I'm with Richard on this one, teach her to drive what you've got first - she might like it.
My wife already drives a BMW Z3 stickshift car, has for years and loves it. She picked up double clutching our 4104 with 4 speed spicer with no problems and she enjoys it. She's not wild about the size of the beast in town, but holding the wheel banging easy miles down the highway is no problem for her.
Start her out in a stickshift car, let her get the hang of that, and the bus isn't that different (at least not the drivetrain part). If there's a problem, bring her to Ohio and we'll put her in my diesel Mercedes sedan with 4 speed stick, and I'll have her doing fine in 1 hour, guaranteed.
Some people, especially women I think, have a phobia about "I'm gonna kill the clutch" (no you won't - at least not in 1 afternoon), "I'm gonna stall it" (what if you do?), "Dad-Hubby-Bro will yell at me" (he'd better not). I've taught dozens of people to drive stick. Any reasonably intelligent person can do it.
Step 1; draw a simple diagram with a motor, a clutch, a gearbox, and a couple of wheels - then explain just what the clutch is, what it does, and why she has to push the pedal. That solves half the problem right there. Without that simple little bit of understanding, the clutch is just some magic pedal that you have to push for some reason. Then go to a big parking lot and practice - offering calm, patient instruction and encouragement. Piece of cake.
It's your bus, and if you want to put a "slushpump" in it, that's your business. I'd really love to see you let her try it first though. Spend that money on a nice diesel genny instead.
Let us know what you decide, good luck, thanks.
Casper4104
(now where's FF to weigh in on this?).
