Black Friday Ambo

flightcancled

Explorer
Pat both would be amazing! That's exactly what I am looking for. I have been looking on Craigslist for a while and no one has gotten them both out intact that I have spoken to, or they got the drivers out but it wasn't blue. Quite frustrating! If ford just used a hex bolt it would be so much easier!


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patoz

Expedition Leader
Pat both would be amazing! That's exactly what I am looking for. I have been looking on Craigslist for a while and no one has gotten them both out intact that I have spoken to, or they got the drivers out but it wasn't blue. Quite frustrating! If ford just used a hex bolt it would be so much easier!

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Alex, mine are gray and not blue! Maybe you can use vinyl dye to make them match or if your plastic is OK, just swap the covers. They're in good shape with no rust on the buckles, no tears in the webbing that I can see, and I tested the buckles to make sure they work smoothly, and they do.

I had forgotten about this, but the only damage is to the underside of the plastic where I had to cut them to gain access to the bolts. I couldn't get the cover plugs off because I didn't know how they worked at the time, but I do now. They unscrew, but you have to line them up with a starting slot first.

I don't think the cuts will show, especially when bolted down over carpet, but if they won't stand up properly I think you could 'stitch' up the cut with some heavy nylon thread or stainless wire like safety wire. I don't know of any glue that will stick to this type of plastic, but you may. I removed them several months ago, and was basically just going to trash them, or use them as tie-downs for equipment.

Are you sure you don't need the long part with the retractors also?

If you still want them PM me your address, and I'll try to get these mailed out Monday if it's not raining. I'm so sick of this rain everyday and 96% humidity.

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flightcancled

Explorer
Pat grey would be great. I am sick of the blue anyway.

Hmm... I'm sure I will figure something out. At least I will be able to clip in again!


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flightcancled

Explorer
I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but I have been wondering for a while now if anyone has experimented with reversing the suction pumps that come in ambos.

If it has enough power the filter could be put on the opposite fitting and the pump could be run to a small tank or used directly to inflate tires. I have a PVC canister with a gauge I use as an epoxy trap for carbon fiber work I am going to use as a dummy tank to see how much pressure I can build up. I'll also use a rotometer to have a look at how much volume the things can move.


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patoz

Expedition Leader
Alex, I think you're going to find you won't have near enough pressure to inflate tires, even if you get it to run in reverse. Medical vacuum pumps operate at a very low suction power which is rated in mm HG (millimeters of Mercury). The original (and still some today) vacuum pumps ran off of the engine vacuum system, so that will give some idea of the power. The problem with that system is the suction power varied as the engine RPM varied.

Most of these electric medical vacuum pumps are an oilless membrane type, and not a piston type which is normally required to develop high pressure. An onboard electrically powered vacuum pumps must be capable of developing:

(a) Vacuum pressure equivalent to at least 300 mm Hg within 4 seconds of clamping, and

(b) Free airflow of at least 20 liters/minute at the end of the collection tube.

Good luck and let us know what you find out.


BTW, I'm headed out to the post office right now to mail your seatbelts. :)
 

cjken

Explorer
Yes. I agree.
I had that idea, but looked up the specs of my pump and found it would not work.
In just going to put a compressor on the same circuit assuming it does not pull too many amps.
I was looking at the arb or puma compressors.
 

patoz

Expedition Leader
Alex, the belts are on the way. I sent them by USPS Registered Mail, and the guy said they would probably be there Monday.
 

flightcancled

Explorer
Bummer guys but thanks for the feedback! I guess I am going to follow through with my threat to put the fold-down bed on that circuit. I've already decided I need to make a manual for this rig. Now I get to write "Press SUCTION to deploy the bed." I'll have to add a disco ball or something to go with it...

