Driving the 1974 GMC Ward school bus (April 2009)

[@patrickrichmond9896]

You were one great guy. I am happy you left this channel up for us to enjoy the vintage school buses. But I missed your nice postings.

[@jaydiesel88]

i love the sound of the bus when it goes in reverse.. reminds me of my old bus driver's 1977 international ward school bus

[@patrickrichmond9896]

I learned from a truck guy that both the reverse and 1st had a separate gear design when you compared those two with the rest of the gears in it. Back then in those days, the 1st gear was classified as a deep under and if you used it, it was the loudest gear on the bus. Many buses of the 1960s often sounded more like a late 19th century streetcar starting off if you used that gear.

[@73mrbmx]

I was that kid in grade school who hung around the school bus yard instead of the student rec room. There I learned the different coachbuilders, watched innertube replacement, tire repair, general maintenance.

[@asulca593]

i can't imagine the clutch lasting very long given the stop-n-go life of a school bus

[@nutforcub]

I enjoyed your video. I used to ride a 60's era GMC for Pajaro Valley Unified School District when i was in Kindergarten in 1969. There were 5 of them, and the back of the bus had huge lights, and it was rounded. I remember my bus driver having a piece of wood attatched with some type of brackets so she could reach it. Then, It was a 40's era Gillig for the ride home, one that had a huge fan on the back of the bus, and then All gilligs, and crowns after that. Bus 63 and 64 were GMC Ward.

[@audubon5425]

I rode a 74 GMC (Thomas body) all through elementary & middle school, it was a V6 & 3-speed with a granny. The granny was never synchronized, since most starts were made in 1st (left & down). The sound of your transmission brought back some memories!

[@edgarayalaalvis8768]

Que hermoso bus amante de los buses antiguos , saludos desde Perú 🇵🇪❤

[@ForgetfulCollector]

Cool! It seems to drive great! You ought to show a video of all the vehicles on your farm. (Tractors, Buses, Trucks, cars, etc.)

[@dixiewife47]

So cool. Brings back memories of middle school and riding the bus. thanks for sharing this

[@IDIDieselJohn]

Nice to see that old beast run good now.

[@EM6285]

I share the same passion for older school buses or classic school buses. Thanks for the video, it has brought back many memories of when I rode school buses in my teen years. I just love the sound of those old V8 GASOLINE ENGINES. I am enthusiastic about them, but here in PUERTO RICO where I am from, GAS POWERED TRUCKS AND BUSES are gettin SCRAPPED.

[@maynardcat]

Thanks for the bus ride, haven't been on a school bus in years.

[@jkalin196511]

I would love to have a Ward or Wayne from the early 70's. Those were my favorite buses when I was in jr high and sr high.

[@atargetedindividualstopthi4831]

ward and Wayne from the 70s are my favorites too! love the sound if the Allison tranny. I dream of them all the time. like an old friend. the engines today don't sound like this. I'd love to have a few in my yard like you chad! kind of like how someone has their horses- we have our buses. love you retrochad!!!!!

[@susanhaloe2467]

Me too!!

[@retrochad]

Thank you! it is running lots better with new oil and filter.

[@retrochad]

This is the 1971 Dodge Carpenter which you can see on another video I made here. The owner is trying to see if he can arrange with a trucking company to have it shipped here as it has not been driven for a while and I would prefer not to have to make a long highway drive with it.

[@coolbluelights]

Man I want a bus! that looks like so much fun to drive and play with :D

[@gajda1984]

gotta love your "chhhhevroleeet"!

[@retrochad]

I actually have the vacuum line to the booster system disconnected as I think there is a leak in the system somewhere and one time I was having a hard time getting the bus started. It is a hydrovac system which has two boosters under the bus...I will try reconnecting the vacuum line and see how the system works.

[@susanhaloe2467]

I used to ride in a Ward school bus too. There's an old horror movie called that children and it shows a nuclear accident and the kids turning into zombies. They had a old 70s Ward School Bus

[@susanhaloe2467]

I sure miss the sound of those old trannies I just I think about it all the time I think I love school buses more than people courage to realize you're the only one on the whole internet that has these old school bus sounds? I don't know how many times I've played your videos just to hear the sound of the engines again the the Allison trannies

[@retrochad]

When I first started school in 1982 most of the buses were International gas with automatics...in 1983 they went over to getting IHC diesel manual transmission models but finally went back to buying diesel automatics in the early 90's. This is a 4-speed with "granny" very low 1st gear. Around here there is no absolute policy to replace buses based on age...there are still some mid 80's International diesels in use in school districts.

