prone to cracking.
EDIT on 2nd look you might be right on the separate curve I had to blow up the pic to get a better look, and the driver is more toward the center to put the seam out of direct line of sight.
The Pete and KW used a sharply curved corner with a large flat windshield. I don't think they would be a good fit in this case.

Freshly Restored
Freshly Restored

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Joined: Fri Dec 14, 2012 10:49 pm

Location: Eastern Kentucky

Post Sat Jun 08, 2019 2:49 pm

Re: R163 School master

Geoff, The curved portion reminds me of a 60's Diamond Rio but that's a little late. If he can identify the coach builder, he might find a NAGS number for it. Also a lot of the specialty builders used a lot of current stuff rather than having special stuff made. He might look at various car and truck pictures from that era and find what he needs. I say that because my 53 IH has some of Ford stuff.

Golden Jubilee
Golden Jubilee

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Joined: Thu Dec 27, 2012 12:45 pm

Location: Canada's left Coast

Post Sat Jun 08, 2019 3:03 pm

Re: R163 School master

In 2014 there was a lady who called herself industia 77, on this forum. She lived in an IHC converted bus, the same bus she grew up in. She also owned and drove several IHC dump trucks. I thought she was an interesting person. She was here, posted a bunch and then she was gone like a shadow.
Another member of this forum is a guy from Kelowna called Redbeard. He has a 1953 IHC school-bus that he drives nearly every day. His bus is Cummins 12 Valve Diesel powered. The transmission is an NVG 4500. Redbeard has been to an IHC show in this area. Redbeard and his wife are artists and the bus is a rolling home away from home and an art studio.
I was in grade one in 1951. The other farmer's kids and I were picked up in one of these old school busses every school day. The driver was a local farmer named AP. He was a wild and crazy man behind the wheel. Many complaints from parents had no effect on having him replaced. One of my experiences with the school bus and AP was. AP had lost control of the bus on a muddy road. The front of the bus was hanging over a deep wash-out. AP had his foot on the brake and all of the kids escaped out the rear emergency exit. Our farm was about a quarter mile away. I walked home and hooked a long chain to Dad's new John Deere 70 tractor. I hurried back to the bus, hooked up and pulled the bus back onto the road. I was 7 years old. The local Brooks Bulletin wanted to get my picture for a news story they were going to publish on this event. I hid in the barn loft and avoided the photo session. My Mother clipped and saved the short local news article. It was headered, LOCAL 7 YEAR OLD BOY SAVES SCHOOL BUS.
Many years later and long after we had left the farm and moved to Calgary, I was involved in a head-on collision. Old AP had run a stop sign, broad-sided 1962 Pontiac, sending it straight into the front of my new Ford Falcon. I may have had the only Falcon with seatbelts. I had installed them only a day before. My friend Bob was driving his new Austin Healy bug-eyed Sprite in the lane next to my Falcon. The Pontiac was lifted off the road and Bob and his Sprite passed under the air-born Pontiac and narrowly avoided being decapitated.
These old busses were mostly scrapped in the 1950s. I have travelled extensively in Alberta and Saskatchewan. It is not uncommon to see the old yellow hulks hiding in a bunch of caragana bushes. I think it was Lloydminster where I saw a few at the back of a wrecking yard. The busses were used for out-of-the-weather storage of pats.
About 40 miles north of Lloydminster in a small town at the end of the road was another automotive junk yard. Old IHC busses were abandoned there, I think I remember more than 10. I think the place was called Skunk Lake.
Another auto wreckers to try may be Hill Top Auto Wreckers in Peace River. There is another Hill Top Auto Wrecker in Fort McLeod, Alberta. Both of these places used to stock old crap. When the price of scrap is high, they crush the old and slow moving parts vehicles.
I have seen many better examples of early 1950s IHC school busses than the ones posted. Unless you have committed to buying, there are likely better options out there. Lots of luck.
I would rather have tools I do not need than to need tools I do not have
Thinking risks being controversial and possibly being offensive
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