So in case anyone was wondering bypassing the metal coolant lines Ford used required:
16 ft of 5/8" coolant line (that factors in some extra to be safe)
2 5/8" connectors
6 hose clamps.
15 minutes

I went a little further and put the hoses in split loom I had from the donor ambo to protect it where it touches the frame. I only did the coolant lines for now. I will be doing the AC down the road as well some the system isn't holding pressure.

Work and the DMV are killing me!

Pat I came up with a solution for the cuts in those belts I am looking forward to trying. Thanks again!


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patoz

Expedition Leader
Great, let me know how they work out for you.

Here's what's been keeping me busy for the last couple of days...

Kittens - 03 - 07-25-14.jpg

They are two months old and I adopted them from a friend of mine. I just turned them loose in my office/computer room and they are going nuts checking everything out. They're like the Gremlins in the movie. I expect to look up and see one hanging off the ceiling fan at any moment!
 

patoz

Expedition Leader
Hey Alex,

Did you get those seatbelts I mailed you yet? I sent them Certified Mail on the 7/29/2014, and the postal worker said they would be there on Monday the 4th or maybe the 5th. I haven't gotten the delivery receipt back yet, so I'm wondering if they got lost somewhere.

Let me know...
 

flightcancled

Explorer
Those guys are cute!

Yeah Pat they just showed up yesterday. Thanks again! Plan A already was a dud to fix the cut but I'm not done yet!

Nothing super special to report, I keep missing the DMV so I haven't gotten her on the road yet.

I've been wrapping up some of the not-so-fun loose ends I have had lying around, painting the rear wheels, re-running some crappy wiring to the rear turn signals, fixing mud flaps, and now figuring out why I lost the reverse signal. The major undertaking has been removing the last of the spray-on undercoating from the factory and cleaning off rust so I can cost everything in POR-15.


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patoz

Expedition Leader
Those guys are cute!

Yeah Pat they just showed up yesterday. Thanks again! Plan A already was a dud to fix the cut but I'm not done yet!

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Yeah, they're a handful. They have already taught me several new tricks! :confused:


I think your best bet for repairing the plastic covers for the seatbelts is going to be to 'plastic weld' them, using a soldering iron. For even more strength (as in the case of flexing), you can embed/melt some small diameter wire back and forth across the seam like zig-zag stitching, or a patch made of wire window screen. If you need some filler material, you can shave off a little bit from somewhere around the edges of the cover. Since the repair will be underneath, the roughness won't show.

Just be careful to keep all heat away from the nylon belt itself, or it can weaken or damage it!

Here is a video of a simple plastic repair. This guy is kinda goofy, but you'll get the idea. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQxNjCxi4_A

Here is a video which shows how the wire screen is embedded. Start at 3:45 min. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmTWCzJbNBw

Personally, I believe if you just do a good job of melting the two edges back together, it will be fine.

Let me know how it turns out...
 

flightcancled

Explorer
It's a tough one because I don't want the weld to show and that kind of plastic discolors really fast. The texture will smooth out about an inch in both directions too if you use a hot air gun. I'm going to try one more thing (Plan C) before I go down that road.

In the mean time the DMV has been giving enough of a headache to switch to doing small effort/ good reward jobs. Now that all visible rust has been treated, tail light have been rewired, and a few other things under the rig I decided that it was time to start working on the things that have been bugging me aesthetically. If for no other reason this has been good because I can work out some of my anger one handed while I have a drink.

So:
Last of the finicky door mechanisms have been fixed. (If all else fails try repositioning the latch a little bit)
Blacked out a lot of the misc faded polished aluminum parts which were dull and gross. Rear door holders and the fuel tank port were painted with POR-15 then a top coat of tire black-out paint to protect them from wear.
Fixed the latch for the rear step.
Removed those horrible padlock holders!!!

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I'll grab a better photo later. Still have to decide what to do with the holes from that horrible padlock thing. I'm thinking simple polished hardware as opposed to flat hole plugs.


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patoz

Expedition Leader
Maybe something like this on each door would work, but with a smaller plate. They could be used as tie off points when you're camping also.

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