Projects 1947 Flxible Clipper build

Firstly, took me a while to figure out where to put this thread but hopefully I've found the right part of the forum!

I found this bus in the California desert (29Palms) just before it was going to be hauled off to the crusher.

This is my first project so perhaps I should have started with something a little smaller

The bus has been stood for about 40 years I think but is relatively rust free. It was changed to an RV in '68/ 69 when it came out of service and spent all of it's working life as a tourist bus around the National Parks so hasn't had a hard life at all.

 

The Detroit Diesel was in pretty bad shape but was salvageable. All of the cooling system, brakes, fuel lines and almost everything else for that matter has either been replaced or rebuilt.

 

The bus is now sandblasted, stripped and is ready for the first coat of primer.

 

Found a few Bondo repairs so they have been cut out and replaced with metal

Thankfully, I'm not doing the bodywork myself. Far too much work involved

 

Bodywork was in great shape for the age of this bus. Probably down to the California desert climate

 

Nice but talk about huge round butt. lol One of her best features.

 

NICE!!

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I used to ride one of these things to and from school everyday in the 60's.
I'll never forget the sound or the look of that thing pulling away from me on the side of the road after school...
It was two tone blue and white with "go acadian" scripted on the back.

I remember the tail lights in ours having arrows painted in them...

Great Find!
And it looks like someone did a really nice conversion on the interior

 

30 years ago a fellow from Lubbock rolled into Brownwood State Park at the top of the Hill Country in Texas driving a motor home converted Flxible with classic blue paint and white pontoon fenders painted down the sides pulling a Jon Boat on a small boat trialer behind it. A very impressive and functional sled with a modern diesel drivetrain and he told me it was just pure fun getting i down the road, kids and all.
From the smaller ones to the bog over the road rigs the Flxibles are beauties and just fun to see. Love it.

 

You have my admiration and envy!......Love those Clippers !!

Is that a conversion to diesel ?.......I thought, perhaps mistakenly, that all these were gas jobs.

 

In 47 they all had Buick straight 8s, a few years later 4-71 Detroit diesels became available.

 

Steve's correct, originally a Buick but converted in the '50's to a Detroit Diesel. There are still one or two Flx's with the original 8's but not many. Would go for a modern power unit and trans if funds were available but I'm just about keeping my head above water with what I have.

 

We had these clippers delivered here in Australia also. They were fitted with a variety of engines. GM6V53 , Magirus Duetz, and also Leyland and Cummins engines apparently.

I still remember them. As a kid Ansett Pioneer conducted tours in our area as a tourist destination and remember those screaming Jimmys winding up as they rounded the turn-off near our home.

For me there is nothing more nostalgic when it comes to road transports to hear a screaming Jimmy. Go through it , sort it out and make it live and breath , and scream again.

A friend of mine hot rodded one of these a few years ago . He put a 454 Big Block Chev in it with Allison Auto . A 5 speeder I think from memory. It runs on straight LPG. Gets along very nicely. I have some pics somewhere I will have to scan them and post them . You may find them useful.

 

A large and very cool project!
Just curious, are you in the UK and did you ship it from the states?
Unless there is another 29 Palms in the UK.

 

Cool project , I had an Ansair Flx a few years ago , it had the Leyland 425 diesel in it . But it was really rusty eh.
I cut the roof and raised it about a foot , for better head room. Made it look like a "starliner" LOL .

Keep us updated please.

 

hate to have to block sand that bitch. wow. Good save though. That is one hell of a grocery getter.

 

Very, very cool. Nice save.

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Just a note to you guys in Oz and NZ, I don't think Flxible exported these buses, (except for Canada and a very few that went to Israel) those that were down there were built by Ansair under license to Flxible.

 

That looks like a very nice bus. Great job so far. Must have been difficult driving that from California to the UK!
I think I may own it's baby.

 

Glad to see another Flxible owner on The HAMB. I have a 1963 Flxible Starliner that I'm having restored. My interior is being done before the paint... can't wait to get to that stage.

Details of my project at CreativeCruiser.com or Facebook.com/creativecruiser

What are your plans for the interior? Who will do it and what's your vision for that part?

 

I have a 46, did a photoshop of what I want to do with it.

 

Hi Ben, I've taken a lot of inspiration from your project and commented a few times (Kerry Malseed). Hope you don't mind but I've also taken a few of your great mods and hope to incorporate them into my bus.

The bus is having primer applied and then the inside is being re-fitted. I'm keeping the exterior paint design as it was when I bought it but changing the main colour slightly and going for GM Nassau Blue (corvette).

 

I'm in the UK Fedman. I bought the bus unseen and I've never actually seen the bus in the flesh yet. If I pay for a flight to the USA then that's less money to spend on the restoration and money is incredibly tight at the moment. I've taken a second job and work casual weekends to try and fund this project.

I blame Ben (1963 Starliner - Creative Cruiser). His blog on restoring his Flx got me hooked on the make and when I saw my '47 being advertised and found out that the only bid submitted was from a scrap metal dealer wanting to crush the bus, I did what nobody should ever do and handed over my money with only a scan of a title deed and some photographs to show that the thing actually existed. It could have been some scam artist from Nigeria for all I knew

 

The shop where my bus is being restored ship 90% of the Flxibles they work on to customers in Oz and NZ. Apparently the high cost of living make buses far more valuable over there. They convert most to right hand drive before they are shipped. I plan on keeping my bus left hand drive, using it in the UK for a few years then maybe ship it back to the USA and donate it to a museum - Don't feel it's right to take the bus away from the USA permanently.

 

Very cool bus Steve. Yours looks like it has the very rare "Flxible" name plate on the front. "Loudonville, Ohio USA" is missing from under the name "Flxible" as mine is!!

 

Bingo66,
Wow, that did take some guts to do that!
Good Luck with the build, and I look forward to seeing progress Pics.

 

Great project. Magnanimous gesture.

Good luck.

 

Nice job, big old bus's with character.

 

The previous RV conversion cut a few corners so I'm having the job done right this time!

This means skinning over some of the windows where appliances, cupboards and the shower are located. The previous owner just placed reflective film over the window so you couldn't see in

 

Wow, awesome build! Will be watching.

It's amazing that someone would crush that. Humans.