AmboVan Restarted

[hobietony]

Infrastructure upgrades continued...

Been just working on the shop the last couple of weeks, no progress on the rig itself, but there is satisfaction in getting organized...

Ghetto-tastic new chop saw table, using steel scraps out of the pile, and made to support a Costco shelving unit

Got this vice for a gift like 6 years ago, finally have a good place to mount it

JD2 Notchmaster, with the SWAG Offroad upgrades

JD2 bender

HF press with the SWAG Offroad weld-it-yourself press brake kit

It works

Jet drill press, great Craigslist find

Made a proper grinder stand, finally found a use for those old drums off the ambo

More costco shelving

A security door on the open side of my garage to help protect all the new crap inside. I wished this photographed better, it's a pretty cool bi-fold design where the whole thing folds out of the way and leaves the whole opening accessable. I guess you will have to take my word for it.

And finally some actual tubing to use with all this new stuff.

Started playing with the bender and notcher today, got some 90* and 180* templates bent up. Pretty cool tool. Out of town next weekend, but back after it the week after that.

 

[bknudtsen]

Great looking shop you have there! Looks like you have some sweet fabrication capabilities now. Looking forward to see what you come up with.

 

[4lowdean]

It's funny all the little projects that need to be done before the big project(s) can be finished.

 

[hobietony]

By the time I get done with my project, I'll be ready to do my project

 

[dblosch]

By the time I get done with my project, I'll be ready to do my project

You are correct, Sir. That's how I was raised, too.


Digging the Ambovan, by the way!
Dan

 

[hobietony]

Um, yeah, I definitely need a bigger truck

 

[McZippie]

Um, yeah, I definitely need a bigger truck

....or less stuff... but what fun would that be?

 

[ben2go]

Thanks to this thread, I'll never look at an ambulance the same way again!

Now I gotta keep myself away from the county auctions

You used to think," There goes the meat wagon."Now you think," There goes the fun wagon,oh wait.It's still a meat wagon." :sombrero::smiley_drive:

 

[ExpoMike]

Great build and glad things are coming together.

How are you liking that SWAG Offroad press brake? I have been seriously thinking about picking one up but hadn't seen anyone who has used one.

 

[bobDog]

Great build and glad things are coming together.

How are you liking that SWAG Offroad press brake? I have been seriously thinking about picking one up but hadn't seen anyone who has used one.

Years ago I borrowed a buddies shop and he had built one of those from scratch. I was amazed how well it worked. I built some great stuff with it. Limited length but so many cool things don't need a huge brake. We were bending 1/4" stuff with it using a 10k ram.


Sent from my LS670 using Tapatalk 2

 

[hobietony]

Thanks to this thread, I'll never look at an ambulance the same way again!

Now I gotta keep myself away from the county auctions

I still evaluate every ambulance I see - Short or long wheelbase? Diesel? 7.3 or 6.0? Box height? Manufacturer/upfitter?

Um, yeah, I definitely need a bigger truck

....or less stuff... but what fun would that be?

We headed to Rocky Point last weekend for a Hobie regatta, and right now Ambovan is between classifications, and dramatically underinsured for Mexico travel. When I get the inside done enough to classify it as an RV, the insurance companies have some more flexibility in valuation - In the meantime, I just wasn't comfortable self insuring (basically - 5k max collision). So, pile in the Toyota - 2nd boat was for my dad, had water/food/stuff for the event, half the crap I had in there wasn't mine - Luckily much less stuff on the way home.

Great build and glad things are coming together.

How are you liking that SWAG Offroad press brake? I have been seriously thinking about picking one up but hadn't seen anyone who has used one.

Haven't used it much in actual use, but it is perfectly capable within it's length limitation. I got the heavy duty, and it can bend up to 5/8" about 2" wide - It will do 1/4" for the full width, and the radius can be made tighter by using a smaller piece of angle within the base die. Very clever, and it only took an hour or two to build it. In fact, I want to give a shout out to SWAG off road in general. http://www.swagoffroad.com/ Everything I have seen on their site is a clever use of inexpensive base tools, with fab-it-yourself additions to make them much better, and within a home fabricators budget. After placing an order for a bunch of stuff via the website, Troy called me himself the next day to say thanks, and to see what size shirt I wore. I took me twice as long to get the bender and notcher from JD2, than it took to receive the upgrades from SWAG Offroad.

In other news, I have figured out the multi-quote function. Feeling good about that one.

 

[hobietony]

Nice Rack!

No, not that kind.

Started using all that cool new shop stuff

As it sits tonight, before I take it back off to finish the welds

First bender project

Next bender project

Some details

Gutter mount

Going to duct the AC out the bottom of the unit, and into the front of the ambo box, between the tires. Yes, there is room below the running lights. That is just the AC cover, tossed in there for these pictures. I also need to work a light cage mount for 4 7" HIDs in there between the tire rack and the AC cage... Slow but sure, more to follow.

 

[ben2go]

What about a wind deflector to help push the wind up and over the rack?

 

[pratty85]

Looking good! Can't wait to see it done and mounted I digging the rack system.

 

[ujoint]

Very nice!