school bus donor engine and harness
 

Recently seen a school bus with a 8.1l vortec l18 and it got me thinking as the wiring harness seemed much trimmer and simpler than the ones found in pickups and suvs. I didn't have alot of time to look over the bus so I might be missing something. My searches come up empty other than old school buses are cheap.

So would a school bus or workhorse chassis 6.0L or 8.1L make a good donor wiring harness for a swap into an old truck?

How used and abused are these engines even with low miles I assume they probably have a gazillion hours?

In reading about dirty larrys 8.1 swaps it seems the workhorse style ac and alternator brackets are desirable.

Thanks
Ol-blacky

Re: school bus donor engine and harness
 

The 8.1s aren't the hot ticket for building big horsepower but they're a torquey motor that'll run reliably forever. It might already be half way there, but if you can get a compression/leakdown test you'd know for sure what kind of condition you're in.

I'd grab the 8.1L complete with its harness and computer (and trans!) and run it all as a factory unit. It would be deluxe.

Re: school bus donor engine and harness
 

These engines are found in all sorts of trucks..My LQ4 was in a wrecked Isuzu box truck. It came with an Fbody oil pan and fbody manifolds.

Re: school bus donor engine and harness
 

Ok the bus wasn't for sale it was just what got my hamster wheel turning. I may have to wander through the bigger truck section @ the pick and pull next trip to see how feasable it would be.