Retired in Florida

I have been working on my new project , one that I been waiting for at least 30 yrs since I left the Air Force. i have always had a "thing " for ambulances. I remember going to my Aunt's house in west Cleveland , and passing the Eaton Plant , where there was an hi top International travel all, sitting just waiting for a call. when i was in the USAF, I saw all kinds of base and field ambulances, Jeeps and Dodges, whishing i could buy one, but never had the money, and in those days, they where sold on the base by sealed bid, Anyhow i am happy to finaly have got one . needs some work ,but it will be worth it .

Kudos on the project, and retirement.
By the way, retirement sucks as you will find out when you run out of projects. lol
If you ever need anything, Shop, paintbooth, ect ... Give me a buzz
im in Orange City Fl

The first thing I did was pressure wash the truck. I thought the underside was all rust, turned out to be oklahoma dirt. I have pressure wash the underneth at least 4 times and I'm not done yet. i have removed the vinyl stripes,and still working on removing the glue. The part over the cab has to come off, it has been smash ,rusted and looks like there was some leakage by the layers of caulk on it . so far I've remove the Winch, and am rebuilding it at this time . i have the bumper to straighten out , sandblast and paint, I have removed the fuel tanks and have one done .

Thanks , I should state that I'm not retired , but the dodge is , I had it shipped from OK to FL, to be restored and live the life of lesuire

Welcome to the site.

The best thing I have found to remove the glue from the vinyl is GoofOff..... I have a vinyl machine and I make many of designs with it. Iave had my Hummers covered in vinyl and I used the GoofOff on the glue to remove it witout harning the anoying yellow paint. Make sure you wipe it on, and off fast though.

I tried that ,bought a large can , its still a pain. The glue balls up when you rub it and you have to keep the rag soaked . I'll be glad when shoot a coat of primer on it , been working on getting interior parts and getting the it running. It was at Ft Sill ,OK ,with the Dept of Forestrey, and they hack up the dash for thier radio equipment, I found an old ramcharger which I was able to get some good parts off of , power steering and a perfect steering wheel.I have found out that there are not that much out there for 1973 Dodge truck parts .

Thanks , Phil, where's Coconut Creek ? I' lived in Florida most of my life, but missed that one .

Looks like a nice Dodge. W300 or W400? Looks to have the closed knuckle D70 front axle with the D60 rear. I'd kill to have of those PTO winch setups, lol.

The Koenig winch seems like a light duty set up for such a large truck . compared to the ones on ,say the M715 .This one was abused. I had to straighten out the mount, the winch housing was cracked. The roller fairlead doesn't have any grease fittings like the Ramsey fairlead.

Here's a look at the back. Dont know how I'm going to finish the back. would love to get the correct interior.

W200
and those front fenders and inner fender wells are unique to those Ambulances.
The ones I've seen have the D70 closed knuckle and 4 sp trans.
I have a surgical light in the classifieds.

also check this thread
http://www.steelsoldiers.com/m880/8364-power-wagon-ambulance.html

pic left to right
77 M880, 77 M886, 72 (or 73) W200, 78 W400
M880 owned by www.mmmt.us
M886 sold by Bob H
W200 owned by ODjeeper
W400 owned by Bob H

Great project. If you can find an M886 as a donor vehicle, all of the ambulance box stuff should interchange. I will enjoy watching the progress on this one.

Lanty. Being a 73, remote transfer case?

We use a heat gun to remove the vinyl part of a decal and lacquer thinner with old terry towel to remove glue.

some photos of the inside.

Here' s the lights that where in there, are they correct ?

I removed this vacuum canister from under the hood , anybody know what its for?

and those front fenders and inner fender wells are unique to those Ambulances.
The ones I've seen have the D70 closed knuckle and 4 sp trans.
I have a surgical light in the classifieds.

I think the "73" have very aggressive look to them , there is alot of room in the engine compartment . if you have any ambulance interior " stuff" let me know . and yes it is a closed knuckle D70 and a 4 speed, dont know which 4speed though , i would think a 435 NP. Still getting the mud and black build up off the tranny . finaly just getting a glimpse of it now

We had one of those at Patrick Air Force Base Hospital. It brings back a lot of memories when I see this vehicle. I drove one like it during a mass casualty situation in Cocoa Beach when a condominium under construction collapsed killing 11 workers (Harbor Cay Condominium). I was one of the ambulance drivers that day and transported several of the unfortunate victims of the disaster to Holmes Regional Medical Center in Melbourne Florida. I also used to transport patients to the flight line for med-evac on the C9 aircraft back when medical benefits like that existed. Always wanted one of those because it it had the right drive train for a military field ambulance plus the winch up front. Definitely a great MV to restore! Welcome to the site!

Alan R. Broadbent, Retired AF MSgt
West Melbourne Florida

I did use a heat gun. the vinyl came off easy , its the glue thats the tuff part, lacquer thinner does work , just takes time .