My next project, E350 Ambulance???

[Abitibi]

Thanks Chris, I'd rather perfect my chopping skills than fighting that stupid bolt. I had tried heating it followed by breaker bar, impact, chisel... To no avail! Grinder here I come!

I'm also curious about your opinion on ARB. In my case, I still think they are great but just pricier, more complicated to install, more chance of a air leak and they seem cold sensitive... I wonder if your contact in CA could build a power lock front LS for my Patrol?

Cheers
Mr. D

 

[Abitibi]

It's quite nice that these axles came with Warn Premium hubs. Although a few screws had to be drilled out on the hubs I can't complain too much
It's all coming along nicely!

 

[ujoint]

I'm running an ARB in the back of V4, haven't used it enough to have a real opinion vs the Detroit. I still go by my limited slip up front, full locker out back way of life.

He can barely keep up with my demand for the PL's (haven't gotten one in a while)

 

[Abitibi]

Here's one for sale, already 4x4 with very low mileage (if you consider 18,000 miles low!!!)... But at $58,000 its way too rich for my blood!!!
http://www.ambunet.com/ambulanceProd...hp?prod_id=964

Managed to get a couple hours of sandblasting done over the weekend and ended up with this:



The next cleanup job will require more sweat equity... At least it's ready to be reassembled!



Cheers
Mr. D


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[Abitibi]

Started cleaning up the front Dana60 today, went pretty good considering how rusty it was!



Next will be a good layer of Por-15...

And this picture has nothing to do with an ambulance conversion but my friend Felix sent it from his road trip across the Americas, (currently in Chile) pretty cool hey!



Cheers
Mr. D

 

[Abitibi]

I'm still without an ambulance! Don't think I've ever been so patient in the past but its wearing me thin! So in my spare time I look at how I want to build this beast and source parts as they show up on the used market which brings me to this update.

I just sourced a '84 VW Westfalia getting parted. I can get the popup roof with bed, complete interior with electrical/propane fridge, stove, sink, water tank, double swivel tables, double swivel front seats (which are surprisingly comfy for how old they are) all the cabinets (I could probably use the good quality hardware if the cabinets don't fit), the rear bench that folds into a bed and two set of side slider windows, all for about $800.
The canvass would need to be replaced ($300-400) but the rest in is good shape.

Am I wasting my time and money? It's a hard one to tell for me as they usually sell for much more but fitting that curved popup roof on the flat roof of the ambulance might be more than I'm willing to take... Here's a couple pictures for those with short attention order...

At least my rear Sterling 10.5 is all prepped up with Detroit lockers, new 4.10 gears, bearings and ready to be painted, its just a bit too cold to paint now...

And I need to decide if I should try to get that 158" wheelbase that came up for sale locally or wait for a 138"... Gotta make my mind by tomorrow night

Cheers
Mr. D

 

[d67u57]

those axles look godly,but with no rig to put them on...

where are you looking for ambulances?

and you wont change your mind about 'standard' vans?

id take the 4x4 conversion over the bt swap if the original motor is in order

though ,probably, the best advice here might've been a few pages back, on the f450 school bus

or something already 4x4 where you can do the motor swap if you want. or not.

either way. gl with the future build.

 

[Abitibi]

I'm from Vancouver BC so I'm looking at local auctions. I also look at what comes up in the States and ebay but the prices are sooooo high, almost double! I'm pretty locked on an ambulance even though I really like the VW Syncro or Sportsmobile, just can't afford them... Plus the extra room on the ambulance is nice when traveling with 2 young boys and the fact that I can build it is a big plus for me. I think I'd be bored to buy some ready to go package...

The 4x4 is a given, same for WVO conversion but I'm not sure what you mean by bt swap?

Cheers
Mr. D

 

[pratty85]

I think he is referring to the cummins swap. 6bt Cummins, The b stands for the Series and the t stands for Turbo if I am not mistaken. If I were you, I would pass on the Westfalia Stuff if you get an ambulance you will have plenty of usable options, But if you go for a standard E350 cargo or something along those lines.....that interior VW setup would be very nice to have. I personally am not a fan of cutting holes in my roof, too many bad experiences during the rain I suppose.

