Ambulance Top from TV show

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AAVP7
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Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by AAVP7 » Thu Sep 07, 2017 3:48 am

Overhere in Germany, our largest MV dealer actually has his own TV show. The weekly show has him traveling the world and buying crazy stuff, a bit like the UK´s "Combat dealers" show.

Anyway, on one of the recent episodes, you could see him on a dealership in South Carolina finding three M997 ambulance tops.

An HMMWV ambulance top is a thing I always wanted to have, so after allowing a few weeks for shipping to Europe, I called the dealer and inquired about the ambu tops. Two were still available, and the price idea was realistic, so I went for a look.
The ambulance top had very faded paint outside, and a few dents. But those dents were on parts that can be hammered out, not on the aluminium/fiberglas side walls. And to my amazement, the interior was almost complete, even down to the heater and the air condition system. Also, the wiring and tubing down to the HMMWV body had been very carefully disconnected, not the usual wire cutters.
Very few parts are missing, like the right hand rear door, and the blue glas from the B/O lights (probably "demil")

Of course, I had to buy this top, and trailered it home rightaway:
WP_20170804_13_08_50_Prom.jpg
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The (almost complete) Interior needs a good cleaning, and the plastic gilde strips for the stretchers have broken and need to be replaced, but apart from that it´s really nice :
DSC_7361m.jpg
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The missing right door would actually be available; however the dealer I found doesn´t ship outside the U.S.. But I´m sure I´ll find a solution for this. Worst case, the door can be replicated.

I´m really looking forward to the challenge to get the heater and the A/C running again. But with the manuals available, that seems doable at the moment.

Now I have a severe problem: The plan was to convert my four-door M998 with the slantback parts I have already here. Now I need to decide wether to go slantback, or ambulance.....
Arnd

M997 Maxi Ambulance
M1045 Slantback
M1101 Trailer


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Re: Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by dilvoy » Thu Sep 07, 2017 11:55 am

Keep all the parts so you can switch back and forth every so often.
George D. Paxinos

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Re: Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by AAVP7 » Fri Sep 15, 2017 2:49 am

I´ve got one question I have not been able to answer myself: How´s the rear of the ambulance body attached to the HMMWV ?

The front has two hardpoints that are connected to the body lift points between the front seats, that´s easy.

In the rear, there is a heavy square tube at the bottom of the overhang, which (I suspect) seems to connect to the airlift bumper.

But after checking all the manuals, I didn´t find any figure of the actual connection. Judging from pictures, there is about 2 inches of air between the airlift bumper, and the bottom of the overhang, so there have to be some spacers or something.

Do you experts have any good pictures of the situation, or even a manual page ?
Arnd

M997 Maxi Ambulance
M1045 Slantback
M1101 Trailer

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Re: Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by Action » Fri Sep 15, 2017 8:47 am

I dont think it would attach to the bumper. What would happen with body flex. Maybe bolt to tailgate hinge holes?

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Re: Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by AAVP7 » Fri Sep 15, 2017 10:33 pm

Hmm, that´s a possibility. There are some holes in the lower front of the overhang. And there are some traces of paint rubbed off, so it looks like the front of the overhang was firmly pressed again the rear body. I´ll take some pictures today.
Arnd

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M1045 Slantback
M1101 Trailer

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Re: Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by Kurt Lesser » Sat Sep 16, 2017 7:16 am

There are two bolts that fasten the body to the B pillar on each side of the door in the front. There are 5 bolts that fasten the body to the D pillar in the back. They are located up under the body overhang. There are also 2 filler pieces that screw to the top corners of the windshield frame.

You're correct that the body does not attach to the airlift bumper although it was a part of the ambulance kit. There is a gap between them that's a perfect spot to mount a pair of backup lights. The ones on the ambulance body are almost worthless and there are some very nice LED lights out there that are extra bright and fit into that space.

Electrically there two 8 gauge wires in the right front that connect directly to the batteries. Personally I think this is a bad plan and should have included a fuse or breaker. Something I regret not doing when I fitted my 996 body was removing the rear seat bases. By not removing them you lose about half of your storage space and trying to remove them after mounting the body is a real chore. I've also considered adding a pair of small batteries in the lower stowage compartments that are charged by the alternator but are electrically isolated by diodes from the main batteries so the ambulance body powers from them and won't draw down the main starting batteries. I changed all of the interior lights to LEDs to minimize their power draw.

Some other things I did were to add a small remote control switch to the power panel to turn the lights on without having to fumble your way thru a black box to get to the light switch and I added a blackout light bypass switch to the panel so you could leave the lights on when you open the back doors. I added a Southco locking door handle to the interior doors and a Yale key lock to the rear doors so that the body can be secured. I'll post some pictures when I get a new posting service setup.

The nice thing about the 997 body is the air conditioning unit in the passenger overhead area. There is only a Southwind heater there in the 996. I have tried for years to find one of the small Dometic AC units they sell for caravans in Europe without any success. The 13,500 and 15,000 BTU units they sell here in the US are way to large. You could sell popsicles out of the back with them and neither one will run on a stand alone generator. The 997 unit runs off of a compressor on the engine but who wants to leave their truck running all the time if your out camping? I'd much rather have a 3,000 or 5,000 BTU unit that will run off of a small 2K generator.

Keep your eyes open for a lunette extender if you intend to pull a trailer. The extra 18" of body length puts the trailer very close to the back of the truck and restricts opening the doors with it connected.

Things to think about.
Kurt Lesser
US Navy, 1969-1975
M996A1 Ambulance w/M101A3 Trailer
M274A2 Mule
M151A1 Mutt w/M416B1 Trailer
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Re: Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by AAVP7 » Sat Sep 16, 2017 8:18 am

Kurt, thanks very much for the explanations and hints.

I also had another look at the ambulance body today, and now I understand.

This picture of an upside-down M997 top shows the right side and the center hole in the transversal beam:
P1020588m2.jpg
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The visible large holes are probably just to put the screws through, the holes on the other side of the beam are smaller (1/2" ?), and they seem to correspond to the holes in the D beam underneath the tailgate.

Luckily, on my unit all the wiring is complete right up to the battery connectors, even nicely labeled. Plug and play, basically. But you´re right, I´ll try to add a fuse in there.

Regarding the A/C: I´ll try to get the original system running again. Will be a challenge, but at work I have contacts to several A/C contractors, and the system im my top doesn´t look too bad. An A/C system is not a complicated machine; the biggest problem area are usually the gaskets and their compatibility to the newer refrigerants (R12 is outlawed overhere, and I guess worldwide). I´ll need to aquire the compressor, bracket, belts, and part of the tubing.

Do you have any specific Dometic A/C unit in mind ? I could get one here in Germany, and ship it over to you, but shipping will be expensive.

Thanks again !
Arnd

M997 Maxi Ambulance
M1045 Slantback
M1101 Trailer

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Re: Ambulance Top from TV show

Post by AAVP7 » Wed Sep 20, 2017 3:56 am

FYI: I was able to find a R.H. rear door in Europe, picked it up yesterday, and installed it rightaway. Will need some more tweaking before the door will close properly, but basically, everything fits. The Ambu top looks much more complete now.

Thanks to all members who offered to help me aquire such a door. I really appreciate your support !
Arnd

M997 Maxi Ambulance
M1045 Slantback
M1101 Trailer


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