Offshoreonly.com - Floating School bus

It was a very cool show. The bus was *****en. Did anyone see how he was steering it? They made one quick mention of a rudder system; but I never saw anything. They attached a prop shaft to the drive shaft of the bus with a motorcycle chain and sprockets... pretty slick idea. I think he could have turned A LOT more prop. That thing had a 351C in it.

I liked the V-Dub air boat last week too.

From the Discover Channel Website:

VEHICLE SPECS

Engine: 351 Cleveland V-8 Ford stock
Pistons: Ford stock
Camshaft: Ford stock
Heads: Ford stock
Induction: Ford stock
Ignition: Ford stock
Exhaust: Ford stock
Cooling: Ford stock

Transmission: C-6 Ford stock
Converter: Ford stock
Drive Shaft: Ford stock
Rear Axle: Ford stock

Steering: power
Front Suspension: coil springs
Rear Suspension: leaf springs
Brakes: hydraulics: front disc, rear drums

Tires: Toyo Tires Proxes S/T 285/60/17
Wheels: 17-inch KMC Madness

Interior: Ford stock
Electronics: Ford stock

Body: 20-passenger school bus
Paint: chrome yellow base covered with sunshine pearl and coated with ice pearl

Height: 7 feet 10 inches
Height With Parts Extended: 7 feet 10 inches
Width: 7 feet
Width With Parts Extended: 13 feet 4 inches
Length: 24 feet
Length With Parts Extended: 26 feet with front pontoon attached
Ground Clearance: 2 inches
Weight: 14,150 pounds (7 tons)

MONSTER SPECS

Moving Parts: four actuators that lift each pontoon off the bus
* an internal winch system that uses pulleys and steel cable to lower each pontoon down to the side of the bus once it is lifted
* a propeller attached to a propeller shaft under the bus (also includes a motorcycle sprocket)
* a sprocket welded onto the drive shaft; a motorcycle chain connects the drive shaft and the propeller shaft so that the propeller is powered by the bus accelerator
Special Welds: Jesse laid a beautiful weld on the motorcycle sprocket so that it would fit to the propeller shaft; also, square tubing was welded into the bus to create a stronger internal structure and steel sheeting was welded onto the structure of the bus.
Additional Acquired or Machined Parts: includes foam to fill the pontoons, propeller, winches, pulleys and metal wire
Body Modifications: gutting the inside of the passenger compartment and cutting it in half, as well as creating an additional pontoon for the front of the bus to keep the engine from submerging
Biggest Challenges: devising a mechanism to raise and lower the pontoons

TRANSITION TECHNIQUE:

In August 2002 Jesse James and his crew of monster mechanics took on their biggest challenge to date: transforming a 20-passenger school bus into a beastly pontoon boat. With a custom-boat builder, a bus technician, an engineer, a fabricator and an artist on board, this eclectic team brought both skills and drama to building of this monstrosity. Well, and intense stress, given the Grim Ripper mission failure that still looms large over the garage. Imagine how you'd feel making a mistake during a mission now.

Pontoon boats are flat-bottomed; their design is similar to that of a fishing tackle box. So to begin the team cut the bus passenger roof down the middle, made piano hinges so the roof could swing down on both sides and rigged a winch and pulley system that operates the raising and lowering of the pontoons. They also connected the drive shaft and the propeller shaft so that the propeller is powered by the bus accelerator, and added a pontoon at the front of the bus to keep the engine from swamping. And, violà. Pontoon boat.

According to Jesse, this build used more metal than any of the previous builds combined, not to mention the additional 3,000 pound of foam added for flotation. Working all night before the final build day, the team tested the 14,100-pound pontoon bus in the Long Beach marina. It floated.

Ah, the sweet smell of success.