j.ethan.morin
New member
Greetings!
I've enjoyed checking out everyones rigs and all the good info on the vans here on the forum. Over the past year or so I'd been toying with idea of an expedition van and how it would be a great platform to allow our young family to get up into the mountains on the weekends and to do ski trips while providing a place for nap time.
Recently I got on a kick looking for vans and noticed a couple vans already converted to 4x4 for a high $. I checked into a couple for sale locally and then happened upon a craigslist ad in Kansas for a 92 E350 ambulance 7.3 liter with 80k on the odometer. Not a 4x4 but a good platform. It looked to be in good shape from the pictures and when I talked to the owner he seemed straight forward and the price seemed fair.
I got a one way bus ticket from Denver to Kansas and 7 hours later test drove the ambulance at 5 am. It seemed to check out and I bought it from the seller. He was nice enough to treat me to a steak and egg breakfast before I hopped on the road and drove 7 hours back to Colorado.
So it's been a couple weeks now since I bought the ambulance. I would really like to do a pop top conversion and I am planning the lay out of the interior. I've removed the O2 tank (still full), the divider, bulkhead upper cabinets and have started to expose the interior.
I need to come up with a location to mount the inverter which is pretty large and a little noisy.
I am also planning to do some serious sound deadening with mlv and closed cell foam. After removing the bulkhead and looking at the a/c heater unit I think I would like to extend the hoses and possibly mount this unit at the back of the ambulance abover the rear doors. I would cut out a portion of the top and build a box around it. It looks like with a simple modification it could be oriented vertically and wouldn't overhang too much.
Ideally after the pop top and the interior I would start on the dana 60 front axle and transfer case.
Well I guess that's about it for now. Just wanted to share the project. Its been great so far with my daughter who is 2.5. She helped me last weekend as I dismatled the interior I would give her the screws and she would carry them over an place them in the tackle box. Can't wait for our first trip in the van.
Regards
Josh
I've enjoyed checking out everyones rigs and all the good info on the vans here on the forum. Over the past year or so I'd been toying with idea of an expedition van and how it would be a great platform to allow our young family to get up into the mountains on the weekends and to do ski trips while providing a place for nap time.
Recently I got on a kick looking for vans and noticed a couple vans already converted to 4x4 for a high $. I checked into a couple for sale locally and then happened upon a craigslist ad in Kansas for a 92 E350 ambulance 7.3 liter with 80k on the odometer. Not a 4x4 but a good platform. It looked to be in good shape from the pictures and when I talked to the owner he seemed straight forward and the price seemed fair.
I got a one way bus ticket from Denver to Kansas and 7 hours later test drove the ambulance at 5 am. It seemed to check out and I bought it from the seller. He was nice enough to treat me to a steak and egg breakfast before I hopped on the road and drove 7 hours back to Colorado.
So it's been a couple weeks now since I bought the ambulance. I would really like to do a pop top conversion and I am planning the lay out of the interior. I've removed the O2 tank (still full), the divider, bulkhead upper cabinets and have started to expose the interior.
I need to come up with a location to mount the inverter which is pretty large and a little noisy.
I am also planning to do some serious sound deadening with mlv and closed cell foam. After removing the bulkhead and looking at the a/c heater unit I think I would like to extend the hoses and possibly mount this unit at the back of the ambulance abover the rear doors. I would cut out a portion of the top and build a box around it. It looks like with a simple modification it could be oriented vertically and wouldn't overhang too much.
Ideally after the pop top and the interior I would start on the dana 60 front axle and transfer case.
Well I guess that's about it for now. Just wanted to share the project. Its been great so far with my daughter who is 2.5. She helped me last weekend as I dismatled the interior I would give her the screws and she would carry them over an place them in the tackle box. Can't wait for our first trip in the van.
Regards
Josh
