Buying & Building a Medium Ambulance into an RV – The FAM-BULANCE

[rlrenz]

How do you remove a transmission overfill? Do you try to drain a pint or so?

NO!

Any enterprising ambulance owner or EMT will just fall back on the buggy's suction system... (hopefully, any in-service ambulance crew will use a SPARE set of suction gear...)

 

[patoz]

I'll bet with a couple of adapters, you could use that to bleed brakes too!

 

[Bikersmurf]

Hard part with using the vacuum pump to bleed the brakes would be keeping the fluid topped up

 

[rlrenz]

The last time I did a total brake job on a truck, I used a pressure bleeder, and that did the job just fine. The truck had a cast iron master cylinder and reservoir, though -- I'd be a little concerned with the plastic reservoir my Freightliner has.

 

[Ozrockrat]

Being a lazy bugger I use one of the air powered vac bleeders and have a bottle that attaches to the reservoir to keep it topped up. Essential for the trucks because there is a lot of fluid between the cylinder and the calipers.

 

[rlrenz]

Great solution!

 

[rlrenz]

As anyone who has driven a medium ambulance on the highway knows, they tend to get a little noisy - maybe not so bad compared to a 200 watt siren screaming, but definitely apparent when the siren isn't on.

Sometimes things happen -- I just got a whale of a deal on Stinger Roadkill RKCP-12 sound deadening carpet underlayment. The Amazon reviews all sound like it's good stuff, and I should even be able to glue it inside my doors with my handy, dandy can of 3M Spray Contact adhesive - it doesn't have any adhesive on it, just multiple layers of vinyl and butyl rubber.

It's leftover from an ambulance builder, so it has probably been used in at least one ambulance.

I should have plenty -- the auction was for 20 rolls.....

 

[patoz]

Do you offer free shipping? :smiley_drive:I'll bet a roll of that stuff is heavy too!

 

[rlrenz]

Spring has nearly sprung. Here in MN, we can see snow until April, but this year, winter appears to have surrendered a little early. Fine with me!

I admit that I don't get a lot physically accomplished in the winter - maybe its the early sundown, maybe its the cold - whatever, I just get more research and planning done in the winter.

Now that it's getting nicer, the garage is again calling to me. All winter, I've kept an eye on my IOTA battery charger meters to verify that the batteries in the buggy are happy. I have a pilot light wired across the line that feeds the battery charger so I can verify that it has power "at a glance" - except the LED indicator light has dimmed a lot from the day I installed it. I have a new LED light I'm going to use - a $30 light instead of a $23 light, plus a different manufacturer, so this one may do better. Plan-C in case this light also fades to nearly nothing will be a Whelen LED intended for emergency vehicle illumination - at a cost that will be more than $30, though. The Whelen OS series (clear) light is angled downward, so it will both provide some standby lighting near the driver's door, and also indicate that the battery charging circuit is on. The GOTTCHA is that the OS light is 12 volt, so I'll have to add a DIN-rail mounted DC power supply that's powered from the battery charger 120 volt supply.

 

[AmbulanceRV]

Enjoy following your build thanks for all the posts

 

[rlrenz]

Enjoy following your build thanks for all the posts

You're welcome. Some days, not a lot gets done, and on other days, things actually happen. I'd prefer to do some research before I start building, because I'd probably just be reinventing the wheel.

The one golden rule of this kind of a hobby is to take lots of photos. I've wound up with enough digital cameras over the years that I keep one in the garage and one in my workshop. I've been known to reach under something with a camera and try a photo instead of using a mirror, and it usually works. I've done the same when I wanted to see what I had for structure in the buggy, so I reached over a partition and took a few photos - the photo answered the questions I had just fine.

Plus, when you take something apart, a photo improves your chances of successful reassembly a whole lot.

And the other fact of life is to plan on having extra parts when you finish part of the project (I have a "hobby" that's made up of projects...). AC parts that are for a different model, switches that you bought but couldn't find, they all become a Johnny Cash Cadillac when you're done.

But those errors in purchasing also give you trading material, so it's not all bad....

Have fun!

 

[AmbulanceRV]

You're welcome. Some days, not a lot gets done, and on other days, things actually happen. I'd prefer to do some research before I start building, because I'd probably just be reinventing the wheel.

The one golden rule of this kind of a hobby is to take lots of photos. I've wound up with enough digital cameras over the years that I keep one in the garage and one in my workshop. I've been known to reach under something with a camera and try a photo instead of using a mirror, and it usually works. I've done the same when I wanted to see what I had for structure in the buggy, so I reached over a partition and took a few photos - the photo answered the questions I had just fine.

Plus, when you take something apart, a photo improves your chances of successful reassembly a whole lot.

And the other fact of life is to plan on having extra parts when you finish part of the project (I have a "hobby" that's made up of projects...). AC parts that are for a different model, switches that you bought but couldn't find, they all become a Johnny Cash Cadillac when you're done.

But those errors in purchasing also give you trading material, so it's not all bad....

Have fun!

Oh I get it, I get a lot done then nothing

Just stay with it

 

[rlrenz]

Yep - the project moves by "leaps and bounds" - something suddenly happens, something suddenly makes sense, you figure out how to do something - it all happens at once.

 

[rlrenz]

Still sorting out the garage - the birth of my son's baby has meant the the priority list has changed a little - I have a crib to reglue, haul upstairs, and reassemble. THEN I can get back to my stuff.

In the mean time, I've been prowling ebay, and finding things I never knew I needed. Latest find were some American LaFrance patches, and rarest of all - a Medic Master patch. Since Medic Master has been gone since 2008, I was amazed to ever find anything from them (other than complete ambulances).





Next will probably be mounting my tires on the Alcoa aluminum rims I got from MNtal, then I can move inside and work on the refrigerator, the cooktop, and the electric heater. Yet to come is building a 120 volt air conditioner for the beastie - mostly Hoseline, but with my spin on portions of it. About 1 HP will equal 10,000 - 11,000 BTUH, so it should be able to live on a 20 amp circuit.

 

[patoz]

Those are some cool looking patches Bob, definitely collectors items!

Yet to come is building a 120 volt air conditioner for the beastie - mostly Hoseline, but with my spin on portions of it. About 1 HP will equal 10,000 - 11,000 BTUH, so it should be able to live on a 20 amp circuit.

I hope you're right about this, and the 30A dedicated circuit I have is to include the electric heater under the attendant's seat. Does your estimate include the 120V to 12V Converter also?