 

[Abitibi]

Fair enough, thanks got the input!


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[d67u57]

cool so you're keeping the search local. makes sense. flights cost money and time,plus you need time to really check it out .

i looked up some builds and i see what you are referring to. quite roomy.

though i guess a cube or something similar wouldnt fit your needs right?

http://www.google.ca/imgres?um=1&hl...nh=185&tbnw=245&start=0&ndsp=27&tx=160&ty=111

 

[Abitibi]

I've looked at many options, spoke to good friends who have been on the road overlanding for a couple years now, kept in mind cost and ease of support/repair plus ability to run on veggie.

My German overlanders friends are desperately trying to talk me out of the ambulance and keep sending me these cool links of other vehicles I should consider but the beauty of these ambulance is that they are a great compromise of size, price, options to build 4x4, great WVO engine with the 7.3 and ease of local parts just to name a few.

Tonight I met with Ian who owns a similar ambulance (see p.2 of my post, "Cleanline") as the LWB that was going for auction. Ian was nice enough to let me test drive his rig and we spent a couple hours just chatting about pros and cons of this platform and future projects. Thanks again Ian!

At the end I decided to wait for the regular wheelbase for a few reasons, one being it had a wider body and the SRW axle would be tucked in (which looks kinda bad) unless you'd use spacers. Also, I could see that LWB getting more flex than the regular one and since the cab is attached to the box and that frame is pretty flexy to start with I didn't think it was a great idea for my purpose.

For those curious to see what other options are available for sale these are just a few:

http://tinyurl.com/ajnexpw

http://tinyurl.com/ary88cp

http://tinyurl.com/a5fjfj8

http://tinyurl.com/b6vhpp8

http://tinyurl.com/b2lrw9l

http://tinyurl.com/b3zku9w

http://tinyurl.com/ax582gz

I wonder if they charge extra for that Zebra theme?

Cheers
Mr. D who's still on the lookout!

 

[d67u57]

cool.

about the srw, so you do plan on getting in the rough? else duallie would make more sense comfort/load wise.

thosel inks...expensive!

 

[derjack]

Hi,

sorry to ask so directly- but what is the big deal of bying an E350 Ambo in the US? There are some hundreds availible all over the coutry, for just some thousand bugs.

All these rigs above are pretty much more expensive than a Ford, especially on the long run, meaning parts.
The cars on mobile.de are somekund nice but if these are anykind of interesting for you I guess you will never end up with one. I just sold my Magirus, like the one above. There have been soooo many people calling and all said something like maybe this, maybe that. The one who bought the magirus had a clear understanding what he wanted.

btw: iveco daily 40.10 tooo slow probably if you are used to drive v8, and too small
Magirus: great truck, but a real one! nothing for civilasation
Unimog: extremely expensive, if you nees parts
LT: slowww, rusty(all are rusty, like iveco daily- not mine as it was rebuild), no parts availible

So this isnthe reason why I am looking for ford: v8 plus more or less compact and ONE cabine, no container or somethingblike that. In Germany are axtually 3 ambos in total, starting from 12 grand onwards! So if I were in the US I alreday had mine... strange world

 

[Abitibi]

d67u57, I do plan for the rough but in a diesel fashion... Nice and slow. That's why I got a Sterling 10.5 and built it with a Detroit locker... I believe with the right suspension setup I should actually improve the ride quality. UJOR will be needed though!

derjack, this is simply called the symptom of "the grass is always greener on the other side"
For people enjoying vehicles as much as the travel and the adventures it's always nice to see what else is available around. I simply posted those links for entertainment purposes! Although I wouldn't complain to see a 4x4 MB Vario 814 land in my driveway but I'm not sure I'd be happy to pay for the maintenance on the long run.

So this is why I'm shopping for a local ambulance and being patient to find the right one. Maybe I should just shut up until I find one but I've received good advise all along

Cheers!
Mr. D