They're Sticking 7.3L Godzilla V8 Into Blue Bird School Buses

[silvrsvt]

https://www.thedrive.com/news/38961/theyre-sticking-fords-7-3l-godzilla-v8-into-blue-bird-school-buses?xid=fbshare&fbclid=IwAR2uOECaNYGnfxUnr1H_xkYGE4lzqIoQH81pYW9Wjj9Z3kCosI71Y4rJC1U

[hwyman3]

just saw that.  It makes sense, since they were using the Ford V-10, seems logical to get Ford's New and Improved gasser

[7Mary3]

Should work well.

[Bob Rosadini]

Would think the 7.3 will start showing up in F-750s used Propane local delivery.  Most of the home heating oil outfits in this  area have taken on propane as an alternative fuel for home heat.  And in some cases people who love to cook put in propane tanks just so they can have gas appliances in their kitchens.

 

But I can't think of anyone in this area that makes propane deliveries with a propane powered chassis.

[theoldwizard1]

Propane is a cost effective fuel alternative IF you can buy large quantities/contracts.  You will have to be able to store several months for your fleet because home heating takes up most of the the volume from about November until April.

[twintornados]

if they are using a FoMoCo souced engines for gas and propane, you would think they would also use the Ford 7.3L Powerstroke / 6R140 in their diesel version instead of a Cummins B6.7 engine / Allison 6 speed combo.

[7Mary3]

41 minutes ago, twintornados said:

if they are using a FoMoCo souced engines for gas and propane, you would think they would also use the Ford 7.3L Powerstroke / 6R140 in their diesel version instead of a Cummins B6.7 engine / Allison 6 speed combo.

 

Ford tried to sell the 6.7L Powerstroke/6R140 powertrain to other OEM's for years with no success.  Pierce built a handful of fire apparatus with the Ford Powertrain, but that was about it.  No idea what the issues were.

[hwyman3]

30 minutes ago, 7Mary3 said:

 

Ford tried to sell the 6.7L Powerstroke/6R140 powertrain to other OEM's for years with no success.  Pierce built a handful of fire apparatus with the Ford Powertrain, but that was about it.  No idea what the issues were.

I think the biggest issue was Fire Departments wanted either Cummins or Detroit with the Allison.  It was a huge adjustment when Detroit signed an exclusive deal with Pierce. 

[Bob Rosadini]

59 minutes ago, hwyman3 said:

I think the biggest issue was Fire Departments wanted either Cummins or Detroit with the Allison.  It was a huge adjustment when Detroit signed an exclusive deal with Pierce. 

If I had to guess I would say the deal breaker was the transmission, not the Power Stroke.

[probeGT]

[jpd80]

Ford had a good month in December with class 5 over 6,000 sales and class 6 back up to around 2,600 sales

[hwyman3]

20 hours ago, Bob Rosadini said:

If I had to guess I would say the deal breaker was the transmission, not the Power Stroke.

I would agree with them wanting Allison transmissions.  The other thing was this was offered in the lower end chassis Pierce manufactures.  Most of the apparatus Pierce builds is on their heavier lines, such as the Arrow XT, Enforcer and Dash.

[ChrissJ]

It looks like a crazy custom project) Why does a school bus need such power))) In college I study mechanics and was looking for interesting ideas for a student project, I first learned about this version of a school bus when I studied educational sites with sample essays for students https://samplius.com/free-essay-examples/education/ I was surprised when I found a topic about this project on the forum) Perhaps the authors had an interesting idea, but except for mechanical enthusiasts, this is unlikely to be of interest to anyone. Perhaps the authors of the project were also enthusiastic students)

Edited January 17, 2023 by ChrissJ

[jpd80]

4 hours ago, ChrissJ said:

It looks like a crazy custom project) Why does a school bus need such power)))

You realise that this thread is now two years old, so if this happened, it didn’t cause waves….

[SoonerLS]

8 hours ago, jpd80 said:

You realise that this thread is now two years old, so if this happened, it didn’t cause waves….

According to Blue Bird’s Web site, they’re using the 7.3 (in both gasser and Roush propane applications), so it looks like it happened, but I wouldn’t expect school buses to make much of a splash. 

[SoonerLS]

FWIW, Blue Bird uses Godzilla in its Vision models and the Micro Bird models based on the E-Series chassis, and it uses the 6R140 behind it. The diesels in the Vision and  All American lines are running Cummins/Allison powertrains (the All American line is all-Cummins/Allison, even the gassers and propane models).

 

The Micro Bird T-Series, built on a Transit, uses Transit powertrains. Interestingly, it lists a diesel T-Series, but it looks like Ford may have dropped the 3.2PSD--at least I wasn't able to find it in any of the Transit specs, just the 3.5PFDI and the EB35...

 

BTW, if you go looking, Blue Bird's Web site is a mess when it comes to the Micro Bird T-Series. Its specs table lists the only powerplant for it as the (presumably GM) 6.0. You have to download the brochure to see powerplant specs that make any sense.

 

ETA: Minor correction--the All American rear-engine buses use Cummins/Allison; the front-engine version uses either Cummins/Allison or Cummins/Eaton (Eaton Procision dual-clutch auto).

Edited January 13, 2023 by SoonerLS