About Fun Fleet Bus #738
Some Specs
#738
Vin: T8H-5305A-138
Built September 1971 for Golden Gate Transit, CA
Third generation
102 inches wide/40 feet long, single door
8V71 Detroit/Allison VS-2-8 transmission
49 seats, single door, reclining seats
Background on #738
Bus #738 was purchased from a Private Bus Owner, but this bus has a lot of history after it came into my hands. I bought it from a bus company in San Francisco that had a contract with Golden Gate. Bus 738 had no power plant, no driver's seat, and missing windows; I had to have it. I towed it back to Perris, installed a power plant from an SCRTD bus, installed another driver's seat, and various windows. I updated the bus's ride to my standards
by replacing the non-factory shocks with the proper AC Delco; this brought the ride back to original, and now the bus rode supremely well...as God intended.
I sold the bus to a bus fan in New York about 20 years later. While delivering it back east, the engine failed in Palm Springs. Actually, this particular failure was a mystery. The engine would run but was leaking diesel fuel from the engine relief tubes. The bus fan never had us repair it and I bout it back.
More on Fun Fleet Bus #738
The Sale to Rapido Trains
Jason, from Rapido Trains, wanted the bus. So we took the engine from #617 and completely went over it then painted it Gray. We also ran it without a radiator, on a test stand, to be sure it was clean and free of any fluid leaks. We installed a good radiator and installed a VS-2-8 Allison transmission. During road tests, this bus was bad and mean. I drove it like a hot rod. We took it out for several test runs and it was dangerous it was so fast. We all loved it.
Go Transit: A Conversion of Sorts
After we got the bus road-tested and worked out any bugs, Rapido wanted the bus painted into the Go transit scheme and had it completely re-upholstered. We drove the bus to Frank Gonzalez of All Cities Tours in Montebello. They did a lot of movie work and had a paint booth. The bus was painted many times, with many mistakes that failed to meet Rapido's expectations, and that I personally rejected twice, so it had to go back into the paint booth several times.
Delivery Day
On the third trip to pick up #738 from the paint shop, everything checked out, except the rear bumper was dented as if they were pushing it around their yard. I attempted to drive it back to Perris - expecting the same performance we'd encountered months earlier - but within one mile of the shop the bus was overheating, much to my surprise. After a lot of frustration on the road, I eventually had the bus towed into Perris.
The Aftermath of a Failed Delivery
Our investigation of 738's sudden engine woes completely surprised me. The radiator was completely plugged up and it became clear that someone had sabotaged the engine. The saboteurs were thorough, however, because when we took the lower pan down, we found the filter screen 60-percent plugged with a grainy substance like sand. I also found that after doing a compression test, two cylinders were below acceptable. I changed out the lower two cylinders, but we had problems with rod bearings locking up a 65 lbs of torque...but would turn more freely at 55 lbs of torque. We made the bus run again but it was never as good as when I first put it together and before it went to All Cities Tours.
Other "post All Cities" issues
We also had sudden problems with 738's air shifter. Turns out the paint shop had completely plugged off the rear air valve, allowing only forward movement. Also the DD3 system came back in shambles and, after getting the bus on our pit, we noticed they had pulled the pin on the rod of the slack adjuster (an attempt to move to bus without air) and let it hang. This gave the bus only 3 usable brakes and fully explains the sudden "pull to the right on braking" we experienced just after leaving the paint shop.
In the end, Frank Gonzelez made a concession and towed the bus from Perris to New York for free. Unfortunately, it left a bad taste in the mouths of everyone involved.
Some Historical Fun Facts about this Historic Bus
On Double Floors
On Double Floors
On Double Floors
Another interesting point about this bus was the configuration of the interior. These were double floor transits to be made to look like Suburbans. The story behind these buses started in 1961 When LAMTA of Los Angeles requested all forward facing seats on buses that replaced the old RED Cars running between Los Angeles and Long Beach. GM refused, stating they already offered a suburban type well-used in New York and New Jersey service areas.
And Wide Bodies
On Double Floors
On Double Floors
LAMTA also insisted on having wide bodies, two doors, and forward-facing seats to match the Long Beach Red Cars. They needed 30 buses to run the line. GM refused. they later agreed to do this, only LAMTA would have to buy 60 buses. So they bought the 5301 transits with double floor, two doors, forward facing seats #5500-5530, stick shift and 5225-5254 which wer the same with augomatic transmissions.
Then More Orders
On Double Floors
Then More Orders
From that date forward, GM did not offer a wide body 40-foot, double floor bus with forward facing seats...until Golden Gate came pounding on their doors.
They offered GM a 121-bus order and GM agreed to make a standard transit (5305) wide body, forward facing seats, single door. This model was now on the books for sale as many other cities bought them in both 96-inch and 102-inch configurations. They were substantially lower in price from a Suburban model.