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I don’t know the exact costs because they will be based on pricing on the date of purchase. But for discussion purposes I would guess I can get my air bags for $1500, my Norgrens for $800, and I might replace a couple hundred brass fittings for another $800. I may be off $500 or so, and I have not included brake chambers or relay valves which can add another $1000 or so.

My new manifolds and valves to add to the Prevost side may run a few hundred more depending on how complex I want to make things, especially creating some additional “key-off” circuits. What I will be doing in terms of labor is at the very least 40 to 50 hours of work, probably more because as I work on a given system or circuit I usually do other things while I have stuff apart, like touch up painting or bench testing some stuff before I install it. For example it is far easier to identify a leak on a Norgren valve on the bench, than to chase a leak when everything is put together.

But keep in mind a couple of things. For Peter his approach is intended to provide him with the most reliability he can get because his coach is a business tool and his schedule relies on it. While he does a lot of his own work, he can easily justify spending $1000 for someone to do it for him (like Prevost) because the cost of not doing work and having a failure could potentially be significantly more expensive.

In my case I hope to obtain the same level of reliability but I have no pressure to complete the work in a given time period. The bus is my rainy day hobby. When I don’t want to work outside I can devote time to working on the bus so my parts replacement is going to be spread out over a long time period, and almost every bit of it from my pit. Owners who wish to do this work are not dealing with anything more complex than removing and replacing parts so as long as they can get safe underside access the work is easily done. I know Jeff has done what I described on numerous coaches now, so he would be the guy to quote prices, but if someone worked hard I think air bags would be 10 hours, replacing Norgrens 8 hours, replacing brake chambers 6 to 8 hours, and 10 or 15 more hours just fixing things that also need repairs. Older coaches that have been poorly maintained may take a lot longer because once moisture is in the air system all kinds of problems will surface..

And for what it is worth I have never heard of a seller telling a buyer everything was poorly maintained so unless you do a comprehensive inspection you might not know the extent of needed work.