AmbuLand Build Thread, ( 2001 E350 ambulance )

[Abitibi]

Originally Posted by JWA

Any info on the breaker box would be nice---take your time on that too!

Sorry for the extremely delayed response, too busy playing outside while we still have decent Canadian weather!

I didn't find any replacements or equivalent for that box. Seems like I just got lucky with a discontinued item... And this is what we've come up with it (my buddy Jay is helping me with everything electrical...). Managed to fit 15 switches in it, pretty compact. There's probably another 30 or so wires to find their way in it, full house! It will replace the old doghouse unit and find its way in the cab ceiling between the two sun visors.





I've also found some pretty sweet seats to replace the front ones. They fit all my needs; armrests, swivel, drop down flat, pack compact, comfy, long sliding tracks (44" total)!!! They came off a Mitsubishi Delica L400. It will be one of my next projects, building a base for them that will be a bit elevated and become extra storage as well. I'll post better pictures later but this one shows it in "compact" mode.



Also got a sweet deal ($600) on a newer ARB 63qt fridge to replace my smaller Edgestar. It will become integral part of the kitchen cabinets. I ditched my first idea of using a small standup RV fridge, too pricey and no real benefits that I could find.




Finally I started building the new electrical cabinet that will also double as storage compartments and drop down table. It will be located behind the driver wall (front left corner of the ambo box) and will host all the electrical components.




This is where it will go:


It's a slow process but it's still going ahead

Cheers
Mr. D

[86Scotty]

Nice progress, love the seats

[Abitibi]

Nothing to do with this build aside to show for my love for vans

It's an old picture I just found from when I was still "kids free" and had time to take on more than one project at a time... Had all 3 at once, crazy me! Lol



Cheers
Mr. D

[Abitibi]

Found some precious time to play on the ambo, at that pace I should change my name from Mr. D to Mr. S for a Slow!

Took a break from working on the house while we had some rare snow, put a heather inside the ambo and got on the electrical. Not surprising to see how the heat transfers through the aluminum crossbar in the ceiling! It reminds me I'll need to address this before I panel the ceiling with an extra 1/2" foam layer between the paneling and those aluminum cross bars...


Started by mounting the plywood electrical cabinet in place, good fit. I can now use the door space for another project... (Water tank/pump/Espar...)


I routed the main wire loop along with the larger cables and AC lines in the corner of the cabinet. I made slots throughout the cabinet to give me options where the wires come out. You can see how it looks behind in the previous post.

Big parts first, battery isolator, inverter and battery charger.


Not sure why but had to modify my post, worked fine on Tapachat but pictures wouldn't show on the browser, now only 3 pics allowed? Must be 'cause I'm too slow building this project!

[Abitibi]

Next will be to connect all those wires to the fuse box and to the center console, lots of wires!!! Good thing my buddy Sparky Jay is there to help cause I'm not sure I could put it all back without screwing a few things up!


Let's see how long before I make some progress, lol.

Cheers
Mr. D

[Abitibi]

Got myself another summer project! Found this new F350 winch steel bumper for $500 which was hard to pass on!

I figured it should fit ok and most likely I'd only have to build new mounts and maybe chop it slightly to give it a good fit so I gambled, had it shipped from Colorado and I'm now glad I had the balls to buy it unseen!

As you can see the width is perfect. Depending how much I tuck it in I might have to cut the ends. As it stands if I tuck it in to the max the bumper stands out 9.5" from the grill and I'll need to cut 2.5" from the end, easy. That's the look I prefer.

I haven't decided yet if I'll build a Baja style upper bar or full bar style but something will be done, got some lights to mount there













The other option would be to make the ends fit flush with the body but then it pushes the bumper to 12", feels pretty long nosed.





I'd be curious to know how far an aluminess bumper sticks out, anyone?

I'm also thinking of getting a Warn M12000 for it. Found one local for $700 so I might get it this weekend...

I'm still working on the electrical and the front seat mounts for my custom seats. I wish the floor was flat, It'd make the job easier!

Finally, I ended up selling my ARB 63qt and ordered a truck fridge T130. As much as I liked the ARB, the way the lid opens would have been a pain for the way I've designed the interior so I scratch my initial plan and I'm going ahead with a front opening.

There's a bit more going on but still a very slow process! (I still enjoy it though but if I had a garage I'd be way ahead by now!)

Cheers
Mr. D




Sent from my iPorn using TapaChat

[Abitibi]

Just went ahead and got the missing link for my new bumper, $640us got me this work horse! It's ugly and heavy but it works and a little bit of elbow grease should do wonder! I'm seriously considering a synthetic line though, at 140lbs she's a bit on the heavy side...

My new to me M1200



Cheers
Mr. D

[Abitibi]

And this is the only picture I could find for custom mounting bracket. Anybody else has pictures that could help me building mine? Not sure if I'd trust just these to support almost 250lbs of winch/bumper...



(Who ever built this bumper did a pretty good job!)

Cheers
Mr. D

[86Scotty]

The bumper looks sweet tucked all the way in Mr. D! Will the new winch fit with it that way?

You're going to be impressed with the packaging and build of the Truckfridge. I was simply astounded. I guess because I work for a shipping company and you can tell a lot about a company by how they package things they sell. I don't even have my new T130 hooked up yet but I already love it.

[Abitibi]

Well, just got my fridge yesterday afternoon. Pretty nice unit for the price. It ended up pricier for me as I went with the 12v/110 (extra $100), then $100 for shipping and just to finish me off duties to cross it north of the border was another $100

Plugged it in a medium (3 on the scale) and my beer was nice and cold by evening time. It runs a bit noisier than I expected but it's just in the open so might be normal. Once it's framed in the cabinets I'm sure it will be much quieter. I noticed the fan was only secured with 3 small Zipties (one was already broken) and it created a annoying buzzing noise. I moved the fan a bit and the buzzing is gone. Tells me it needs to be better mounted. Regardless that's a very minor issue and doesn't take away any pros from that fridge. I'll have to cut a intake vent on the outside wall though, didn't plan for it but easy enough.


Seems like my winch picture didn't work in the previous post so here it is, again...



As for the last couple days, our once a year snow fall as just about completely melted and it gave me time to take some new measurements for the inside cabinets. Good thing I'm so slow with this build 'cause I keep coming up with better design ideas

I just wish I had a garage though to do all the woodwork, kinda sucks doing it outside at this time of the year...

Cheers,
Mr. D