Introducing O'Billy - our new Type-II Ambulance

[mike.marcacci]

Wheels and tires! They look so cool I think I'll be OK even if I lose a tiny bit of steering :smiley_drive:

Again from diesel tech:

 

[gringorick]

I've also had a nagging question about recovery points: I have a heavy duty snatch strap that I keep in my F150, but I haven't found anywhere obvious behind the stock bumpers to fix hooks. I've kind of just put this off since nothing else really depends on the bumpers, but I'd love to know what people do about recovery without purpose-built bumpers. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE a U-Joint or Aluminess setup, but their price tag would cover another drone, a laptop, or a couple big telephoto lenses, which would be much easier to justify at this point :-/

Rear Recovery Points. Highly effective and easy on the wallet.

 

[Ty_Deschaine]

Yessssss MOAR pics!

 

[mike.marcacci]

Rear Recovery Points. Highly effective and easy on the wallet.

Thanks for the recommendation, these look fantastic – I searched around for some bolt-on ones (I don't have a welder where I live now, but maybe it's time to invest?), but I really couldn't find anything rated for > 12k lbs. I know that when choosing a snatch strap you're supposed to go between 2x and 3x your GVWR which I've, and I definitely don't want the attachments to be the failure points... Is this just something I shouldn't be worried about? Or maybe I'm looking in the wrong places?

 

[mike.marcacci]

Yessssss MOAR pics!

I'll post a bunch more as soon as I get the van back it's been taking them a bit longer than I was hoping, but I have more than enough other projects to keep me beyond busy right now, so I have no reason to make a stink.


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Today we mixed up a few different shades of gray U-POL Raptor Liner and sprayed them on some scrap sheet metal. Since we were going for a dark charcoal, we using their black liner to tint their tintable liner. I have no idea what they put in their black stuff, but adding just a touch of it to the white turns the whole thing jet black. Eventually we got it to calm down and sprayed what ended up looking like different tints of gunmetal (with the slightly blue hue). While it looked good, at the end of the test we ended up deciding that black just looked the best... and is by FAR the easiest to spray (no mixing)!

So, as soon as the van gets back we'll start prepping it for a full coat of black raptor liner!

 

[tgreening]

So, as soon as the van gets back we'll start prepping it for a full coat of black raptor liner!

Heat. Soak.


I'd really rethink black.

 

[mike.marcacci]

Ya that was my concern too... the roof is going to be almost completely covered in solar (with an inch gap), but I am afraid the sides will really heat the thing up too much in the sun. I try to reason that we might want that when we're in colder areas, but in reality we'll probably be spending more time in warm weather...


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[tgreening]

Ya that was my concern too... the roof is going to be almost completely covered in solar (with an inch gap), but I am afraid the sides will really heat the thing up too much in the sun. I try to reason that we might want that when we're in colder areas, but in reality we'll probably be spending more time in warm weather...


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I can tell you it's a lot easier to stay warm than it is to cool these big ovens down.


I wouldn't "settle" for black Raptor for the ease of use. Buy the tintable, head down to your local automotive paint supplier, and pick your favorite color. They can set you up with enough to tint however much you buy based on Upol specs per liter and you'll be good to go. Measure it, pour it, shake it, shoot it.

I thought about black-ish for about a millisecond after remembering all my other black vehicles, and slid my way down the color scale till I arrived in the section of colors that Dont Bake You Inside Your Vehicle. I'll be going with a pale something. Desert Sand, Light Grey, that neon Kermit Green Jeep tossed out, who knows, but it sure wont be anything too dark. I live in Ohio which isn't known for it's low desert climate and even being mostly gloss white like yours it will get way too toasty inside.

 

[mike.marcacci]

I think you may be right... anybody need some black Raptor Liner? ;-)

We were going for something between these in terms of color:





Looking at other bed lined vehicles I really prefer the darker shades (with volcomsurfer's rig being a major exception)... I guess this is something to talk through with my wife...

 

[tgreening]

I like the top one pretty well. Bottom is getting a bit dark, for my taste. I like surfers rig color as well. Dang near enough to thieve it.

 

[mike.marcacci]

color palette

OK, so I wasted the past hour in Affinity Photo (I have a case sensitive filesystem, so I don't use photoshop anymore...) figuring out what a Type II ambo might look like in different color liners... I added a lift and my wheels for a better visual. As silly as this little exercise was, I'm actually really glad I did it – I don't like the look of the black as much as I thought I would, and definitely like the steel/charcoal best (my original preference). Now to show Emily why I'm going to be buying a whole second round of raptor liner :-/

original


silver


steel


charcoal


black

 

[dlh62c]

View attachment 349241

I like this color the best.

 

[cjken]

Charcoal or steel gets my vote

 

[Navi]

Steel!

 

[ambulancemonkee]

I'm voting for steel as well. Nice build, I've been following your thread.