1994 International 4700 Conversion Begins

[scooter421]

Made it to and from the Expo without any issues which was a big plus. A nice time and A LOT of folks and met some great people. Very cool and looking forward to next year. I got to see Oz and family which was nice. Ross was able to swing by for a quick visit but had to run. I will bring a bike next time, there was a lot of walking!

The new seats and cab insulation were worth every penny and minute spent getting it done. A much more comfortable ride than before. Bought an ARB awning while I was up there. I almost have it installed. I will post a couple pics for anyone who may be looking to do the same.

 

[Ozrockrat]

And he parked in stealth mode somewhere. I rode around the camping area multiple times and could not find the medium duty ambulance. Well my mum did say if I didn't stop I would go blind. Bit of a bummer as I was looking forward to seeing how the bumper turned out in person.

 

[scooter421]

Lol.....as stealth as a white ambulance can be! It was little like looking for the correct white trailer at Nascar after a few too many beers. There was a lot of people and rigs to hide behind. It took me two attempts to find Old-Yella!

With a little help from my wife I was able to get the awning installed.


I made up the brackets to offset the mount just enough to keep the nuts off the exterior. I cut the extra length of the bolt off flush with the nut. The offset was about 3/8 of an inch. The aluminum strip was 1-1/4 X 1/8 X 6 inch long bar stock and bends are 25 degrees. I used #12 stainless sheet metal Philips screws to mount the awning to the truck.

 

[scooter421]

Feeling a little stupid, I was having too much fun getting things working and heading down the road and got a little lost in my priorities along the way. I mentioned changing fluids to avoid chasing odd old fluid related issues. Well, that goes for filters too which I guess is no surprise! I figured I might as well help someone NOT make the same mistakes on their build.

I have been dealing with some heat concerns, mostly with the transmission but I would like to see the motor have a little easier time keeping cool. Being in AZ I expected it would struggle a little considering a 15k lb truck, Allison 4 speed 545 and the DT360. The truck always started right up and never gave me a hint of fuel issues.

So, the other day I was spraying down the radiator etc. with coil cleaner to get rid of any residue which might inhibit heat transfer (it did clean the coils pretty well). While I was standing there waiting for the cleaner to do it's thing, I looked down at the fuel filter and thought....hugh? The 2 fuel filters were the only filters aside from the air filter which had 200 miles on it I had not changed. I figured I might as well change it and then I would know. Like I said, the truck started and ran fine from the get go so I did not expect much improvement but a piece of mind.

Boy was I wrong! The truck actually accelerates noticeably faster and is much quieter. The wife and I were able to roll down the road at 45mph with the windows down with the radio on holding a conversation. It even shifted smoother, assumingly from the motors ability to continue to push in the next gear with the proper amount of fuel. It was a totally unexpected but welcome improvement. On the trip to the Expo I got 10.1 MPG. I'm not sure what new filters will do to my fuel consumption and temps. Fuel consumption could be worse or better I suppose but at least the engine is not working as hard. Who knows, maybe the transmission will work a little easier too.

The short story.....change fluids and filters!

Scooter...

 

[scooter421]

I've been playing with the electrical again....oh boy what fun!

Made it up camping one weekend before they implemented fire restrictions. On the trip leaving the valley it was pushing 100F. The girls and the dog in the back were getting pretty toasty. Upon returning I decided to see if I could get the blowers for the AC working. I got them working and then the fun began. Two weeks into it, support form OZ and Ross 19 bad relays the truck works again!

While waiting for the relays to come in I got busy on a table storage solution. Rather than explain it, I'll just post pictures.


It's just a table but the size of the table was key. It took a bit of searching to find just the right table. Now, I don't have to lay my table on the floor for transport. The end strip I added so the pin would not be "working" the plastic so much. The pin is used to hold the table once in position so I can shut the seat back.

No table on the floor for transport now and it can just stay in the truck.

 

[scooter421]

Many posts ago I mentioned mounting a table outside on the side of the box. After much discussion and thought the wife and I decided we did not want the table on the outside for a variety of reasons. So, the search began for a table that would fit behind the bench seat. The only table I was able to find that fit the bill was this one and it's 18"x72"x2". Certainly smaller than a standard camping table but I think it's going to work out just fine.

Scooter...

 

[locrwln]

Glad to see the progress continue.
.
Jack

 

[patoz]

Scooter421,

I know I have spoken with you on this forum before, and I have no idea how I haven't seen this thread before, but I'm caught up to here now, and will continue to follow your progress, which is looking good so far!



About four years ago, I thought of using the chrome bezels and a white blank plate to cover the holes where the Whelen 900 Series lights were, if you wish to remove them but keep the holes reusable. I haven't had an occasion to do that yet, but now that you've done it I see just how good it does look. It looks like it was put there from the factory intentionally, and it's not some mistake that you're trying to cover up. Plus, using the bezels as a template makes the whole job go much easier.

I would also like to point out, this creates a platform where a smaller size light head can be mounted also.

 

[scooter421]

Glad to see the progress continue.
.
Jack

Slowly but surely Jack....if the money came as fast as the ideas I'd be much further along!

Scooter...

