Mk7 ambulance to camper

[bortaf]

Thought i'd pop a post up of my latest (well 2 months ago) purchase

005.JPG

I call it the colonel in deference to the reg plate (KFC) there are many chicken jokes to come trust me

It was up on here in the ebay section a couple of months back but i'd already bought it by then, to answer a few of the easy questions -
I paid 4grand for it, yes i could of bought a merc for 2.5G but then i'd own a frikken merc FFS, i dont want a V6 with leaking injectors or a 5pot with twin turbos and leaking injectors, i wanted a ford with a low millage engine 59K (replacemnet)
a box i can stand up in (6f3 in the wilker body as opposed to the 6Ft in the merc WAS bodied conversions)
i wanted the simpler and less power hungry phoenix managment system (4 amps on standby 2 when asleep as opposed to the WAS conversions genisys system with its 12A on standby no idea what they draw when asleep),
the tail lift was already removed and trust me that's a pain in the arse of a job i'd rather pay the last owner to do (and i did in a way),
also payed him (in the prurhase price) to remove the dam batenburgs! another pain in the arse job, also it has a half decent paint job so all in given the work i didn't have to do and the parts the last owner put into it i was more than happy with the price i paid.

Walk round vid here
https://youtu.be/8mAUKoGdfb4
small follow up here of the managment system
https://youtu.be/-1SFeYeZrks
P.S the YT name is cos it was ment to be my metal detecting channel but been busy caring for pensioners for the last 6 years hense my dissapearance from the web (some may remember me? if you do Halloo chaps)

Things to do ? evrything ! i'm waiting on the V5 back from DVLA with change of tax class to PHGV so i can tax it and get it home, i picked totaly the wronge time to send owt to DVLA as it's been 6 weeks and not only isn't it done but they wont communicate through email about it due to lack of staff (understandable given the current crisis) hohum it'll be back home soon i hope!
I have a Cmax steering wheel and hopefully will be getting the BCM sorted to use the CC at some point, i'll possably visit vantuner with it cos i also want the BCM in my fusion updating to use the spec 2 info dash from my fiesta i'm breaking, no idea if he can do that not even contacted him yet? all still in the planning stage till we can all get about again ???
I have speed and direction controls for the roof fans, they are bloody noisy and way too fast at the mo to be running all day/night so i intend to control them with PWM controlers form ebay

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/DC-9-60V-12V ... Sw~AFdnFNL

I'll be simplifying the charging sytsem (well sort of), at the mo it uses a 3 way battery isolator (alt in - 3 curcuits out) to seperate and charge 3 battery banks, vehical-phoenix system- tail lift, i have a Dc to Dc charger to replace that that also takes solar input so i will have just the 2 battery banks, camper and vehical with the camper bank charged by solar (400w) and alt when on the move, the B to B charger will also float charge the vehical battery from solar when the camper battery bank is full and handle the 40A charge when on the move, this is made easyer cos when orderd new the base vehical was orderd to euro 4 standard so no DPF or smart charge, nice of them
Speaking of when new, the base vehical was a chassis cowl not chassis cab, it was converted by wilker for use in Ireland, the speedo was in Km and it reached 188Km before decomissioning, it then went to a driver training school in Bolton where it had a new engine fitted at some point (from what i can mke out from invoices and contacting the driving school) and a MPH dash fitted and programed at a local ford dealer, that's about all the history i have at the moment, i am in contact with my local amby service center but again they are a bit busy at the mo but a great bunch of blokes i've know for a few years and i have a few mates who sub for LAR and use the same managment system in their trucks so i'm slowly gaining knolledge on it.
I'll keep this thead updated as i go but it will be slow till i get the V5 back and the colonel comes home so i can play !

If anyone is interested i'll put up a list of what i use when i get it ?
i use renogy PV pannels and B2B+solar charger, mainly due to recomendation on YT and i got a 10% off offer (5% more than standard) when i enquired so coant grumble really.

[walt1984]

Reminds me of a guy that has a channel called project amber that posts videos on YouTube of his conversion, maintenance, day to day living and trips.
His is a merc but painted same colour and the cupboards etc look similar to what yours has.

Sent from my SM-A107F using Tapatalk

[bortaf]

Yep i know project Amber and project WAS, well when i say i know them i chat with them online unfortunatly the best ambulance group seems to be on facebook which i don't do, i know, i know but i don't do FB end of
TBH they ni-on all have the same style cupboards even though Amber is a German build and mines a UK build, lights, locks ect ect are all from the US so are the same

[walt1984]

I'm on Facebook mainly for all buy and sell pages, landrover spares etc.
Been watching his videos of the conversion of his ambulance and the sleeper added over the cab.
Watched a few of yours on your channel too.
Now I've caught up with bangers and cash and car sos on the telly there's nowt much worth watching.

