My Adventure Ambulance - 1997 E350 Horton Mini Mod

[eporter]

WOW, thanks for those pics, that really opens things up! It's a squeeze going through the little doorway as is right now. And the swivel seat really makes it nice.

Guess the best spot for the sink/stove would be to the drivers side of that pass. seat. Or some kind of slim/fold down thing on the pass. wall? Probably would get clunky w/ hardware.

How are you setting up your oxygen cabinet now that the spare tire isn't in there? That really does cut into space in the module. If the rear pass. seat was removed, you could probably cut into that spare tire area for a sink cabinet or similar.

I'm not sure on the timer, I don't have any issues with that. I left the module engaged for a week straight to use lights and have the fan running and it never disconnected. Is there some kind of timer solenoid added to yours? I know there are a bunch of relays & solenoids under the driver's seat. You undo some bolts on the front of the seat base and it all slides forward, IIRC.

 

[tmo2460]

Is the oxygen cabinet where Horton intended to keep the spare? Is that what that deeper section that protrudes into the module for? Mine didn't have a spare when I bought it, I figured it never had one. My spare is eventually going out on the rear bumper when I get one built, so keeping it inside on the floor is only temporary.

My oxygen cabinet is a bit of a waste of space right now, I've got my tools sitting in the bottom of it but all the vertical space is wasted, so I'd like to add some shelves in there.

I think I'm going to go with my sink/stove on the drivers side wall somewhere, and then make a "counter top" that folds down from the passenger side wall between the back of the passenger seat and the curbside door towards the drivers side. I'd like to remove most of the crew seat/blower duct/AC unit/electrical compartment behind the drivers seat and add a swivel for the drivers seat too, I think that would really open things up like some of the sprinter van builds I've seen.

Diving underneath the drivers seat for that module disconnect problem is my next step. Hopefully its just a simple fix. I'm really jealous that you don't have that issue, its really been driving me nuts!

 

[eporter]

The spare mounts in the 02 cabinet, it kind of rolls in and up to a wedge/stop. Then there's a small L-bracket that slides on an angled C-channel to snug up and hold the tire in place. Not sure if your tire will fit? I can post a pic of the setup.

The "narcotics cabinet" and electrical cabinet go above the spare tire space. So, if you remove the whole system 2000 motherboard, you could free up all that space and remove the cabinets. You'll have a "hole" in the floor where the spare tire area is, but that could be closed off and provide access for propane hoses, etc, to the 02 cabinet.

Agreed on removing the chair and compartment/box it sits on. I don't see any reason to get rid of all the drivers side sliding-door cabinets though, they are really handy. One good change might be single doors that fold up/down for access, or just removing doors and adding a bungee "lip" to fit a duffel in a lot easier.

And then I just drove the ambo to go mountain biking on Sunday instead of working on it. That keeps happening, oh well! Which reminds me I need to figure out a floor mount track system...

 

[tmo2460]

The spare mounts in the 02 cabinet, it kind of rolls in and up to a wedge/stop. Then there's a small L-bracket that slides on an angled C-channel to snug up and hold the tire in place. Not sure if your tire will fit? I can post a pic of the setup.

The "narcotics cabinet" and electrical cabinet go above the spare tire space. So, if you remove the whole system 2000 motherboard, you could free up all that space and remove the cabinets. You'll have a "hole" in the floor where the spare tire area is, but that could be closed off and provide access for propane hoses, etc, to the 02 cabinet.

Agreed on removing the chair and compartment/box it sits on. I don't see any reason to get rid of all the drivers side sliding-door cabinets though, they are really handy. One good change might be single doors that fold up/down for access, or just removing doors and adding a bungee "lip" to fit a duffel in a lot easier.

And then I just drove the ambo to go mountain biking on Sunday instead of working on it. That keeps happening, oh well! Which reminds me I need to figure out a floor mount track system...

That makes sense. Mine has that space, but the provisions for securing the spare are missing. There is silicone sealant and zip screw holes around mine, so it seems like it was removed/modified at some point. There's no way my current tire/wheel setup will fit in there, so I'm not worried about it too much.

I'd agree that the drivers side cabinets are useful, but I'm pretty sure at this point that I am all in on the full (down to the aluminum frame) interior remodel. It's a lot of work for sure without adding a ton of functionality over the existing setup, but I think I can gain a little more space efficiency and a whole lot of aesthetic improvements. I'm tentatively planning on moving into mine full time in the near future, so looking more like a living space and less like an ambulance has some value to me. Plus I like the challenge of a full build-out. Its a chance to test my design skills and learn a few new things.

I grabbed a few shots of my battery box and O2 cabinet for reference:

 

[eporter]

I'd take some pics of my compartments, but the ambo is tight up against the fence in my driveway. My battery box is half the height, and the door hinges forward. It'd make a great kitchen if it didn't have a ton of electronics in it...

I wish it was built like yours though. Not sure why they special ordered it smaller. So much more room for extra batteries, electronics, etc.

 

[eporter]

Big thanks TO tmo4260 for those fasteners! This is why Ambo owners need to keep/hoard the fittings in their Ambo! Not sure quite what these are, (weld nuts?) but they fit the aluminum channel Horton used.

 

[tmo2460]

Happy to help!

 

[Arctic Travelller]

so looking more like a living space and less like an ambulance has some value to me.

I'm a fan of the ambo conversions, but always felt that the lights on the outside are what continue to make them look like an ambulance. I've always wondered why more people don't remove the lights and fill the holes. I'm sure it would be a lot of work, but if the body's fiberglass, it would be simple to glass them in. Aluminum or sheetmetal could be covered with one continous strip of light gauge material, perhaps in a contrasting color like an accent strip. Once the lights are gone, I think they would look much less ambulance like, but I don't remember ever seeing one done that way. Lot's of work I guess.

 

[Abitibi]

It's not too bad if the ambo's interior is gutted. I've done it to all my rear lights (and replaced with external ones). I think most keep them because they want to still be able to use the side lights (which is very useful when camping) but I too hated the look so I just made my own version
You can see in the last picture the difference between before and after as I still have one painted light left...

Sent from my SGP511 using Tapatalk

 

[eporter]

Some small updates in the past few months. Trimmed the bed down a little for some more room in the box when the bed is down. Added some diamond plate mat to the squad bench top, because it was missing the stock cushions, and because _diamond plate_!