 

[scooter421]

Scooter421,

I know I have spoken with you on this forum before, and I have no idea how I haven't seen this thread before, but I'm caught up to here now, and will continue to follow your progress, which is looking good so far!

View attachment 407578

About four years ago, I thought of using the chrome bezels and a white blank plate to cover the holes where the Whelen 900 Series lights were, if you wish to remove them but keep the holes reusable. I haven't had an occasion to do that yet, but now that you've done it I see just how good it does look. It looks like it was put there from the factory intentionally, and it's not some mistake that you're trying to cover up. Plus, using the bezels as a template makes the whole job go much easier.

I would also like to point out, this creates a platform where a smaller size light head can be mounted also.

Thanks Patoz, I've got a long way to go! The lights were done before I purchased it. Someone painted over the light covers. I agree it does not look too bad as is but I will put LED's in most of them in the future. I will likely do as you mentioned and make a blank to mount LED's in.

The next project I am working on is the sleeping arrangements.

Scooter...

 

[patoz]

Someone painted over the light covers... I will likely do as you mentioned and make a blank to mount LED's in...

Scooter...

Now that you mention it, I see those are just painted light lenses. Still, it looks much better than the plain lenses that people have painted black or some other color.

Another advantage to using the bezels with an aluminum plate is, you will gain about another .75" of wall depth if you are mounting a recessed LED unit with a housing.

 

[scooter421]

I recently spent 2 weeks trying to figure out an electrical problem and I still don't know what happened. Either way, there is a lot of space behind the lenses, I will have no problem putting recessed LED's in them. The hole for the light is bigger than I would like but it was required for the lights they used. On the plus side, the holes do allow for access to some of the wiring which proved to be very helpful while trying to figure out what was going on electrically.

Now that you mention it, I see those are just painted light lenses. Still, it looks much better than the plain lenses that people have painted black or some other color.

Another advantage to using the bezels with an aluminum plate is, you will gain about another .75" of wall depth if you are mounting a recessed LED unit with a housing.

 

[scooter421]

I've sat in the Ambo many a night and went through many a beer trying to figure out how to manage the sleeping arrangements. I've always wanted to keep the stock bench seat to keep the width across the back as open as possible. Last week I was building a two piece Murphy bed of sorts mounted to the rear doors because we don't use the back 20 inches except for loading things up anyway.

After purchasing some of the components to get it done and beginning to iron out all the details, I realized I was going to lose an inch of width on the bed at a minimum. An inch is not much but the bed was going to be around 42 inches wide at best anyway. Even though the Murphy bed would work it became less practical. I ended up with some shop shelves out of the idea anyway! The biggest benefit of Murphy bed idea was having the bed all the way in back of the box which left almost half of the box useable when the bed was down.

So, going back to the existing bench seat. I think I have it figured out......again.

Using the existing seats I am going to use "lift off" hinges for both bench seat and seat back so they are easily removable. Combined width of the cushions is 42 inches with the width across the back being roughly 43 inches. I will have 3 or 4 removable cross braces for support which will store under the bench seat, remove the cushions and place them in the back to keep the front half of the box open. I will install a permanent lift out or hinged panel (yet to be determined) below the bench to cover the storage space when the bench seat is removed allowing a 3rd person to sleep on. We'll just have to remember to bring a sleeping pad along if a 3rd person is onboard.

To make the two cushions work in a bed configuration I will have to redo the foam for comfort and that they are even when laying down. Currently, the seat back is 2 inches thick and not too bad as far as density goes but the seat is 3 inches thick and harder.

Patiently or impatiently awaiting hinges.....

Clear as mud?

Scooter...

 

[Coachgeo]

...Clear as mud?...

Clear as dirty mud. :elkgrin: only half a clue understand lol. Would like more info on your original murphy bed thoughts though.

 

[scooter421]

Once I get my hinges and can get going, I will post the pics and clear the waters!

The Murphy bed idea:

I had four pieces of plywood 39 inches long. Each door with two panels hinged in the middle. One side had 2 panels 19 inches wide and the other two were 22 inches. The biggest problem was adding cushions as it increased the door "thickness" by around 7 inches and would not allow the doors to open or close.

To remedy that, I had purchased quick detach gate hinges at Home Depot to mount on the doors and support the panels. The second set of hinges would allow the bed panels to swing independently of the main doors allowing the rear doors to open first and then the bed panels on the hinges. Once the doors were open the bed panels would swing out as well allowing the access to the interior to basically remain the same. Adding the hinges was how I was going to lose width because 1/2 of the hinge had to attach to the bed panels and I had to accommodate for the bolt on threaded hinge post which was to mount on the door.

I was originally going to use piano hinge at the door and simply fold them down which would have been very easy. However, adding the cushion thickness into the equation and the doors not opening when the panels were folded screwed that up.

To use the panels, I would lift them off the hinges and lay them on the cross braces level with the existing bench seat.


Links to the gate parts I was going to use, pictures were too big. Both pieces would have needed to be modified to fit.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Flat-Wal...PIPHorizontal1_rr-_-202525404-_-202525406-_-N
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Iron-Clamp-On-Gate-Hinges-2-Pack-GH1/202525404

Clear as dirty mud. :elkgrin: only half a clue understand lol. Would like more info on your original murphy bed thoughts though.