#VanLife

Or, ambulance life?

Going to be a big project, needs a lot of work. But it runs well, mechanicals seem to be in good shape. Need to do more research on best upgrades and such and start digging in on repair work. Oh, and registration

 

Approved!

 

Excellent! Sweat equity beats a hefty payment every time. Training Vehicle, aye

It probably has factory dual batteries and possibly dual alternators. A flat roof you can stand on? I see possibilities there... No windows mitigates potential problems. Perfect base for a dirtbagging proj, have fun building it out.

 

And if you leave the emergency lights on, traffic won't be much of a problem. As a bonus you'll be able to pick people up from wrecks to make a few extra bucks.

 

SWEET!
You going to get @llpooljay to help you out? If so snipe a pic of him and share it with us so we know he's ok.

 

One large alternator. 215 amps is pretty damn good though! I've read that they are hard to find, might end up rewinding it if that day comes, or downgrade. I don't use a lot of power, so low stress. Has three small windows in the doors. Side window is sliding with a screen, I plan to replace the other two with the same sliding windows

I plan to add rooftop storage at some point, a place to keep some folding chairs

He just made his bike return last week. He got hurt pretty bad at work a few months ago.

 

Mother, Jugs and Speed? or Gumball Rally?

 

I had to look those up! The first trailer was... awkward...

 

I coulda sworn you were old enough to know those.

 

Smidge before my cinematic experiences took root!

 

One year (plus) update. Short version because I am lazy:

The van sat parked doing nothing for months. I was waiting to get laid off and didn't want to waste any of my personal time working on it if I was going to have all the time in the world. Took a little bit to get the paperwork done due to Covid, but I got it done. Not a single moment spent at the (closed) DMV! Everything was done by email.

Eventually I started to think I wasn't going to get laid off, so I might as well use it. I didn't really do much, just tried to fix some basic stuff. A lot of the wiring was messed up, but luckily not horribly so. Example: The headlight pull rod broke so the guy hacked into the connector with speaker wire to get the headlights working! I was able to return it back to stock, the pull rod just goes right back into place if you Google it (he probably pulled too hard).



A couple local overnight trips, then the GF and I decided to go out to Prescot or Sedona over New Years weekend. I couldn't get the engine to start one morning which I figured out was a bad set of glow plugs. I was on the phone with roadside assistance when I gave it one last try and it fired up! I bought a generator to run the block heater so that wouldn't happen again, figured a generator wasn't a bad way to spend money. Ended up getting a flat tire on the way home. The guy bought new FRONT tires, but not rear, and I failed to notice (see, I'm lazy).


Then my car accident meant I didn't have a car. So I was forced into making it my "daily driver". I ordered a bunch of parts and dug in. New set of tires, glow plugs (and relay), new turbo up pipes, fuel filter, and other things I don't remember. Several long days later (and few weeks after the initial pain of the wreck was gone) it was up and running, and reliable!


Few more short trips and I started getting to work on making it functional. Over a period of time I put in a stereo system (was just a hole), built a bed, installed solar panels, a house battery, got a fridge, and other odds and ends I can't remember.

Memorial Day weekend had a furlough day attached so we took a four day weekend to SW Utah. We got out of town late and drove until we were too tired and slept on an offramp somewhere in Nevada in my newly built bed, that was nice. You just pull over and crawl into bed! Made it to St George the next day and did some shopping for life improvements, including buying a large mason jar to brew sun tea (I am addicted to ice tea) and propane for the stove, then we did some running and riding. Packed up and went to Bryce to be "pacers" for a friend of ours running the Bryce Canyon 50 miler (a runner is allowed to join for the last 13 miles of the course). Her pacer dropped out on her so we surprised her by just showing up. We stayed overnight to do a little more running then ride a big loop that included Thunder Mountain after I replaced my dropper cable (packed most of my bike tools). We then went to Hurricane and camped out by Jem. She was pretty worn out and I wanted to do the Hurricane Rim loop, so we did our own things (it was 100*). Hit to road for home after that to hit not only holiday traffic, but also a wreck (looked like a big rig caught fire, closing the entire freeway). I luckily got off the freeway right as I saw brake lights and the road quickly backed up passed the offramp, literally within a couple minutes, so we slept there (or tried too, too hot) for a few hours.



I still have a lot more I want to do, mostly electrical stuff. The original control panel doesn't work properly so I can't run the lights inside while the engine is running, the built in fan doesn't work, etc so I am going to wire it all up to relays and switches. I spent a bunch of time going through the wiring and schematics, it actually won't be too hard. I want to put in a small water tank and small sink. Going to wire in the scene lights so I can light up the outside camp area at night, things like that. I have the power systems separated so I don't have to worry about killing the starter battery, and I have a charger that uses a combination of solar and alternator to charge the house battery AND start battery, and I could easily jump the start battery with the house battery the way I wired it.

Pretty stoked how it is turning out. This trip made me immensely happy with my decision. Still a lot of work, but it is working out great and I could full time it in here easily now.

 

Well first off, this is beyond cool. But the Hooligan questions are overflowing from within. But i will start with the practical ones first.

1. Are you required to remove the identifications as I can see that going horribly wrong for a desperate individual in dire need of an ambulance.

Now the Stupid questions:

1. Do you have a heart defibrillator?
2. Dose it require you to know CPR?
3. Can you say you are a doctor?
4. Do you play one on TV?

Like I said, this is way beyond cool...
Mike

 

1. I don't actually know. This belonged to a community college before and said "TRAINING VEHICLE" on it. But for a related anecdote:

The GF and I went to do the Cactus to Clouds hike, but bailed early at the tram. Since that wasn't a part of our original plan we had to run the 5-6 miles from the tram back top where we parked the night before. We decided to ditch all the hiking gear in a bush at the tram and ran back. I let the guy at the gate (which I didn't know existed) know that we would be back in a while to get our stuff and he didn't have a problem with it. There was additional security at the bottom of the road, I don't know what for.

On the way back we got waved through the first checkpoint as if we were an actual ambulance. It was as we were driving past that they suspected something was up. When I got to the gate I let the security guy there know it was us returning for our stuff and he just laughed at the whole thing of us being waved through for looking like an ambulance.

I have decided not to rush into painting this thing. But all identification has been removed. Only the red lenses remain, but are not functional.

1. I have jumper cables
2. I do know French CPR (a decal I plan to get)
3. Stolen Valor is a thing
4. Nope, and I haven't even stayed at a Holiday Inn Express since I got the van!

 

I'm always glad when you post up. As well, I look forward to scrolling down through STRAVA to see what maniacle crud you come up with. Always cracks me up!

 

I have my Red Cross CPR card. I'm clear, you're clear, all clear