Allison 2000 for AT545 swap

[dave diamond]

Mine is not a wanderlodge. I have a 30' bluebird front engined
schoolbus shell bought new and immediately converted to a motorhome
by a bus converter. It is a 1999 model with the Cummins ISB 5.9
engine. I bought it from the original owner summer before last. it
had only 18K miles on it when i got it.
dave diamond


--- In WanderlodgeForum@yahoogroups.com, "Dorn Hetzel"
wrote:
>
> What flavor bluebird did you put this on?
>
> Dorn Hetzel
> 77FC35
> Hogansville, GA
>
> On Fri, Mar 28, 2008 at 11:26 AM, dave diamond
wrote:
>
> > A couple of folks have asked so:
> > Following up on an old thread i have my trans working well now.
> > took it for a short 100 mile round trip the other day and i think
it
> > is going to be everything i wanted it to be. My main concern was
> > reducing noise ( my cummins is in the front) it has done that very
> > well. the engine noise at 65 mph (about 1800 rpm versus previous
> > 2500) is no longer an irritation for me. My next most important
> > objective was to get a stronger transmission that would handle
more
> > than the 240HP that the at545 is rated for, the 2000 is rated for
> > 300HP. In addition, it looks like my fuel mileage will be at least
> > 10% better, i think i can get 15% increase with a little more
> > tweaking and a little more experience. i know that the locking
> > torque converter will give me better engine braking for mountains
but
> > don't know how much better until i get a chance to take a trip
> > there. I love the way my bus shifts and drives now. very glad i
did
> > this and i highly recommend it.
> >
> > the mechanical part of the installation was very simple. the 2000
is
> > only . 75 inch longer than the at 540 series so most likely you
will
> > have enough travel in your slip joint to accomodate it. i have a 3
> > piece drive shaft with 2 carrier bearings. the carrier bearing
> > brackets were slotted but i had to lengthen those slots by .75
inch.
> > I removed the flexplate adapter ring from my at545 and bolted it
to
> > the torque converter of the 2000 and it fit both there and to the
> > flexplate on the engine with no modification required. Now it was
> > time to jerk out the old one and bolt in the new one.
> >
> > my parking brake is on the rear of my transmission. i was able to
re-
> > use it but the fulcrum for the activating lever on the 2000 is
built
> > into the tailshaft at the 3 o,clock position instead of 12
o'clock on
> > the at540 series. you will need to buy or build some new
bracketry.
> > ordered 2 brackets from bluebird for a total of $28 and was able
to
> > re-use everything else. I also bought a dipstick and tube from
blue-
> > bird ($70)
> >
> > I built a very simple bracket for my transmission shift cable
clamp
> > out of a short piece of 1.25" square tubing and 1.5" angle. i
bolted
> > that bracket to the 2 frontmost bolts on the pto cover plate. i
> > bought a clevis from a local hardware store and cut off one side
and
> > put it on the end of the trans shift cable rod and used this to
> > connect to the existing shift arm on the 2000. This clevis must
have
> > 1/4X28 threads (1/4" fine threads)I. had previously tried to just
> > use the arm off my at545 but found that the connecting hole in the
> > at545 arm was too far from the fulcrum and kept me from having
enough
> > travel to get both park and 1st gear. I drilled a new hole closer
> > to the fulcrum but still couldn't get it to adjust correctly, by
the
> > way, if you try to drill the old arm you will have to heat it to
> > take out the temper before you can drill a hole in it. the 2000
arm
> > has a shorter throw so less travel is required at the selector to
get
> > all gears selected.
> >
> > that is about all that is required mechanically for the swap
assuming
> > you buy a used trans that has the correct converter housing. for
my
> > 5.9 cummins i needed the sae3 housing and mine came with the sae2
> > housing even though i was assured twice that it had the sae3. i
> > bought a used housing and all the gaskets and o-rings i needed
from
> > TKTsales.com for less than $200 and i shopped around until i
found an
> > allison transmission repair specialist that did the labor and
checked
> > their work on a dynamometer for $200. the salvage yard that sold
me
> > the trans agreed to reimburse for changing out the housing, so
this
> > was all at their expense.
> >
> > Since my trans is a model 2400, it has a parking pawl so i spent
an
> > additional $200 at bluebird on a shift selector with the park
> > position to take advantage of this feature. My old shift selector
> > did not have a park position on it.
> >
> > i contracted with TKTsales.com for a Transmission Control Module
with
> > the appropriate programming and the wiring harnesses for the
> > transmission and a J1939 data harness to allow engine and
> > transmission to communicate. Ted at TKTsales also provided loads
of
> > advice (he is an allison dealer). If you have an older non-
> > electronic engine, you would not need the data harness but you
would
> > probably need to buy a throttle position sensor (about $300) to
> > communicate with your transmission control module. You will have
to
> > negotiate the price of the control module, programming, wiring
> > harness, etc. with Ted.
> >
> > If you have an electronic engine, you will need to get a couple of
> > parameters changed in the computer for it. In my case, i only
> > needed to change 2 parameters. Changed top gear ratio from 1.00
> > to .74 and next gear down to 1.00. I took my ECM off and took it
to
> > a diesel engine shop and they made the parameter changes for $45.
> > The nearest Cummins dealer said they would charge me a minimum of
> > $225 to do this.
> >
> > I paid $1600 for my used transmission delivered and the total cost
> > of the swap was less than $2800. This was about twice the price
of a
> > differential gear change and much better in my opinion as i still
> > have my old gears for mountain climbing and i have the overdrive
that
> > will allow me to go 80MPH if i want plus i have a locking torque
> > converter for better engine braking and i have a trans that is
rated
> > for more power. I also have a very lightly used AT545 with 42K
miles
> > on it that i will eventually sell to recoup some of this
> > cost. .before i started i asked for quotes on a turnkey swap and
was
> > quoted $12-15K.
> > dave diamond
> >
> >
> >
>