Sent from my SM-A107F using Tapatalk

[bortaf]

TBH i havn't watched TV for 3 years, don't even have an aerial on my TV been pretty much exclusive YT all that time, i prefer real ality over reality TV well if you ignor the vanlife luvies that pervade YT theres a dam lot of content
When and IF i ever get the amby taxed and get it home i'll make a start on a video series, i'm off to it to check a few parameters of the Phoenix system tomorrow, if there's enough i may do another vid but at the mo all i can do is show what i've bought and have planned and TBH the plans will most likely change as i get stuck into it so a vid on plans will be a waste of peeps time watching ? frustrating but rather small on the scale of things to worry about at the moment

[bortaf]

A right crappy update
DVLA finaly rang me monday after 2 months to tell me the dept that deals with ambulances is closed, it was closed a month before they told me to send in my paperwork and have no idea when it will reopen so more waiting i guess
In the meen time i found a stash in the roof space

https://youtu.be/AspbncKXTUA

[bortaf]

Want to see an overly complicated split charging system ? no ? no worrys don't click the link , yes ? click away LOL
https://youtu.be/mWi7pI1zk4s

That mess has taken me 2 months to trace, check, sort, adapt and build
Try and remember this isn't just a camper it's also my mobile workshop, hense the 3 seperate battery systems, vehical, camper and workshop jump starting/powering up a stranded boat takes a few special items like 60Ft jump leads and ability to leave the vehical locked and running without the keys in the ign, normal car stuff needs the outside lighting and on site (IE boat yard) works requires a well lit workshop and the odd power take off point for powering up parts i'm trying to fix/test.
As i say in the vid i could of just ripped it all out and started again but then i'd loose a lot of the functionality the ambulance control system provides, the downside being it needed adapting to suit, IE all the isolators and relays i really have gone through a shitload of asprin over this one and lost some sleep, even started counting live wires to try and fall asleep
Yes the videoing is dire but i am getting better, just watch the early stuff to see how bader? worser that was

[bortaf]

Finally got my V5 sorted and the amby is taxed
Brought it home this eve, now time to start ripping it appart
New tax class - PHGV
New body style - van with windows
they even put a Revenue weight on the V5, in fact everything a asked for they did i know right, EVERYTHING

[Jay2018]

This mk7 looks awesome!

[bortaf]

Well 3 years later and it's about 80% finished, finished enough to use it and TBH it will never be finished
bed and seating done appart from covering the cushions on the seat

bed and seat.jpg

Garage for all the crap i carry, i do like to be well tooled up when i'm out and about and i use it as a workshop when i'm away working on boats

camper 018.jpg

still got some tiling to do before i cut a door into the cab

camper 020.jpg

7 cctv cameras may be overkill but most of them came out of a skip se were free and free is allways good

camper 011.jpg

camper 005.jpg

[bortaf]

And another post to fit all the CCTV crap in

camper 004.jpg

camper 006.jpg

Main CCTV screen

camper 009.jpg

which is watched by camera No7 that sends alerts and video to my phone via the onboard Mifi (mobile wifi)

camper 008.jpg

which meens i can watch the 4 external cams anywhere without paying out for a camera system that cost ni on £400 this setup cost me less than £100, oh and there's a 2nd rear camera for the android head unit and a forward facing one also for the head unit that records both as dash cams and below is £800 worth of LiFeP04 battery i have to run it all along with 400W of solar which also back charges the starter battery, it's a bit basic but has over 280Ahrs, which is overkill TBH, i could run the camper for a ni-on 2 weeks with no charging at all

battery 005.jpg

[bortaf]

Solar on the roof (behind the sunlight reflection)

solar 1.jpg

And cos 5 external worklights are simply not enough i have a stupidly bright light bar on the front that runs via the old ambulance control system and 2 more rear facing side lamps that come on with reverse to light up the mirror view areas, i like lights in case no-one noticed

spring clean 2.jpg

and how she sits at the mo with full water tank and all tools ect in the boot

camper 012.jpg

just got to finish painting the nudge bar in bed liner and that can go back on

[Chug]

That's looking good dude, you do like your lights and cameras don't you

[bortaf]

That's looking good dude, you do like your lights and cameras don't you

just a wee bit