The Belafonte - aka "Poor man's EarthRoamer" Ambulance Build

[SLO_F-250]

Carl! Looks great man! The clear lights defiantly "de-ambulanced" it. So are you going to divulge some details?

What color are you planning for it?
4x4 conversion? Yes Yes Yes! haha
Etc Etc.

Looking forward to watching this one!
Paul

[jim65wagon]

The rain prevented us from getting the plywood and cutting cabinet pieces until later Sunday, so not much to show there. I did get some quality sawzall time in on the interior removing some sections on the front portion to allow that area to be evened out for the sliding fridge base.

Attachment 112437

Does the Ambo really need a sliding fridge? I would think it would be the perfect setup for a front opening fridge like the NorCold we have in the trailer. Mount it along the wall there, add some granite tile for a counter top, and you'll have yourself a real kitchen.
....

We really need to stop by and see this beastie....

[CLynn85]

Paul - 4wd Conversion - eventually. It was a lot higher on the list until I looked at the work needed to get it camp-able vs the work to get it into 4wd, it's going to get camperized first, then 4wd. Color will stay white with potentially a gray stripe for the time being, would eventually like to do a charcoal color with some graphics, but that's much farther down the road. More to come

Jim - I'd love to have a fridge like that, but I already have a 63qt chest style that's been used for our last 2 camping setups (and numerous racing weekends) that's sitting in the basement that I bought for less than half of a new rv/marine-style fridge, and couldn't sell for half of what it'd cost to get a new one, plus, aside from being higher than I'd like, the new spot we've created for it is perfect.

Had a week of no progress due to work and then racing in the woods, now I'm ready to tackle the interior once again, stay tuned.

[4lowdean]

Will follow this build for sure! Keep up the good work and keep the pics coming.

[Baotchi]

What is the height inside? Can you stand up? Sorry if you said it in the thread I went trough pretty quick.

Thanks

[CLynn85]

What is the height inside? Can you stand up? Sorry if you said it in the thread I went trough pretty quick.

Thanks

66", wife and I are both 70" so we stand a little bent over. If we remove the hand hold bar down the middle there'd be a spot where we could stand up, and there's also quite a bit of height that could be gained by re-doing the entire ceiling/lighting/headliner, which will more than likely happen at some point in the future.

[CLynn85]

Not a whole lot to report. Feel like I do way more work than anything on here can reflect. Been doing a lot of little things to get it ready to pass inspection since it's been off the road for a year or two. I hate when people let vehicles sit, worst thing you can do.

Anyway, got around to relocating the wiring harness for the rear control panel. Area it was in is being freed up for the fridge, so we decided to move it up to one of the smaller cabinets that didn't have a nice door on it and didn't have a pre-determined use for yet. I find out a lot about the way this thing's wired everytime I do something, which has been an adventure in itself. I did manage to figure out why the rear hvac controls weren't working, that was a nice simple fix.

Here's the old panel temporarily hung in the new location until I get a new panel fab'd up. New panel will probably include a 12V socket and a battery meter.

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With that out of the way I went to attacking the counter/cabinet setup again. When I began I chose 1/2" hardwood ply, kind of wishing I'd gone 3/4, have to do a lot to make this as sturdy as I'd like but oh well, was channeling my inner Colin Chapman I guess. I cut the slot for the drawer and prepped the area for the drawer slides. It's not ideal but pretty convenient just to do base-mounted slides. I know they're not designed for full load capacity mounted this way but the drawer is just going to be for utensils and such so I'm not too worried.

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Cut a sheet to fill some gaps and lay a fresh base for the area where the fridge is going. It'll mostly get covered up, but I feel better about it being all nice and sealed up once the trim is on doing it this way, just a cleaner look I suppose.

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That's it for now, hopefully can make some pretty good strides this weekend with the counter and drawer. Still waiting on the sink/range to come in so I'll probably start working on the couch/bed side next.

Oh and it's nice having a camper that provides its own worklights

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[jim65wagon]

You realize, Carl, that the interior on this is the size of my first apartment in college?

[SLO_F-250]

Carl,
Great work man! Looks like such a FUN project! The work lights are key! Mods mid-trip not a problem anymore!

Here is some motivation for ya!



Belefonte in 2 years! You can do it!

[CLynn85]

James - I know it is quite large, but the thing about this thing is that it messes with your sense of scale. The interior looks quite larger than it actually is and the exterior looks much smaller, it's quite weird really.

Paul - Thanks, like I need any more inspiration The ujor kit will be coming at some point, priority is getting it mildly camperized to start though.