Here's what I ended up with, for those interested. 1992 International 4000 ambulance body with a all-mechanical DTA360/Allison 545. Same combo as in a lot of Bluebird schoolbuses. Bought in Miami, rust free 110,000 miles.
Only got a disappointing 10 mpg on the 1500 mile ride home, but they were trouble-free. Runs great! Never saw temps over 180 for water or tranny. Oh, has 4-wheel disc brakes too!
I'm doing the PMs on it now. So far found 6 filters to change: two oil, two fuel, one coolant, one external tranny. The air has life left yet, and I'll get to the in-pan tranny filter when I can afford the 4 gallons of fluid.
Anyone think it's worthwhile to go synthetic oil and/or tranny with this beast? (I used Delo 15w/40 already). I'm new to diesel so any advice appreciated.
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