Ripping Gumby's rear end apart - Steel Soldiers::Military Vehicles Supersite

maddawg308 · 10-02-2007, 00:13

Had some time on Monday, to work on my ambulance project again. With the engine running okay, and the brakes all done, time to work on the body and get this beast together.

Spent a little time working in the back end of the -725 ambulance. The floor consisted of a 1/2" piece of plywood, measuring about 92x36", with a few small cutouts for the rear stairs mounting. The plywood was covered with a 3/16" thick rubber mat, glued to the plywood. What held the plywood down to the floor of the rear compartment was just a few screws along the side.

Now, before I continue, let me say that sometime in this vehicle's history, the truck was high-centered on something, which damaged its driveshaft, the spare tire mount, one of the transfer care mounting brackets, gas tank, and put a big dent in the floor of the rear compartment. The dent is visible circled in red in the photo below. Hard to see in the pic, but I can easily hammer it down with a sledge. No penetration of metal was done by the object that damaged the rest of the truck. So, no need to worry about sheet metal welding here.

When I removed the plywood, I saw a lot of time's effects. The dent in the floor caused a big void to form between the sheet metal and wood, and hornets, mice and rust made their homes. The rust was only surface, worst areas were at the rear by the dual doors. Need to DA sand and prime/paint this area before I put new plywood and rubber mat back in the rear end.

Enjoy the pics, will post more updates as time continues.....

acetomatoco · 10-02-2007, 07:17

Ran over an elephant in the zoo? Look for Rhino Horns in the compartments...or a tiger in the tank...