HAMBO build thread

[Bikersmurf]

I’ve had a lot of experience sewing heavy materials with industrial sewing machines. One thing is common about all sewing machines... oil is your friend. The machines I maintained for the college were fond of 20W50... but they were wartime Singers that have been abused and used for decades... and were always ready for more.

Oil to excess... wipe off excess, test, and sew your tent.

please excuse me if you’re in the choir. If you have questions fire away.

 

[Abitibi]

I'm still a ways away from there but will remember the oil part

Sent from my SM-G973W using Tapatalk

 

[snowgroomer]

Curious what a average budget number is to do an ambulance build

 

[Bikersmurf]

$7k usd for the rig
$400 inverter
$500 CRX-50 fridge
$200 batteries
$100 battery isolator ACR
$500-2000 bed
$100 stove
$50 port-a-potty
$200 flooring
$100 counter
$150 battery charger
$50-400 lights

=$10k starting point. + labour

 

[snowgroomer]

plus a lot of blood sweat and tears

 

[Bikersmurf]

plus a lot of blood sweat and tears

Costs also go up a lot if you gut. I reused the cabinets and spent less than $200 on the “bed”.

 

[iggi]

I'll be watching intently. A 4 inch roof raise in mine would be amazing. Glad you're blazing the path on this for us Crestline owners.

We finalized how we'll be raising our roofs and decided on lifting it only by 4" plus the additional height of the poptop.

 

[Abitibi]

We'll be doing 2 ambos at the same time. Mine will be a 4" raise and 6" for the other one. I'll make sure to keep you all posted.

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[FDM2012]

Nice. You know I/we'll all be watching!

And, I also like Green. But, I am leaning more towards a Forrest Green and a scheme similar to this:

Great! Funny how some people preferred the previous color but I'm more of a green type of guy. My good friend who helped me doing all my engine mods on my other ambo came over tonight for a beer. He also recently bought an ambo that he started converting. The beer sure tasted better while we were planning our builds

We finalized how we'll be raising our roofs and decided on lifting it only by 4" plus the additional height of the poptop. We have the identical ambo except his is a 2006, our floor plan will be very similar although he doesn't have kids which gives him more freedom with his design. It should be an interesting summer for us as both ambo's should move at a similar pace for their builds.

 

[carnut1969]

after a week of sanding/ prepping etc I just dropped mine off at the paint shop today. Going with Lead Foot Grey....

 

[Abitibi]

after a week of sanding/ prepping etc I just dropped mine off at the paint shop today. Going with Lead Foot Grey....

It will save you a bunch by doing all the prep work yourself. I wasn't looking for a show quality job so I went ahead and painted it myself. I expect all the people walking on the side of the road to think my paint job looks awesome as I drive past them at 60mph

I still have some touch ups to do and I've been removing all my door panels, insulating them and when possible I've removed the door lock mechanism and cleaning them all up so they don't seize on me. This is what the inside of my front doors now look like, added a layer of Noico 1/2" foam. Also added one more layer of the same stuff on the cab ceiling. I figure everything little bit can help, especially the doors for noise and ceiling for cold/heat...

 

[Abitibi]

Nice. You know I/we'll all be watching!

And, I also like Green. But, I am leaning more towards a Forrest Green and a scheme similar to this:

View attachment 587585

It's pretty cool how they used different shades of green, would look great on our rigs!

 

[Abitibi]

Quick update

AmboEvo is coming along quite nicely! I'm jealous of some posts here where I see people getting their 4x4 conversion done in a nicely equipped shop, almost Instagram worthy! But mine is getting done in a driveway, jacked on blocks, under hot sunny days, rainy days and even colder days. At the end of every days I got dirt in whatever hair I have left, sand in my pants... But it's getting done and it looks awesome! I'm doing it with the help of my best buddy and we are almost done. I kept my DRW 4.10 axle with LSD but going SRW. Had to put a spacer to match the front's bold pattern (going from 8x6.5 to 8x170). We put a new 11 leaf pack at the rear along with a 5" block. It will be a bit higher than the front but I figure it will sag once I start driving it and all the camperized interior find its way inside. I'm pretty sure it will align very close to the front.

Front is a 2010 Dana 60 HD, coils with a LSD (Spartan) to match the rear. Only think left is waiting for the rear shocks to show up (Bilstein) plus the front and rear sway bar links. Rear are on their way, front I still haven't figured out. I'll be mounting the Transfer case at a later date, just wanna get it rolling asap.

Had to post a "Hotrod" picture with only the rear lift and still the old tiny wheels... looks too funny! lol

Built my secondary fuel tank, 50 gallons (190L) that will be used for my WVO conversion. Talking about fuel tank I cut an access latch for easy service of my diesel tank. Looks like there's a possible aux. port that will come very handy for my diesel heaters!

And windows!!!

I got a bunch more done but I'll save it for later

Cheers
David

 

[Abitibi]

More pictures!

The windows and frames are all ready to get painted, (will need to upload windows pics later, technical issue...) can't wait to install them! Also working on a custom dual swing out steel bumpers...

Anyone recognize this wheel? I have 4 of them but would like to buy 1 or 2 more for my new 325/65r18 Falken AT3W...

 

[iggi]

Thanks for the update! Will be picking your brain hard on the DIY 4x4 conversion. What with Covid and all, paying to get mine converted won't be in the budget for a long time.

Veggie conversion??? On the 6.0?? I'd heard that wasn't a good idea, but... I did read that on the interweb so like a lot of what's been written about the 6.0 that might just be speculation and not based on any facts.

I'd heard there was an auxiliary port on the tank but I've been too lazy to drain and drop it to have a look see.

Ian

Built my secondary fuel tank, 50 gallons (190L) that will be used for my WVO conversion. Talking about fuel tank I cut an access latch for easy service of my diesel tank. Looks like there's a possible aux. port that will come very handy for my diesel heaters!



Cheers
David