Anybody got tips on doing an ambulance conversion?

[ABC Auto Industry]

I have a couple copies of the re-issued AMT Chevy Van kits, and I intend to build ambulances out of them. My only problem is how to do the raised roof. I searched around and saw a couple of people did resin aftermarket roofs for this van, but I don't think anybody sells those anymore, so I was wondering how I could do this on my own. I imagine one would have to use styrene sheets such as Plastruct, but I'm open to any and all tips.

[GLMFAA1]

Easy to do, here are some of my old original release van the was fortunate enough to have the windows.

Cut the roof above the gutter strip use evergreen plastic sections to make the side risers

Some tubing used for the warning lights, use the roof for the top some putty will be needed

greg

[ABC Auto Industry]

Thank you! I probably won't be using any side windows, although I might cut out some openings in the rear doors and insert some clear plastic for the rear windows.

[AMT4EVR]

Greetings Dylan,

                             Yes, I can help with a few tips, so here they are,

PHOTOS; Take several pictures of a real ambulance , front and back then sides and don't forget some shots of just the extended top if it's on a van, also a few up close photos of the emergency lights is also helpful.

GOOGLE; Google Images has thousands of pictures of any make or brand manufacture of ambulances you may want.

E-BAY; Go there, and search for ambulance brochures, you'll come up with as many hard copies you might want to purchase for your project.

SUPPLIES; You"ll need sheet and strip stock for the roof and round or square stock for the light pods

                             And, if Greg happens to read this again. he has some photos of a custom stretch Chevy ambulance conversion I did a few years ago, maybe he"ll repost them again  for all of us to see.

                              It's not that difficult of a project, pretty simple and straight forward.... Good Luck                        .... JOHN

[ABC Auto Industry]

20 hours ago, AMT4EVR said:

Greetings Dylan,

                             Yes, I can help with a few tips, so here they are,

PHOTOS; Take several pictures of a real ambulance , front and back then sides and don't forget some shots of just the extended top if it's on a van, also a few up close photos of the emergency lights is also helpful.

GOOGLE; Google Images has thousands of pictures of any make or brand manufacture of ambulances you may want.

E-BAY; Go there, and search for ambulance brochures, you'll come up with as many hard copies you might want to purchase for your project.

SUPPLIES; You"ll need sheet and strip stock for the roof and round or square stock for the light pods

                             And, if Greg happens to read this again. he has some photos of a custom stretch Chevy ambulance conversion I did a few years ago, maybe he"ll repost them again  for all of us to see.

                              It's not that difficult of a project, pretty simple and straight forward.... Good Luck                        .... JOHN

Thanks, John! Are you referring to that scale model of the Superior 61 widebody ambulance I saw while lurking around? Because that was FAR OUT!

Truth be told, I'm not really basing my ambulance off of any specific conversion, although I was hoping to use the Superior 61-S - the regular-width version - as inspiration.

[AMT4EVR]

If your interested, I went digging in my files and came up with the 61-S regular width ambulance brochure. Need copies of that ?? I will even throw in a few photos of my conversion that I did  just for some building ideas.   If I can be of anymore help... send me a PM.          ....JOHN

[martinfan5]

I can't recall who did it, but one of the resin casters made a resin abmo top to fit the vans, but I just simply can not recall who it was , and Google isnt helping either other then a few photos from it being listed on a "whats it worth" website.

 

 

Edited April 29, 2019 by martinfan5