Legacy Builds: Phantom Bus

I have a Bus

And

What a bus it is…

Some of you know this.

Built on a TV Show, Radical Academy: What Would Mike Do, on Fox Sports South Nationwide, here is picture of what we built live on that Tv Show.

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Designed to be pushed down the road by a really Radical Wide Tired Drag Racing-Pro Street Style Motorcycle.

The motorcycle is mounted in the back of the bus and is hooked up to conventional automobile controls in the front where we sit.

The hoot of all of it is me and Angela my wife would drive the bus to Myrtle Beach where I would park it and she hits the pool and after unhooking it, I Ride All Week, Woo Hoo!

The idea to build this machine came about by being stuck in a motel/ice storm, in Conway Arkansas for 3 days, where I figured I was about to design a car that was “carrying around” a perfectly good powertrain in that motorcycle…

Hmmm, I thought…

If I just let the rear tire down on that motorcycle, I bet it would “push” that bus.

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Well, I’m going to. “make it do it.”

Re-geared for the job and mounted on a Variable Traction, Pressure Frame,

This frame is attached to the motorcycle, which in turn has a bunch of quick clamps that hold the bike.

This Traction Frame is made so I can take the bike in and out very easily.

The idea behind It all was to showcase the talent and abilities of 10 hand chosen guys from the local Technology Center,

We thought we would see if they could get some good job offers once the show was on Tv

Plus they would get to be part of an actual Legacy Build,

Something Radical Enough that will be “remembered” after all the hard work.

So, together with a production crew and these 10 guys, we built this thing.

Remember this tho:

I tell you would be fabricators right now, it’s easier to build from nothing

Than it is to modify an existing thing. (2X the work)

And if you “chose” to modify, instead of building from “scratch”

It’s “just” a modified existing thing after all the harder work.

Most cars have paint undercoat and the steel is just junk to work. Let alone getting it clean enough to weld, not even mentioning rust or previous collision damage you might find…

Yep, scratch built Phantom Bus is what we got here…

And it’s a bad looking machine.

Powered by a S&S 113″ motor with 120 hp. And a lot more torque, it Will Do The Job Quite Nicely, And a Lot Better than the 36 hp the original bus had.

Only 5 square feet of sheetmetal from the car was used, (the front from an original ’58.)

So now for the last few weeks Matt and I have been working this thing up for the big unveil.

So, updates are coming,

Stay tuned.

Mike

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The picture above is our air scoops for the bike.

They are open while driving, to cool the bike.

They close flush with the body when parked.

Another feature is built in…details later.

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