The bad habit of browsing Craigslist caught up with me and I ended up buying a 1980 E350 Quadravan ambulance 3 hours from my house. The purchase was done in the dark in pouring down rain and daylight the next day was less than flattering, but for $1800 I'm not complaining. I had a tire blow out within 20 miles of the guy's house and ended up leaving the ambulance 150 miles from home with a plan to come back the next day with a spare. The next morning, after two hours of trying in vain to change the tire I ended up calling roadside service. A burly guy with a 48" Snap On breaker bar turned one of the lugnuts a couple turns and said he'd have to come back with a bigger truck and tow me back to the shop. When he came back he had an old guy with him who casually looked at the flat tire for a minute, then said, "See if there's a letter on the end of the lugs." Turned out they're left hand threads. I literally spent two hours trying to turn them the wrong way. Boy did I feel dumb! 4 hours and a $150 shop bill down the drain, I made the last 150 miles home without incident.
It's a Pathfinder 4WD conversion with an ambulance conversion by some company I can't remember off hand. It has a 89,000 miles on a 460, C6, NP205, 4.10 gears, and some form of limited slip rear end. No lights and sirens but the 1000 watt inverter works, along with the loading lights on the side and rear.
The batteries were shot, I think caused by an overcharging alternator. The tires are dry rotted and 16.5s so I'll be swapping on a set of 16 inch wheels from an F250 when I find new tires. The rust is my biggest concern as the other stuff is routine maintenance. Most of the through the body rust is on the doors and rockers so fairly easy to fix but the B pillar and the side entry step have significant rust, too. I'll probably look for a good body I can cut up for parts and learn to do some body work. Some of the wiring was cobbled when the lights and siren were removed but most of the important stuff still works.
This was when I got it home. Looks pretty good in the dark.
I'm not sure what I want to do with this space. If I can safely secure four car seats in for the kids I'll leave it as it for now.
The seats are surprisingly comfortable so I might leave them. I kinda like the vintage interior.
Future projects might include fold down steps for the kids (4 of them age 7 and under) so I don't have to lift them in and out and a grab bar so the wife can climb in more easily. I'm toying with a few ideas for higher gearing or overdrive but that will be a while down the road, unless I win the lottery.
As far as usage, I'll use it as a tow rig to pull a car trailer and a utility trailer, and for some local camping. In the future I'll do some travelling but for now it's not in the budget.
I've always been into expedition type vehicles and have come across this forum off and on for years. It's such a great community that I'm excited to finally have an excuse to join.
It's a Pathfinder 4WD conversion with an ambulance conversion by some company I can't remember off hand. It has a 89,000 miles on a 460, C6, NP205, 4.10 gears, and some form of limited slip rear end. No lights and sirens but the 1000 watt inverter works, along with the loading lights on the side and rear.
The batteries were shot, I think caused by an overcharging alternator. The tires are dry rotted and 16.5s so I'll be swapping on a set of 16 inch wheels from an F250 when I find new tires. The rust is my biggest concern as the other stuff is routine maintenance. Most of the through the body rust is on the doors and rockers so fairly easy to fix but the B pillar and the side entry step have significant rust, too. I'll probably look for a good body I can cut up for parts and learn to do some body work. Some of the wiring was cobbled when the lights and siren were removed but most of the important stuff still works.
This was when I got it home. Looks pretty good in the dark.
I'm not sure what I want to do with this space. If I can safely secure four car seats in for the kids I'll leave it as it for now.
The seats are surprisingly comfortable so I might leave them. I kinda like the vintage interior.
Future projects might include fold down steps for the kids (4 of them age 7 and under) so I don't have to lift them in and out and a grab bar so the wife can climb in more easily. I'm toying with a few ideas for higher gearing or overdrive but that will be a while down the road, unless I win the lottery.
As far as usage, I'll use it as a tow rig to pull a car trailer and a utility trailer, and for some local camping. In the future I'll do some travelling but for now it's not in the budget.
I've always been into expedition type vehicles and have come across this forum off and on for years. It's such a great community that I'm excited to finally have an excuse to join.