[@retrochad]

This is actually a '58 Ford B-600/Wayne I believe. It will need a lot of work! It has a 292 V-8 and I filled the cylinders with Marvel mystery oil and it turned over O.K. but it has been about 6 years since I did that. I'll make sure to make a video of it sometime.

[@retrochad]

Thanks! I will try and do a video of all of the vehicles sometime.

[@retrochad]

It actually does have power steering but you can tell by the effort I have to put into turning the wheel that it is not fully functional on this bus! It does have power hydraulic brakes too but I need to repair the booster system. I really am glad to have a good place to have all of the vehicles.

[@gajda1984]

seems to run really well now. lookin forward to some vids of you IHs!

[@retrochad]

I will try and tackle the IHC's next! The GMC was always the best running bus so it was the easiest to get going first.

[@AVIBobcat08]

This video cracks me up when he grinds the gears and it wont shift into reverse

[@retrochad]

Yes this is the same way, it is the granny 1st gear. If I were driving it on the road and would be accelerating more I could start out in 2nd (which is to the left and down.) I really find the GMC V-6 interesting...saw one in a bus in a junkyard one time but never have seen one in use.

[@rickydonaldson5567]

this bus is one of kind

[@AllAmericanFiveRadio]

Great to see is running. Neat!

[@kaiyoshi2243]

y'know, I've seen this video several times and I only just now saw that old 60's Ford at the beginning. I agree, I'd love to see a video of that bus too.

[@retrochad]

It is lots of fun!

[@ihfan29]

is that an allischalmers in the background is what i ment

[@wilkes85]

Awesome bus driving footage! These things really are fun to drive. And I'm sorry but I had to laugh at that nice grind at 1:52 hehe

[@retrochad]

Thanks! I will drive it a lot more now (in the fields) that it has fresh oil in it. I just need to get the vacuum assist brake system working.

[@bisbutt]

greats vids brings be back to when i was a kid

[@retrochad]

Yes it is.

[@retrochad]

Thank you!

[@retrochad]

I actually am looking into buying a bus which has been converted into a camper...I will keep this one just as is as a historical item. Just need to repair the brake system.

[@AVIBobcat08]

it cracks me up when he grinds the gears and then he cant shift it into reverse it makes me laugh my butt off lol

[@vwestlife]

When I was growing up, almost all the school buses were gas stick-shifts, although they were mostly Internationals with a 4-speed -- is yours a 3-speed? They had the same loud gear whine in first gear and reverse. By the end of high school, the last ones were being phased out, as I think school buses can only be used for 10 or 11 years in NJ. The newer ones have since all been diesel automatics (though they did have a few diesel stick-shifts and gas automatics).

[@123demaio]

the vacuum line on the booster is probably very hard and brittle. Does the pedal fade at all ?

[@douro20]

Yeah...if I remember right, you have to let off the clutch just a little and let it slide into gear...it takes a lot of practice...

[@kevykev38]

Have any history on this bus? Like where it was used and what school? church? Thanks.

[@baritonebynight]

I would want to grab the PA and yell "sit down and shut up!!" as I drove around.

[@Brandtalones]

Hello... Do you have any grand plans? Say, a la Merry Pranksters... ? Road trip!

[@uwtitanfan]

Do you know what year this bus was taken out of service? When I rode the bus growing up, about half the buses in the district's fleet were 74 loadstar 1800's with the 9 liter diesel. A few were still in service when I graduated in 1998

[@xmvirus202]

Have you taken it over any sweet jumps? jk- great video, I spent LOTS of time on one of these...

[@gajda1984]

what kind of bus is it? looking forward to seeing it if you buy it!

[@codyication]

"If you cant find it, Grind it" That's what i say

[@stephenswift5531]

Where's the rest of the buses

[@p154831]

i rode one of these in arizona once

[@bheffley2002]

@asulca593 Small wonder today's buses all have automatic transmissions.

[@johnblessing]

Thats old school bus driving for you

[@retrochad]

No, dont think I'll try anything that daring hehe...

[@JoeSchlubb]

Is it a 4 speed?

[@ihfan29]

what kind of tractor is that

[@greatlakeswi6796]

Are the 8ways still operating?

[@corvettefunstudios]

thumbs up if you saw the D.A.R.E sticker

[@christophercrafter2609]

1:52. Oops.

[@coolbluelights]

it's a school bus

[@Stickymajorwow]

my uncle owns a 1979 gmc ward take a look at my vid and tell me what i can do to inprove the video cause you do great on your videos thanks

[@AliceC993]

Awesome! [first ^-^]