AmboVan Restarted

[hobietony]

What a difference a week makes...

Tax weekend, I had concerns that my glow plugs were going to be up to the task. This weekend here in Tucson, we just about tickled 100 degrees. Perfect day for etcatmeat to drive out from Cali to pluck the leveling hydraulics from the doner van.

He is under there somewhere in the weeds. Luckily, I think the feral cats have just been pissing in the vehicle, and not under it

Tried to make it a little better with some shade...

In two hours he had it all packed away, and ready to hit the road again. Hope you made it home safe, Marcus. Looking forward to see how these get mounted to your MonsterRV

 

[Balzer]

This has to be the coolest ambo ever well done sir!

 

[etcatmeat]

................................

In two hours he had it all packed away, and ready to hit the road again. Hope you made it home safe, Marcus. Looking forward to see how these get mounted to your MonsterRV
[/IMG]

I made it! Drove straight through no stops! Will post pics soon, just need to figure out bracketry! And after talking with you yesterday about naming....I chose an official name----> presenting, "4XHome"

 

[Hoosier Daddy]

Busted. Sometimes I just work on it, without the audience in mind. My bad!

They are from here - http://www.hoodlouvers.com/ - They charge a pretty stupid price for a piece of aluminum with some louvers punched in them, but who has a louver press?

Here's another source for hood vents, I've used these on race cars before.
http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Hood-Louvers-p-1-c-1556.html

...and my Dad has a louver press... I know, I know, but seriously. He does hot rod hoods and stuff on it. I thought about getting an older metal hood and punching it. Or doing these vents on my van. Sorry to sideline, nice build.

 

[hobietony]

Here's another source for hood vents, I've used these on race cars before.
http://www.polyperformance.com/shop/Hood-Louvers-p-1-c-1556.html

...and my Dad has a louver press... I know, I know, but seriously. He does hot rod hoods and stuff on it. I thought about getting an older metal hood and punching it. Or doing these vents on my van. Sorry to sideline, nice build.

Well, that is a much more appropriate price point. Too late for me, but good find

 

[hobietony]

Updated my For Sale thread:

http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/75343-Parting-out-99-Minnie-Winnie-DL

Ready to start plucking body parts, and other trim/chassis parts. Check it out!

 

[hobietony]

Off to Mexico

First trip pulling the boat - Yes, I got on the roof to take a picture for my internet friends, taking time out from getting on the road tonight.

Little project last weekend to protect that little boat, flaps with quick release attachment.

More next week, y'all have a good weekend!

 

[Erik N]

Cool rig! Did you find the Grim Reaper while you were dismantling it? Cause he's in there somewhere!

 

[VanIsle_Greg]

Love this Van...bulance. Vanbulance, has a nice ring!

 

[Funrover]

So cool!

 

[CodyY]

any updates?

 

[bobDog]

First trip pulling the boat - Yes, I got on the roof to take a picture for my internet friends, taking time out from getting on the road tonight.

Little project last weekend to protect that little boat, flaps with quick release attachment.

More next week, y'all have a good weekend!

Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[notmiller]

Nice mudflaps! They look great! Where did you get the actual mudflap?

 

[hobietony]

any updates?

Picked up a virus that killed my computer, so haven't been able to load any pictures from the mexico trip, or anything else since then. Had that trip to Rocky Point early May, two weeks later the expo trip, and heading out to San Diego this weekend for another regatta. Should have updates, with pictures, next week. Now that we are using it a bit, I have been working on the things that annoyed me during use - Back door didn't close right, pulled off the door cover, and of course no insulation, etc.

I'm also backtracking a bit and trying to address noise/vibration issues - Got some peel and stick bituthene membrane (poor man version of dynamat, used for ice and water membrane on roofs), and am installing it anyplace I have aluminum diamond plate screw to a substrate - makes a big difference, and is about $90 for a 200sf roll

Should be picking up the finished topper early next week too, the guy I took it to is doing a great job - We needed his 11yo son to help translate to get the deal done, but he is the right guy - Price high enough that I had confidence that he will get the job done, but still way lower than I expected. Got a great bid for painting the whole van as well.

So what do the networks do when there is no new content to broadcast? Reruns! Got a few pics below of the build of the topper that will be going on in the next month or so...

Plywood skeleton

1/8" baltic birch skin, tacked and epoxied to the frame

Flipped over for the inside work

Mounting flange - 1/8" bent steel plate, sandwiched in the frame with epoxy and mechanical pasteners

Insulation

Epoxying in the inside skin

Starting bondo for glass prep

Glass on the lower lip before I flip it

Flipped back over, bondo for glass prep

Wanted a bit more help in keeping the top in plane, and a little extra strength wont hurt - 16 gage 1x2 tied into the mounting flanges. A trivial amount of extra weight, much better fairing, and it just makes me feel better

 

[hobietony]

Reruns Continued...

Glass on the top

And now, the crappy part - Bondo

After this point, Christmas 2010, I actually got the van back from North Carolina, and it became a lot more fun to work on something else. Lets see, welding and fabrication, or sanding bondo? So it sat, and became a bit of a garage fixture. I'm finally at the point where I can get the hole cut in the top, and of course, the topper has to be done for that. So, punt! Off to the body guy, I'm more than happy to have somebody else finish this part

update photos soon