Roscoeapproved
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Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
I’m going with the Zero G.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
I break this project into 2 parts. 1) Buying and prepping the shell and 2) converting the shell into a motor coach.
I’m still working on the budget for the conversion part. I sent plans off to the cabinet maker that I used for my house reno for quotation.
Right now I am focusing on the chassis. I would like to buy a chassis, strip it, and zero it out for $40-$50K. Another 5K or so to put the double slide structure in it. I’ll be doing a lot of this work myself, so most of my cost here is for parts and materials alone.
An inframe engine rebuild is about $2800 for the kit and $2200 for a rebuilt head if it needs one. Add in another $500 for misc and that basically zeros out the engine provided the bottom end is good. A turbo is about $800 if it needs one. Injectors are $200ish each, exchange. Even though they call it an in frame, I’d probably pull the engine cradle for easier access when I do this.
My experience with DD S60 engines is that the later serial number low mileage (300K) 12.7L engines should not be in need of a complete overhaul by any means. They are probably good to 600K in coach service, which will be more miles than I plan to put on it.
I’ve heard a new 20K lb engine cradle is $1500 from Prevost.
I’m probably going to run Koryo K526 385/65R22.5 tires all round because I need more traction and floatation. Speed rating K, load rating 9910 lbs. Ply rating L. These are an all position tire, so they can be rotated. My friend runs them on his truck fleet. Purchasing through him they will cost me about $300/tire. So a set of new tires is $2400, less whatever credit I get for the existing ones. I will time out tires before I wear them out, so I’ll probably arrange a deal with my friend where I regularly buy new tires and rotate them into his fleet after a couple years.
IFS rebuild looks to be about $1000 in bushings to do everything. New shocks are about $200/piece. Not sure about the steering linkage. Probably $500 in replacement joints. Steering box should be OK as is.
CAC should be inspected for cracks and leaks. I’m a TIG welder, so I can clean that up easily enough. Sounds like the radiator should be at least cleaned.
New belts, air cleaner element, oil change, filter change. New coach batteries. Alternator might need replacing. They cost about $600 exchange.
Brake system – rebuild whatever needs rebuilding. Chase down all air leaks.
Wiring is a big unknown, but probably not a huge cost.
Update the driver’s compartment with a new seat, maybe a new steering wheel. Detail it.
Check the drive shaft. Check the rear suspension bushings. Check the rear shocks.
I’ll add a jake brake kit to the engine if it doesn’t have one. I think that costs about $1000. I’ll also swap the diff carrier for a limit slip if it doesn’t have one. A good take out carrier is $1000, less whatever I get for mine.
The big, big unknown is the transmission. Not sure what to say about it. I’ll prefer to find a coach that doesn’t have a retarder on it because I feel retarders overheat these transmissions. If I was faced with replacing a B500 I would consider swapping in an Ultrashift, which work with DDEC II and newer DDs. A good take out 10 speed Ultrashift, harness, control and clutch will run about $5K.
The slide out frame structures themselves look to take about $1500 of aluminum.
A non slide out coach frame needs to be upgraded with gussets and some plating as the factory ones are. The SS plate (1/4″) for the gussets will cost about $1000. I’ll cut these parts on my plasma table and weld them in myself.
The 2 slide outs will each need a motor, drive shaft and drive gears as well as 2 linear bearing assemblies each. Each slide will need an inner and outer seal.
We’ll need to blank out 1 window on each side of the coach. Not sure how that is done yet. We’ll want to add 3 opening windows to the coach.
I want to convert the front cap to the cat eye headlights and single piece windshields if the coach has a square headlight front cap. I’d probably leave it if it has the small round headlight cap.
I know a couple professional truck painters who will help me prep the coach and who will spray it for me. It won’t be a $50K paint job. More like a $5K paint job. But it should look pretty good when we are done.
At that point I’ll have a completely zeroed out shell ready to convert. I think I can get it done in a year.
My plan with the conversion part is to use some of the finishing trades I used in my house reno to help. I’ll do all the structure, electrical, plumbing and RV system stuff myself. I’ll purchase all the finishing materials and use trades to install the flooring, tile, stone and cabinetry. That worked well on our house reno. I see no reason why it wouldn’t work well in a coach conversion.
Timeline: 3 years. Kinda like renovating a vacation home – slow but steady.
Thoughts ?
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Jeff and Sandy,
I am sorry for your loss. We call them pets, but they are actually family. The furry members of our family provide us with unconditional love.
Reese Cantrell
07 Marathon XLII
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
I think what Rocky is talking about is in the rear on the bulkhead just fwd of the drive axle, there are two, a left and a right, Norgren 5 port/3 way spool valves, Prevost # K910058 = Norgren# K81EA00KACKAC
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Jim, there are chassis differences between the XL models and their air bag part numbers and the H3. Just be aware you might be getting correct information.
If you have the ability when you remove the existing air bags the original Prevost paper part number label might be readable, but if not the trade part number is usually molded into the rubber and you could cross reference that with the Prevost part number. The folks at Prevost parts in Elgin have always been good at providing cross reference numbers when asked.
Ad your bus info in your signature line because it helps and is easier than checking to see if the information is in the body of the post.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Back many moons ago when I still had R-12 on my 94 Liberty, I was at Prevost Jacksonville and talked to John (rip) about the conversion to 134. He said the type hoses they used for R-12 was not compatible with 134 and would eventually leak. How long will that take, who knows. It was very expensive to do the conversion. R-12 was still available then, so made no sense to change it out.
I think some have been successful with just changing out compressor, oil, evaporator and freon.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
I didn’t realize Marathon would work on a non-Marathon coach.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Mark,
Were your in-house breakers tripping or was it the breaker at the post when your battery was tripping offline?
I assume it was in-house.
Jim
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
the victron 712 battery monitor is pretty good. Pair it with a CGGX or Cerbo and its next level good. Nothing and nobody makes anything remotely close. The CGGX/Cerbo (any Victron Venus device) will store (internally and if you have a SD card – even more) – all the usage, peak, draw, etc at any given time and upload it to their VRM portal (free cloud storage and reporting). From there, you can look at the data you have at any given time. I have constant internet on in my coach – so the venus data is uploaded every few seconds. You can set alarms on when shore power is disconnected, temperature heat/cold, amperage load anything. .
But essentially its information overload, but its excellent information. Enclosed some screen shots to give you an idea.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
One more thought. With Minneapolis abolishing the police department, do you reckon that there’s any chance of speeding tickets becoming a thing of the past?
JC
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Why not just build right there
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
And who is stopping them? Other than the intellectual elite who have told us what we can say and not say because someone’s feelings may be hurt, last time I checked we all had the right to speak our minds and gather and peacefully protest.
The bigger question is why do we keep identifying each other by our differences. We are all people. Let’s accept that fact and move on.
It is not as bad as it once was, but at one time on the CB it became crystal clear a Prevost owner was a rich bastard who made his money by cheating others and we were the target of hate. It did not matter than most earned their Prevost the hard way by sacrificing and working hard, creating jobs, often helping others a lot, but that was either ignored or unknown and just because we had apparent success we were resented and disliked.
Humans sometimes aren’t too bright.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
Elaborate on your clear coat touch-up plan. Mine is starting to crackle on the top curve towards the roof. The roof needs a coating also.
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL -
I agree I love the white, It looks clean, Our last coach was a all White Foretravel U320
Jeff and Lindsay
91 Marathon XL