1973 Crown Coach SuperCoach - Cummins - 5 Speed - Texas RV Title

Description

I originally purchased this bus to convert into an RV.  I wanted a vehicle that had good clearance, with easy parts availability, a very reliable engine that got as good of fuel economy as you can expect from a heavy vehicle.  The Crown Supercoach is that vehicle.  The mid-engine presents some storage challenges under the bus, but putting the bathroom in the back largely solves those.  There is also ample space right behind the front axle.  The vehicle is very stable and has plenty of power.  It will do 75 mph and cruises nicely at 70mph.
-1973 Crown SuperCoach Bus Shell
-Cummins NH855 6 cylinder diesel
-5 Speed Eaton "Road Ranger" Transmission
-Clear Texas RV Title - titled at 19,880 pounds. GVWR is 32,600 with 12K front and 22K rear axle ratings.
- 232" wheelbase and 250HP rating on the vehicle data plate.
-Tires and rims are 2 years old and were new at install in 2019.  They have ~1,000 miles on them.
-Kohler Generator
-Has a heavy duty hitch installed on back.  The vehicle frame ends at the rear axle, so a structural hitch has to be installed on these.  This one already has that.
I've dolly towed with it before and got 10MPG dragging a  Ford Escape Hybrid suv behind it.  Hardly knew the SUV was back there.
-Crown emblems were removed for storage and are included.
The following work was done 2 years ago:
New Clutch and upgraded standard input shaft  (performed by a truck shop)
New Power Steering Hoses
New Water Pump
New belts for everything but fan
Oil / filters changed (Shell Rotella 15W-40)
Rebuilt starter
New batteries
LED Head lights and most of the marker lights are LED.  Brighter and maintenance free.
Interior Dimensions:
Height: 74.5" in the center, 62" from window seam to floor at the edge.
Distance from behind driver seat to rear is approximately 30.1 feet.
Known Issues:
- Glass missing from lower part of door, covered with plywood
- Start contact inoperative in key switch, so needs to be started with button at the engine.  Needs to either be converted to push button start or a heavy duty key switch located.
- Soft spot in floor by rear emergency door.
- Dent in rear cargo style doors, right door hard to open, but does open.
- Kohler generator condition is unknown.  I've never run it.  Planned on replacing it with a small diesel.
- There are a couple of cracked windows and a couple windows that stick.  During a conversion some windows will wind up not being used or covered over and I figured these would be the parts source for repairing the other windows.
- Passenger wiper arm assembly has a busted spring.  It's not sold separately so you need to track down the whole arm or buy a new one.  :(  It's an old-school heavy truck part.  It's a stupid spring that rusted out and broke.
Advantages of a Crown SuperCoach:
Crown Bus was based in Los Angeles and hand-crafted their buses.  They provided an unheard of 100K mile warranty on them.  The skin is aluminum, the frame is high strength steel.  The running gear is off the shelf heavy-truck.  Any competent truck mechanic can work on it and any NAPA, O'Reilly, or Truck Parts counter has anything you need.  Very low unobtanium content on these buses.  The radiator, engine oil pan, and exhaust manifold are Crown specific.  Everything else is an off the shelf part.
Amazing engine access from all sides.  They have been jokingly referred to as a hybrid Logging Truck and School Bus.
At one point I carried full coverage on the bus.  I currently only have liability as I have not had time to use it or work on it.  I had zero issues getting insurance on it with a major carrier who refuses to insure Skoolies or BlueBird vehicles.
This one is ready to be converted.  I pressure washed the outside and the school bus yellow was not properly adhered so it came off.  The current color is brown aluminum primer.  It needs to be re-primed and painted.  There is some minor rust that should be treated and primed prior to painting.
Crown SuperCoaches are being crushed in California where they are most common.  The California Air Resource Board (Air Police) are giving districts 0K to crush these buses, so there aren't many left.  School Districts ran them reliably for decades.  At one point this one belonged to Ventura Unified School District and was bus number 20.  It was sold as surplus and used to move motorcycles to Tennessee for a few trips and then it sat for a number of years.  I purchased it with the intent to convert it and put a lot of time and money into getting it road worthy.  I drove it from Central Tennessee to Houston, Texas only stopping for food, fuel, and hotel stays with zero issues.
My plans have changed and I have decided to not proceed with the conversion.  The buyer has the option of two additional items with this coach.  First is an all-in-one washer/dryer that is venting.  I bought it with the intent to install it and have never done more than take it out of the box.  Second is a tow-dolly for a front wheel drive car or small SUV (Escape or similar).  These are not included in the sale, nor will they be bundled.  They are available separately and if the buyer does not want them they will be sold.  The dolly in particular would make logistics very easy for someone to drive in and drive home.
Things I think should be done but have not gotten around to:
- Remove the interior ceiling to insulate and re-do a couple of roof rivets that popped loose allowing water to get in during heavy rains.  This is what caused the back floor to deteriorate by the back door, I think.  There may be other ways to do this, but this is what makes the most sense to me.
- Remove and rebuild (or replace) the power steering gearbox.  It has a small leak and the steering wheel has more play than I like.  It's fully driveable, but it is not tight like a car.  I don't think this is an expensive project.
