Ambulance Camper Conversion

[RDvWCaddy]

Hi

New to the forum but recently been working on a YT series converting an 20 year old Mercedes Sprinter ambulance into a camper van with Max McMurdo. Would love your feedback and if you think we should do more.

Link to the first episode below



Please do let me know what you think.

 

[Speve]

Great project it will be an interesting watch thanks for posting

 

[RDvWCaddy]

No worries, glad you liked it. 6 episodes on the ambulance but we're keen to do more. Lots of ideas!

 

[ambulancekidd]

 

[Langtoftlad]

chaser likes an ambulance

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[glenn2926]

chaser likes an ambulance

Does that make him an ambulance chaser?

 

[chaser]

chaser likes an ambulance

I do yeah but I like to keep as much as possible in where others like to rip it all out so in my opinion lose all the benefits of buying an ambulance, they are just left with a big empty van that they would have been better buying in the first place because believe me he is not kidding when he says it takes some getting out.
I had seats in mine , you can not believe how difficult it was to get them out, had to use angle grinder on some but you are still left with the feet to remove.

 

[Armytwowheels]

Our first camper was a self converted ambulance. It set us off on the road of motor homing to eventually be fulltimers. No regrets so far.

 

[chaser]

In ours we have left all the water proof walls and floor and the insulation, all the interior lights, most of the windows, the original diesel night heater, the overhead lockers, all the original two battery electric system is still there as well.

 

[RDvWCaddy]

I do yeah but I like to keep as much as possible in where others like to rip it all out so in my opinion lose all the benefits of buying an ambulance, they are just left with a big empty van that they would have been better buying in the first place because believe me he is not kidding when he says it takes some getting out.
I had seats in mine , you can not believe how difficult it was to get them out, had to use angle grinder on some but you are still left with the feet to remove.

We did consider leaving all the cabinets in as they would have been great storage but in the end decided to gut it. Had some trouble with the wheel arches though

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[chaser]

We did consider leaving all the cabinets in as they would have been great storage but in the end decided to gut it. Had some trouble with the wheel arches though

Mine are about 9 inchs high but built the bed over them and lockers in front and behind them.
I am not on Facebook but there is a Facebook room or whatever it's called dedicated to ambulance conversions, Julie fills me in about it and before covid we did a rally with them.
Very interesting.

 

[RDvWCaddy]

Mine are about 9 inchs high but built the bed over them and lockers in front and behind them.
I am not on Facebook but there is a Facebook room or whatever it's called dedicated to ambulance conversions, Julie fills me in about it and before covid we did a rally with them.
Very interesting.

Ahh cheers i’ll check that out. Appreciate it

 

[Jim]

In ours we have left all the water proof walls and floor and the insulation, all the interior lights, most of the windows, the original diesel night heater, the overhead lockers, all the original two battery electric system is still there as well.

The oxygen must come in handy some morning Chas

 

[chaser]

The oxygen must come in handy some morning Chas

That was one thing I took out , it was all tubed up for it.

 

[Minxy]

In ours we have left all the water proof walls and floor and the insulation, all the interior lights, most of the windows, the original diesel night heater, the overhead lockers, all the original two battery electric system is still there as well.

In other words you wanted to have as easy a job of 'converting' as possible!

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[chaser]

In other words you wanted to have as easy a job of 'converting' as possible!

Absolutely, why not?

 

[chaser]

In other words you wanted to have as easy a job of 'converting' as possible!

When I planned on the ambulance it was simply because I could see that it was all ready for what we needed without having to mess with insulation and windows, even roof lights in and split charger, huge batteries, the lot, really only needed a mattress and you could have been away, but after a couple of c class vans we could see what we needed was a usable shower space and toilet which was the first things in and everything else had to fit in around it.

 

[Minxy]

Absolutely, why not?

Exactly, can't understand when people buy them with loads of stuff in then strip them out.

When I planned on the ambulance it was simply because I could see that it was all ready for what we needed without having to mess with insulation and windows, even roof lights in and split charger, huge batteries, the lot, really only needed a mattress and you could have been away, but after a couple of c class vans we could see what we needed was a usable shower space and toilet which was the first things in and everything else had to fit in around it.

One of the reasons why I did an ambulance conversion but unfortunately the one we bought had already had it's innards removed leaving just the main structure, wall panelling etc, plus the lighting. We removed the bulkhead to open it up more and replaced the black glass with clear then I just designed and kitted it out for our needs.

 

[gus-lopez]

 

[chaser]

Just been having a look at ambulances on eBay, WOW, they have certainly jumped on the camper band waggon, double or three times what we paid for ours , same age and condition as ours was three years ago.
Makes it a dear job now.

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[RDvWCaddy]

Just been having a look at ambulances on eBay, WOW, they have certainly jumped on the camper band waggon, double or three times what we paid for ours , same age and condition as ours was three years ago.
Makes it a dear job now.

We picked this one up for £1,500

 

[Jamesh]

Most are 4 tonnes though which limits who can drive them?

On the plus side you can have liver and bacon one night and steak and kidney the next....

Cheers James

 

[scally]

I had one for nearly 30 years used it for weekend rallies with stationary enginees and tut to sell. Ŕe converted when I retired for longer term living touring through the summer months. It was a ' Mountain ' body on a a Leyland daff chassis. V8 auto Rover engine. Some lxads had bought it from auction before me , gutted it and slapped paint inside ( took weeks to scrape off with the flexing of panels) then toured Russia in it. Loved it I did but no power steering so due to age had to sell and buy a flimsy

 

[scally]

Most are 4 tonnes though which limits who can drive them?

On the plus side you can have liver and bacon one night and steak and kidney the next....

Cheers James

Get them derated after stripping and fitting out mine went from over 4 tonnes to 2850 kg

 

[Conrad J]

Someone please enlighten me - what's the great thing about an old ambulance, instead of any other van? Also strikes me that Max could spend several thousand pounds on what at the end of the day is an old vehicle. But, yes, great project, when I was a kid I wanted to convert a furniture removal van to living accommodation, big enough for an upstairs and downstairs!!

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