300GDN Ambulance conversion.

[73A1]

Thanks everyone!

Lynn: Most photos are shot with a Nikon D50, with a Nikon Nikkor AF 18-70 DX Lens. Some photos are shot with a Casio Exilim EX-F1. all photos have been adjusted for color, sharpness and contrast on the computer. A few of the photos are HDR as well, built up by 3 or 5 images with different exposures.

 

[otiswesty]

Wow, amazing pictures! I saw a post on P3 about the trip and another G270 cdi that was up there at the same time. I love the Ambulance box camper 300GD. I had a 5 door 300GD LWB for many years. Now I have a G500, but have fitted the same rack that you have with the spare tire and 2 fuel cans. Truly an inspiration. Iceland just moved up my list of places to go...

 

[NM-Frontier]

Those are fantastic pictures! And such a great vehicle to go with them. I think I need to get to Iceland.

 

[Lyrch75]

Hi again folks!

Now we have just come home after three weeks of driving, and living in this vehicle. It performed perfect! We have had a really nice trip around Iceland where we have been driving mostly on the 4x4 tracks around the island. Sand, rocks and fresh volcanic ash.
The vehicle has previously belonged to the Norwegian army. As far as I know they only sold 6 or 7 of theese before they decided not to sell any more of them.

Amazing shots. :Wow1:

 

[73A1]

A short update:
We have re-designed the interior in the camper, and at the same time installed a Dickinson Newport solid fuel heater.
Here are a few photos:

 

[ersatzknarf]

Wow ! That's a big change from the previous interior. How is it for you ?

May I ask why you chose the solid fuel heater from Dickinson, rather than one of their diesel fueled heaters ?

Also, please can you give us an idea of the interior dimensions, especially the height ?

Thanks !

 

[Photomike]

WOW, both interiors are very nice (I REALLY liked the map). This is a unit that I would have loved when I was single, or just married. A unit small enough to be practical but nice enough inside that you can really enjoy it and if the weather is bad you are still comfortable. Heater is a great addition and will make it sooo much more enjoyable.

The only thing that you need to change is the roof and the front header. You could cover with some carpet or material to match the rest of the unit. If you did that it would be nicer than many apartments and homes.

Great job, enjoy!

 

[73A1]

Thanks for the kind words!

We are going on a trip this weekend to see how everything now works. This week the temperature here just jumped sky high, so I doubt there will be any need for the heater this weekend.
Our experience with the vehicle and the 'box' so far is that is is just what we need to live comfortably when on our outings. There is room enough for the two of us, but there is not enough hight to stand upright. The interior hight is a little low at 167cm. The wife and I are both 175cm tall. The interior with is 182cm and the length is 244cm.

The Dickinson heater: Our first thought was to use a diesel heater. The Dickinson diesel heaters have a nice glass door, and can be had with a cooking top. However, in our cabin (45 sq meters) we have a kerosene heater, and there is always some smell when using that. In the small space in our camper we thought that could be a problem. In addition we would have to install a small day-tank and a fuel pump, plus some piping when installing such a heater. The solid fuel heater is a simpler installation, the smell of burning wood is nicer, and firewood can be found everywhere around where we live. It also gives some redundancy as we still have the Webasto diesel heater too. The Dickinson does not require any electricity at all, so if we were to be stationary for any length of time, that is a big plus.

The plan was to have the map on the front wall again. The problem is that the map is glued to a 3mm thick plate. This is just to thick to fit now. If we mount it, we wouldn't be able to fully open the lids under the sofa mattresses. I have to sort this out, as we would very much like to have the map installed again too.

Thanks!

 

[mk216v]

The flooring is **************!

 

[ersatzknarf]

Thanks for the information about the inside dimensions and about the reasons for using the solid fuel heater - good ideas !

 

[Morgan Kane]

Hello! Any news or pictures?? I'm living in Norway, where I understand you bougt your car. Been thinking about buying one myself, so all updates on this will be very welcome!

 

[73A1]

Hi,
First of all; sorry for not replying earlier!
I do have some new pictures. Some from the trip to Icealnd in 2013, and a few from a short trip in Norway this year. I have had some problems uploading them, but they will be posted.
I am not sure if I have posted the video from the 2010 Iceland trip though. Anyway, here it is:

 

[scottishpinz]

Can I ask which routes / roads you drove in Iceland? In particular I am wondering if you drove F910 as I am trying to work out distances between filling stations for fuel on that route for an expedition next year.

 

[73A1]

During our three trips to Iceland, we have driven many of the tracks all over the island. This includes the F910 on several occations.
When driving the F910 there aren't many filling stations along the road (actually I think there are none). Therefore it is smart to fill up when ever you see a filling station (this applies to the 'inland' an the 4x4 tracks).
I assume that you want to visit Askja as you drive the F910. There is a nice little camp at Dreki near Askja. It would be wice to ask the staff at the camp sites about road conditions and filling stations. On one occation we had planned to drive from Dreki to Möðrudalur to fill up there. Luckily we asked at the camp, and they told us that the filling station there was out of order at the moment (the "filling station" is actually just one un-manned pump), so we filled up from our jerry-cans an drove the F910 to Hrauneyjar instead.
With my Landrover Discovery II (td5 diesel) i have managed to drive the F910 all the way from the east till we reached Hrauneyjar (viaDreki/Askja) without refuelling (I have i 90L fuel tank). With my MB G-wagen I needed my jerry cans.

I have found a site with maps showing fuel stations here: http://www.cheapjeep.is/english/driving/fuel.aspx

I also suggest looking at the maps at http://www.vegagerdin.is/english/ . These maps are updated weekly, and shows which roads are open and which are closed.

Edit: I will see if I can manage to draw the routes we have driven on to a map here as well.

 

[scottishpinz]

This is great info. I have been to Iceland before and driven in to Askja and the volcanoe pool Viti. The return from there to the North near Skutustadahreppur by Lake Myvatn is about 350 km which is getting close to 400 km range in the Pinzgauer. Any idea of actual km travelled on F910 between filling up and reaching next fuel? I wasn't aware of there being fuel at Askja campground / hut.