Subarctic ambulance

[nelstomlinson]

This winter I got a '94 idi powered Road Rescue ambulance, 158" wheel base, E350. I'm planning to use it as a camper for weekend trips, and for grocery runs to town, 100 miles each way.

 

[nelstomlinson]

I've installed a US Shift controller for the e4od transmission, changed the fluids,and started driving it. So far so good. I pulled out the overhead cabinet from the passenger side and the interior cabinet behind the drivers seat, and the door between cab and house.

 

[nelstomlinson]

The interior...left rear

I have a Dickenson Antarctic heater that will probably wind up taking the place of that seat.
Left front
Front
The dog really, really wants a ride.
Right side
There's just room for a queen bed over that bench on the right.

 

[Pacific Northwest yetti]

* it looks like your images are not posting* FYI. If you are trying to cut/paste cop/them, I have never had luck with that method.

 

[nelstomlinson]

I've uploaded the images to the server here. I had them inserted as thumbnails, I tried converting them to type="full"

 

[nelstomlinson]

I learned there is such a thing as a divided queen mattress, so I'm building a bed platform that will work with a divided queen.

I roughed out the bed platform. It's in two halves which stack.
Stacked, seen through the back doors:

There's plenty of room to use the space for cooking and eating.

Pulled out:

There's about 6" room beside the bed when fully opened. Several feet on each end of it. I believe tomorrow I'll trim the fixed platform about 3/4" shorter to make them stack better, and I'll add some reinforcements here and there.

Once that's done, I just need to get a divided queen mattress.

 

[nelstomlinson]

The sliding "glass" doors on the left rear cabinet wouldn't slide. The slides/guides/whachamacallems are trashed.

They were beercan thickness aluminum channels, covered in cloth. One of them is almost surely beyond salvaging, and the other will never be right. What am I searching for to replace these slide things? The two slides were at the top of the frame, and fit snugly enough to keep the doors from rattling. There is nothing at the bottom.

 

[iggi]

In mine the panes of plexiglass ran in tracks of what looks like 80/20

 

[Bikersmurf]

Looks like you've made a ton of progress.

Is your '94 an IDI? I thought '94 would be a PSD with turbo?

 

[nelstomlinson]

'94 was the crossover year, they made both. Mine's an IDI. It has enough power and it's pretty simple except for that stupid e4od.

 

[86scotty]

'94 was the crossover year, they made both. Mine's an IDI. It has enough power and it's pretty simple except for that stupid e4od.

They are clunky old beasts but they get the job done. How many miles on yours? Seems like I remember 2-300k being normal for an e40D in something heavy (likel, say, an ambulance).

 

[nelstomlinson]

This one is under 100k, but of course a lot of idle hours. There is some kind of wiring problem, and occasionally the aftermarket controller loses the speed signal, downshifts to first. Other than that, the transmission seems solid.

 

[86scotty]

There's more info on those than you could ever need on the Ford Truck Enthusiast (FTE) forums. There's also an old Ford transmission engineer who used to frequent there who is kind of the guru on them, he's probably still hanging around. Mark Kovalski maybe?

 

[nelstomlinson]

I haven't been to FTE in a long time. I should try asking there.

 

[nelstomlinson]

Getting some advice on FTE. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/...cle-speed-signal-in-94-e350.html#post21302358