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

[CLynn85]

We just picked up the base for our new camper project a couple weeks ago and thought it'd be time to share. It's a '92 E-350 Wheeled Coach with the 7.3L IDI and 102,000 miles. It began life at Frog Level RS before being transferred to Bowling Green VFD. It then was returned back to Frog Level where the previous owner purchased it to be used as a work truck for his contracting company. Failing health meant he never touched it other than attempting to install a new (wrong) hood on it over 3 years of ownership.

For a little background on the decision, we've basically spent the last 5 years traveling the US and Canada in my Tacoma with various camping setups learning each time things we liked and didn't like. 2 Pop-up truck campers, a roof tent, a camper shell, and a pop-up trailer later we've conceded that what we need is more substantial than my little Tacoma can handle. As a result, the Tacoma will stay around performing truck and "fun" off-road duty, while a dedicated camper will take its place for overland-ish journeys. We considered a newer custom built FWC, or even the new compact XP camper for a while, as well as several custom-built options for the Tacoma, but a number of factors made us start looking at larger platforms for a self-contained solution.

We looked at different types of vans, box trucks, uhauls, fire trucks, and other more creative cab/chassis and box combinations, as well as considered doing the build-it-yourself box method before I finally sold the wife on the idea of an Ambulance. After we went to look at one in person, she was convinced. We looked at a few in and around VA until we found an unmolested example that was in our price range and pulled the trigger. This is what we brought home:

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Cosmetically it's in pretty good shape. The PO began removing the fire department vinyl, only to find a painted-on stripe in poor condition underneath. Our plan is to finish removing the portion of vinyl that he started, and to cover everything with a neutral-colored stripe that's less "emergency vehicle" looking, and to remove the strobes and replace the red covers with clear ones.

Mechanically it's pretty sound, runs and drives wonderfully, will take it to a familiar fleet maintenance place for a good once-over before any long trips. Eventual plans call for a UJOR 4wd conversion with a mild lift/tire upgrade, but I plan on fully exploring the limits of the stock suspension and limited-slip rear first.

The interior is where we get to have the most fun. We'll be modifying the left side of the box to create the galley area, and the right side will receive a new sofa/bed combination. Carpet will be necessary since our dog hates slick surfaces, and we'll do our best to eliminate the ambulance-ness of it and make it a bit more cozy.

The interior as we picked it up:

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Obligatory SketchUp plans:

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[Haggis]

Cool! James was just telling about your latest purchase and what plans you had for it. Good luck with your build and we hope you and Lindy have some great adventures bumbling along the countryside with it. Hopefully this set-up sticks for you as your rapidly running out of vehicular options to explore. Hopefuly we'll get to share another campfire with you guys and get to check out your new digs.

[CLynn85]

Jack - Thanks for the screenshots, looks like a straightforward minimalist setup, I like it.

Mark - You're very correct, we're definitely running out of things to try, at least in our price range! We have a lot of hopes for this one though, and the more work we put into it, the more likely we are to keep it!

[CLynn85]

We made some progress on the beast. Wanted to tear into it enough to a) remove the easy stuff that we knew we wouldn't need, and b) get deep enough in to see how things were constructed and help decide on a path forward.

One of the primary reasons for the cutaway van style ambulance was for the pass through, which we wanted to have the ability for us to move between cab and camper on rainy days, and we wanted the dog to be able to ride in between us and have more room to move around. The jump seat, although in very nice shape, had to go to open up the area a bit. The box that the seat was mounted to concealed the inverter and suction pump. We had no use for the suction pump and the inverter didn't occupy much room at all, so we pulled the box too, much more floor space as a result.

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The left rear has an exhaust vent, and an access panel inside one of the cabinets. I wanted to see how it was configured so I pulled the panel and found this, just some dryer duct and an inline fan. Haven't decided whether to keep it or ditch it, but either way there's lots of free space to be had here.

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We pulled the CPR seat, padding, a shelf, cheesy plastic console, and oxygen ports/bottle mount and began scheming, with a lot more knowledge of how everything's put together.

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Anyone know what the structure is like on a wheeled coach box? Need to pull this panel to see how hard it'll be to add a window on this wall.

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Almost ready to start building!

[jim65wagon]

Carl, check out this "How It's Made" episode. It may help you on how the original construction is done. We gotta come over and check it out sometime!

[Overland Hadley]

Almost ready to start building!

So exciting! Looking forward to following this build.

[DzlToy]

you need to hit pirate and talk to gavan and yager and a few others who have already done this. Lots of discussion there on building ambulance boxes.

[Jim Oaks]

Can't wait to see how this turns out. I'm surprised that I don't see more of these ambulance builds.

[CLynn85]

The weather wasn't very conducive to getting ANYTHING done this weekend. Rained most of the weekend and kept me from getting most chores done until Sunday afternoon, prime ambulance working time. We did manage to get all the lettering and adhesive off. It's not perfect, and someone had tried removing some of it before we got it with a razor, so there's a few knicks and gouges, but already looks much better IMO. The red stripe (painted originally then covered in new vinyl) will get covered with some gray vinyl to neutralize the Ambo-effect and hold us over until we paint it. New lenses should come in some time this week to change out the red lights on the box with clear.

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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.

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Unfortunately this week is a killer, 11-12hr days m-w and then gone Thurs-Sun for RallyWV, so not much Ambo-action this week

[CLynn85]

So I take that back. The new lenses for the side/front lights came in today so I swapped them really quick this evening, couldn't wait. Trying to make it more and more less ambulance-ish, think it's working.

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