- Replace the fan belt.  It's something of an adventure to get out.  I replaced all the other belts and at the time I couldn't figure out what the belt was or where to get one and this one was serviceable so it stayed.
- Flush the coolant system and refill with fresh coolant.  The OAT cannister is fresh.
- Convert to non-cartridge oil filter system that is easier to change.
I think a basic conversion is a k to K project done right.
NOTES:
If you have questions please ask prior to making an offer to purchase.
Thank you for reading my listing.
Once you agree on a purchase price you can make arrangements to pick it up.  If it's not what you think or you change your mind that's fine.  Just cancel the purchase.  I'd rather sell it to the right person who understands the vehicle and this is what they are looking for.
There are some YouTube videos I posted to my channel that showed most of the work I did.... search for Rescuing a Crown.
Why did I change my mind?  That's probably the #1 question.  Net of it is that I don't think I'll get enough use out of it, I think the carrying cost of a bus is too high, and I think dealing with a towable vehicle is a constant headache for me.  I have to drive a truck for my current job.  There are no front wheel drive trucks I'd be caught driving.  It's a couple thousand dollars to modify a rear wheel or four wheel drive truck to flat tow.  So that's the tow-able headache.  I think optimistically I'll get a couple of weeks a year out of a RV of any kind.  Carrying costs..... RV registration in Texas has gotten stupid expensive. (Close to 0/yr), Tires are good for 7 years, You need a couple different forms of heavy duty roadside assistance for the inevitable incident where you need help.  Repairs are expensive no matter what and with a 48 year old vehicle repairs are sometimes needed despite your best efforts.  This vehicle is better than something like a Prevost or GMC in that a truck shop can work on this.  It's a heavy truck power train.
I decided that a Cargo Trailer Conversion made more sense for me.  I'm not full-timing and I can tow it behind any vehicle I own with a hitch and the right tow capacity.
It's taken me a few months to get around to listing the coach for sale.  If it sells, great.  If not, maybe I'll revisit my RV conversion plans.
Additional Notes 5 Aug 2021:
1. I'm not getting notifications about messages on this listing.  So please be patient if you message me.  I will respond as soon as I see the message.
2. There is a Facebook group called Crown Coach Junkies that is a wealth of expertise and information.  You may wish to join that and ask questions about Crown coaches in general.  Especially when it comes to heavy duty towing.
3. The overall length is 35 feet.  The width is 7 feet inside and 7.5 feet externally (approximate) and the inside height is 6 feet inside in the center.  I'm 5'11" and have no issues hitting my head walking around.  Overall height is about 10 feet if I remember correctly.  Useable length inside is approx 30 feet depending on how you deal with the back of the bus.
4. I had planned on putting the bathroom in the back because it made the plumbing really simple with tanks in the storage area underneath and still allowed the emergency exit to be useable.  That was going to put the bed in the middle and a kitchen and lounge up front.  In my previous RV's I tend to either work at the dinette/table or watch TV in bed.... so a living room wasn't important to me.  Besides, it's a camper.... get outside!  It's important that your design keep the hatches accessible.  If something breaks you will need them.
5. Crown offered several engines... Detroit Diesel 6-71, Scott Hall gassers (3mpg downhill), and Cummins.  Cummins was a NH250 which is hard to get parts for, the NH 855 which is a very common heavy truck engine.  It came in the small cam (this one), big cam and turbo/non-turbo versions.  Each school district specified what they wanted and that's what Crown built for them in Los Angeles.
6. It is an air brake vehicle.  As with all vintage vehicles you should a thorough pre-trip, drive conservatively, and perform regular maintenance.  When I drove the vehicle back to Texas from Tennessee I had no issues with the brakes.  Tennessee has a few hills in it and East Texas does too.
7. The transmission is an Eaton 5 speed.  This is a heavy duty truck transmission.  When we replaced the clutch we changed the input shaft to a standard size.  It was a slightly smaller size which is harder to get and harder to get a clutch disc for.  The input shaft was damaged when we did the clutch work.  A truck shop did the clutch work.
8. Crown was not big enough to roll their own on the running gear, so the axles, brakes, etc are off the shelf class-8 truck parts.   The Facebook group I mentioned in #2 has a files section with parts manual resources.  Part of the reason I bought this bus in the first place was because it used off the shelf truck parts that I can get in any city in America.  No custom crap that isn't made anymore.  That makes it economical and possible for me as a private owner to keep it on the road without needing a 1%'rs budget.  :)
9.  This bus is a spring suspension.  That is rougher than air-ride, but not much goes wrong with springs.  Regardless of what you have in the coach you need to strap it down when traveling or it will move around while you are driving.  When you are parked it's a non-issue.  RV's spend the majority of their time parked.  Old coaches tend to have small air-leaks which means your air suspension will deflate when you are parked.  This is a pain in the tail and part of the reason I decided I could live with springs.  I've had two buses with air suspension in the past.
10.  It is titled at 19,880 pounds.  If you title it in another state you will need to re-weigh it as part of the title process.