1966 Travelall Ambulance Adventure Machine

[shortbus4x4]

Got some more done this last week and weekend. Dug the front and rear axle out of the back of my storage unit. Stripped the front AAM 9.25 of its coil spring suspension brackets and converted it back to SRW from DRW. Will be adding a free spin kit on the front down the road so I have locking hubs and get better mileage. Briefly thought about doing a coil spring front suspension on it but decided to keep it leaf spring for simplicity and because I want to be out driving it this summer. Drilled/cut/ground/chiseled out the rivets on one side of the rear suspension. Was going to flop the front and rear spring/shackle mounts to gain some lift. Found out I can't flip the front spring hanger without the spring hitting so I will space it down on the frame, will be like the back shackle hanger except I will use some 1/4" wall tubing instead of angle. Then will run longer shackles. Plan on getting more done on the rear suspension this week, also need to finish pulling out the OE drivetrain. Hope to have the rear axle mocked up under it with tires this next week. Here are some pics. The wife has gone from saying "h**l no" to"maybe" on the Maya Rally.

[chilliwak]

Excellent progress Shortbus! Looks like things are coming along nicely. Keep us posted with updates and LOTS OF PICS!

[98dango]

Love it keep it up you Inspired me to drag the old scout out and get to work on it.

[DoMiNiC1]

Awesome build!!!

[shortbus4x4]

Thanks for the compliements. Glad I could get some fellow binder nuts motivated to work on their own "junk".

Well I came to my first obstacle on the rear suspension lift and am having to drop back 10 and punt. I am using the stock springs which are 2 1/2" wide. Well the stock rubber bushings and sleeves are 2 7/8" wide. Can't find the longer lift shackles like I want with the right dimensions. So I will be doing some customization, I know thats crazy talk when you are talking about an old Cornbinder. After doing some research and measuring and thinking the last couple of days I decided to get something a little more standard in the spring hanger/shackle department. Luckily my spring eyes are 1 1/2" dia which is fairly common. So today I ordered up spring hangers from Barnes and greaseable poly rear bushings and 6" super shackles from Offroad Designs. This will put my spring/shackle bushings at 3" wide and they will be greaseable. Tomorrow I am going to get the steel for the rear suspension upgrade. Hopefully the parts will be here by friday but I am not holding my breath. Here is a picture of my stock rear shackle.

[chilliwak]

Sounds like you have a good plan Shortbus. The idea of grease-able fittings is defiantly a plus!

[HOOLIGAN]

Wait a minute. You mean to tell me this was right down the street from me and I had no idea?

Can't wait to see the rest of this build.

[shortbus4x4]

Rear suspension parts supposed to be here Tuesday March 20. Didn't do anything on it this weekend, though I did go and see the Lorax. Did anyone else see this movie, there is a couple of sweet expo rigs in it.

[shortbus4x4]

Made some more progress on it this last weekend. Finished stripping the old powertrain out of it. Found a guy who bought the whole setup from me so we loaded all of it up Sunday afternoon. More room to work now. I put the engine/trans/transfercase in front of it too. I decided on my Cummins 3.9/Allison1000/NV271 combo. Destroked.com has a kit to put the Allison and 271 together. Here are some pictures.

[chilliwak]

Thanks for the update Shortbus. The truck looks great with all the parts removed and the new engine/transmission close beside. I am sure you are going to have a very unique and sturdy truck once you are all done. Can you tell us a little more about the motor you chose for your conversion? looking forward to the next updates/pics, Cheers, Chilli.