PROJECT: 1993 F350 4x4 Horton Ambulance-Camper conversion

[gouldjam]

Just picked up a 1993 Ford F350 4x4 ambulance with a Horton 403 module. 70,000 original miles 7.3L IDI non turbo and e40d tranny. Replaced all of the glow plugs, glow plug relay, injectors, and injector pump as well as some new fuel lines to get it running in perfect condition. Next on the list is a coolant flush and the addition of an inline coolant filter. The weathers been cold so I started on a full gutting of the box down to the aluminum framework. The plan is to remove the exterior emergency lights and patch in aluminum behind where the lights were, smooth out the body and get some fresh paint. New wiring system with shore and solar power, separate house batteries and new plumbing with some sort of fresh and grey water tanks.
Pictures to come.

 

[Bronco bobby]

Looks like a cool project

 

[huskyhauler]

Welcome to the Ambo scene!

If you're tearing a part most of the interior of the rig you might start a for-sale thread of random ambo parts that other guys might be looking for. I know one of the guys is looking for parts for a rear AC/heater unit and Bikersmurf (fellow ambo guy) is looking for aluminum ambulance shelving. You should reach out to him to see if you guys can work something out.

Good luck and post pics of your progress!

 

[gouldjam]

huskyhauler, I am still working on tearing out the module, keeping most of it for the time being and labeling all of the pieces and bagging all of the screws and bolts together. The shelving systems are pretty burly and well built so i think ill be keeping most of those to see if i can re use them. I think the only thing id be willing to get rid of at the moment are the 4 or so pairs of lap seat belts with the mounting hardware and L brackets. Still working around the rear ac and heat units.

 

[gouldjam]

DECALS! I finally removed themI started with a heat gun and plastic scrapers but the vinyl letters had some sort of metal backing. With the heat gun i was able to only pry up about 1/2 inch of a letter and it would tear apart the metal backing was fairly brittle. So I did a little research and ended up purchasing a 3M stripe off decal remover, whizzy wheel, and a TCP smart eraser off of amazon. Forget the smart eraser, its the cheapest price wise but leaves behind chunks of eraser material and doesnt do a great job of removing decals. The 3m and whizzy wheel were GREAT, huge time saver! The whizzy wheel was durable and did a great job of removing the vinyl, metal backing, and the adhesive leaving a clean smooth surface, it does however slightly scuff the clear coat leaving a faint scuff mark behind. Not at all noticeable until the right light hits it. The 3m wheel was the most expensive and wears down kind of quickly, need 2 to get through the removal process for the whole ambulance, although it works like a pencil eraser on paper, and leaves less scuffing than the whizzy wheel. Both the whizzy wheel and 3m stripe off also take off the adhesive glue as well so theres no scrubbing with goo be gone and scotch brite pads.
Theres still dust from the deacls and eraser wheels on the surface.


Heres a view of the back decal


And pictures of the wheels The whizzy wheel is on the left, 3M is in the middle, and tcp junk wheel is on the right. Also used a plastic razor blade scraper that came with the whizzy wheel.

 

[eporter]

I've had good luck removing decals with a bunch of those plastic razor blades like you show in the pic. Having fresh ones helps a lot. They come in different colors for different hardness/stiffness of the plastic.

My decals also had the retroreflective "metal" layer (which is really glass beads). They came off well when I used a heat gun on them this summer. Might be a little too cold for you in that UT winter snow!

Once the decals were off, I used 3M 03618 Adhesive Remover to get the rest off. It works really well.

My ambo had a couple previous agency owners, and you can see where they used the wrong tools to remove lettering. Someone ground through the paint in a couple spots... I need to find a good touch-up paint.

Good luck with the project, I'm slowly working on a 1997 E350 with a Horton Module, and the 7.3 PSD.

Here's a thread where we're trying to figure out good ways to retrofit the Whelen 97/900 series lights on the modules:
http://www.expeditionportal.com/for...len-900s-Similar-Scene-lighting-to-LED/page10

Also, do you have the "System 2000" control panel, or is it just switches up front? I've got some Horton electrical info and there seems to be a significant change in the 1997 model year. Let me know if you're interested in the PDF manuals, and I can send you a link. I'm trying to retain and reuse a lot of the wiring, as I really don't want to gut the whole thing and start from scratch.

 

[huskyhauler]

I had success pulling decals off using a hair dryer. There will be some residual glue left behind. Goo-gone works really well. Soak it on there and then buff it off with a microfiber towel.

 

[gouldjam]

Got the interior of the box almost completely gutted just have the electrical cabinet in one corner to sort through and miles of wiring, most disconnected leading to painted over lights. The ac and heat system sits in a box on the ground just left of the walk through door. Havent decided if im going to keep it yet but it needs to be moved to a different location. I'm pretty happy I decided to gut the interior, the fiberglass bat insulation was the grossest Ive ever seen. Twenty three years of condensation and minor leaks led to a moldy dusty mess.



Got rid of most of the components in the back that either werent working or falling apart. I did keep the large cabinets that came out in one unit, it would be nice to re purpose them into cabinets with a countertop somehow but well see.



Heres a couple pictures of the gutted interior the only thing I havent figured out yet is if the aluminum plates running the length of the box from front to rear on the ceiling are structural in nature or not. It would be nice to get rid of them, much easier to get full length foam board in the ceiling instead of small pieces and lights can be mounted by just welding a 12x12 or so plate between the cross members in the right spot.





If anyone has any ideas on the use of the plates running the length of the box please let me know.

 

[Abitibi]

A bit late but meant to reply about a good way to remove the glue left over from decals. I've been using brake cleaner with a simple rag and it works like a charm...

I see you're going through a similar process as I did with mine, full gutting of the interior, fun time!

Cheers
David

 

[cheepsk8]

It doesn't look like they are structural. It looks like they were used to house overhead lights and ducting in. Can they be taken down easily?