Black Friday Ambo

[flightcancled]

Looks like I am gutting an ambo next weekend on cape cod. I am taking the lights and electrical system in exchange for getting the box ready for the scrap yard. If you need something let me know. I can also throw some pics up once I get there if there is enough interest.


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[bdog1]

You mentioned "white bad liner" a while back. Can you share your source? Thx.


Sent by wing, prayer & ATT

 

[tgreening]

Looks like I am gutting an ambo next weekend on cape cod. I am taking the lights and electrical system in exchange for getting the box ready for the scrap yard. If you need something let me know. I can also throw some pics up once I get there if there is enough interest.


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Dibs on...! Dibs on....? Well, dibs on whatever is worth having dibs on!

If it has my kind of switches that would be awesome. Definitely post up some pics.

I know one thing I'd like to do away with, but I've yet to start investigating options. My ceiling in the back uses diffuser panels to cover all the light fixtures and I can't stand them. They rattle and vibrate driving down the road and it's majorly annoying. I'd like to find light fixtures that have individual light covers so I can toss those panels.

 

[cjken]

Is be interested in seeing some pictures
What year/type?
Good luck sounds like a good score!!

 

[flightcancled]

I haven't decided yet on which product I will be using on the roof. Seems like in the last few years the options have tripled! Here is what was recommended to me earlier:

How about something like this? Or... This

I can start a scavenger feeding frenzy thread this weekend. (I think i remember seeing from a photo that patoz needs a full set of exterior lights. Is that right?) I am also happy to send photos by text. Together we can all pay for my gas!

This was a rig that I almost bought in the fall, but we couldn't come together on the price. I can't remember most of the details, but I am going to be snagging everything electrical out including the house batteries/wiring/and sliding tray. I'm also hoping it has a smaller doghouse console for the front switch panels, and a couple other random things.

The single biggest thing is I have only been given Saturday to work on the ambo. I am going to have to get as much as I can out as fast as possible while gutting as much as I can. Hopefully I can make the owner happy and work on Sunday too.



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[patoz]

I can start a scavenger feeding frenzy thread this weekend. (I think i remember seeing from a photo that patoz needs a full set of exterior lights. Is that right?) I am also happy to send photos by text. Together we can all pay for my gas!

Yeah, my exterior lights are intact, but the sun and years have taken their toll on them with cracks, crazing, and the chrome pealing off of the reflector/bezel assembly. They're 6' x 9" Whelen lights, but I think that opening is an industry standard. It's a Wheeled Coach with the embedded corner marker lights, and I could use a good set of those also. It also has a Edge 4000 light bar on the front and back, so any lenses, spacers, gaskets can be used also if I decide to leave these mounted.

And, I'm also missing some of the interior grab handles that go on the doors. I wish I was close enough to help you strip it, but I don't think that will work since I'm in Florida. So please, let me know what you come up with.

 

[flightcancled]

Not a problem, just stay tuned and I will try to help make the most of what's there for everyone.

After fighting my knee-jerk laziness I weighed the cons and found a better solution for bolting in the steps behind the CPR seat.

Here's the wall with the storage cabinet, seat platform and carpeting removed:

After some head scratching to figure out how this section was held in I determined that the Med-Tec builders were evil geniuses with too much time on their hands.

The three 1/2" strips are mounted to the frame. I pulled the center one off and that will be where all my steps are through-bolted. I will just have to be sure to keep a low profile. Worst case I bump the wall out a bit.

Part of the incentive to open this area up was to add insulation to the wheel well and double up the box insulation. As I was poking around I found a ton of rodent activity. Up until now I had only found one chestnut above the ceiling and assumed it fell through that hole somehow. Now I am very worried!
If you look closely I have cut out large areas of insulation which were totally eaten away.

Finished my night by using up the roll of insulation I had on the wheel well. I drove for 11 hours today so I didn't trust myself to drill through the frame.

Plan is to pick up again by drilling my top and bottom most holes from the inside and then mark a guide line to drill the rest from the outside.


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[tgreening]

Man I wish mine had that kind of insulation. I'm not all that impressed with that foil skinned bubble wrap crap that's in mine, but I lack sufficient motivation to completely gut the box to redo it all. Just the thought of that job makes me ill....

 

[flightcancled]

It does an amazing job, and it's gotten better and better as I continue to cram more and more R-30 in. My approach has been to always have a roll of insulation handy and any time I open something pack it solid with insulation before closing it up again. Even doing it piece-meal has a noticeable effect.

It does seem to have made a great nesting material for mice, but on the other hand hey haven't messed with anything else because it was so ideal for them. I have only found one set of chewed wires so far and they nested on back of my box switch panel.

The down side is it makes pulling wires and accessing areas difficult. Also moisture becomes a bigger issue as it will promote mold and rot.

If I were to give advice to someone it would be to try and back-track the ambo to the original purchaser to figure out what they may have asked for in the build. (For example my rig appears to have been ordered for a small town in the CNY snow belt. They clearly made warmth a priority!) Also I would pop open the wire chase in the ceiling and look inside to see the insulation.


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[hobietony]

I don't know why for so many years, ambulance builders were so obsessed with using blood-red/maroon for all of the interior trim and upholstery. It's flat out ugly!

Hey! I like mine like that!

 

[patoz]

Hey! I like mine like that!

I guess as a ambulance it doesn't really matter, but as a camper it's got to be turned down a few notches. My walls are already a very light gray, so I'm going to change the upholstery and trim to a medium-dark gray to sort of match the Ford two-tone gray interiors.

 

[flightcancled]

Drilled my top and bottom pilot holes through the frame and got a string set up to guide me.

Unfortunately I forgot about the gutter...

Second time is the charm:

You can also see I went back with the angle grinder and paint stripper pads and cleaned up the edges of the roof down to the inside of the gutters. I still have to go back and do the areas around the clearance lights and the corners which turned out to be body filler. They are all cracking so I will repair them before paint.

I chose black over chrome because it would either be easier to see or easier to paint. So far it actually looks good next to the black handles

So I've been wrestling with this for a while; what do you guys think is the best way to weather-proof these steps?


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[tgreening]

Weather proof the steps themselves, or weatherproof the holes you made? Steps I'd powder coat. For the holes I'd probably get some thin rubber and make a gasket to go under the step, and add a bit of UV stable rtv just for giggles.

 

[flightcancled]

All told I will have made 10.... well now 11 3/8 holes. My concern is that I am going to have to make the side waterproof again! I was thinking of making gaskets and some sort of sealant on the bolt to seal the hole.


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[patoz]

Alex, at least the first hole was below the gutter and not above or in it.

Any kind of paint or vinyl treatment you put on the steps will eventually get ground off by shoes, dirt, sand, etc. I'm not even sure power coating will stand up to that. You may look at a coating used in the gun industry called Cerakote which is a ceramic coating that is sprayed on and then baked. It's extremely tough and almost completely corrosion proof. I have a friend that does this for a living and he does complete AR-15's, including the barrels, and it can stand up that heat with no problem and no corrosion.

http://www.cerakoteguncoatings.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlUwOR4Tq10

I still can't believe you're working in 3' of snow, especially since I'm sitting here in a 'T' shirt and shorts.