My name is Kaleb, I am restoring a 75 wayne corporation Dodge Care-o-van. My father bought it nearly 20 years ago. It has been laying around ever since. It was decommissioned by the fire dept. that we bought it from. I am trying to restore it to working condition.
Restoring a vintage ambulance
- Thread starter Kaleb Cue
- Start date
Lightbarnut
New Member
Welcome to the site. I'm a member of the PCS forum as well and have been watching your threads about it as you fix it up.
It has been a bit of a treasure hunt with a few good deals and alot of dead ends!Lightbarnut said:
Hoser said:
a few more pics here: Road Toad pictures by Spoolinhard - Photobucket
JennyCop
Member
Hi, 
Welcome to the site! Lots of great people and information here! Thank you for sharing the pictures of your project with us, that is one rare and unique ambulance. :thumbsup: Do you plan on restoring it back to the original fire dept. specs or like the picture in the ad?
*Jenny*
Welcome to the site! Lots of great people and information here! Thank you for sharing the pictures of your project with us, that is one rare and unique ambulance. :thumbsup: Do you plan on restoring it back to the original fire dept. specs or like the picture in the ad?
*Jenny*
Thanks! I am going to restore it back to the fire department configuration. It served in a nearby town so it holds a little history to the area. I think that it tells more of a story that way rather than the way that Wayne rolled them out. I do think that I am going to add a white stripe around it where the original orange one used to be.
JennyCop
Member
cool! by looking at the pics ( door frames) it looks like it was originally white with the orange stripe like the ad, and painted red later, probably by the fire dept. A vehicle with a history is always nice and holds more sentimental value. It also gets lots of attention in its area due to many memories of seeing it in action back in the day! I like the idea of the white stripe, I think it will look good! :thumbsup: It also appears to have been equipped with less lights than the one on the ad, no side or rear warning or the Ambulance signs on the roof, interesting. I suppose those cost more as options back then and the deptartment just chose the basic model to do the job. Keep up the good work!
I like the idea of the white stripe, I think it will look good! :thumbsup: It also appears to have been equipped with less lights than the one on the ad, no side or rear warning or the Ambulance signs on the roof, interesting. I suppose those cost more as options back then and the deptartment just chose the basic model to do the job. Keep up the good work!
Last edited by a moderator:
No, it was optioned nearly identical to the one in the ad. All of this was removed upon decommission. I acquired a beacon and 4 ditch lights for it. I am still on the lookout for about 8 tunnel lights/bezels.
It was indeed the fire department who painted it red. unfortunately there is ALOT of bad body work under that flaking paint. It was patched together and put back into service. This one is going to test my metalworking skills for sure. The under body is very solid, the external sheet metal is pretty darn banged up. It is going to require alot of new structure to restore, but I am looking forward to it.
I should also add that my dad bought this when I was very young. We are a mopar family and we thought it was pretty cool when we first saw it. In fact, I have never seen another! It has been sitting around for nearly 20 years and he never did anything with it. I saved it from the scraper a few times throughout the years. People who hauled iron off the place would salivate at the shear size of it! I am also ashamed to admit that some of the exterior damage resulted from us moving it around. Its not easy moving something this large around! It was sitting on the edge of a field most of the time we owned it. I know that when we pulled it out of its resting place I made sure to be careful this time!
It was indeed the fire department who painted it red. unfortunately there is ALOT of bad body work under that flaking paint. It was patched together and put back into service. This one is going to test my metalworking skills for sure. The under body is very solid, the external sheet metal is pretty darn banged up. It is going to require alot of new structure to restore, but I am looking forward to it.
I should also add that my dad bought this when I was very young. We are a mopar family and we thought it was pretty cool when we first saw it. In fact, I have never seen another! It has been sitting around for nearly 20 years and he never did anything with it. I saved it from the scraper a few times throughout the years. People who hauled iron off the place would salivate at the shear size of it! I am also ashamed to admit that some of the exterior damage resulted from us moving it around. Its not easy moving something this large around! It was sitting on the edge of a field most of the time we owned it. I know that when we pulled it out of its resting place I made sure to be careful this time!
Last edited by a moderator:
Wigwam700
Member
I think that is an old " Fat Boy" ambulance, but I could be wrong there should be a middle door in the back.
JennyCop
Member
Todd,
I think you may be wrong, I believe the "Fat Boy" ambulance was widened all the way around here is a pic! (with your third door ) Picture credit: ALLPAR.COM
I think you may be wrong, I believe the "Fat Boy" ambulance was widened all the way around here is a pic! (with your third door
) Picture credit: ALLPAR.COM
Wigwam700
Member
JennyCop said:Todd,
I think you may be wrong, I believe the "Fat Boy" ambulance was widened all the way around here is a pic! (with your third door
You are correct my green light head friend! That must be one of the first generation Dodge modular Ambulances. :thumbsup:
Last edited by a moderator:
Kaleb,
The emergency tunnel lights appear to be old "Bulls Eye" Weldon warning lamps which were used on ambulances and school buses. If you can find these fixtures in a junk yard, obtaining replacement lamps should be fairly easy. I would suggest you update the flasher. Most ambulances in that era use a simple alternating or wig-wag flasher and members of the board can probably fix up with a compatible model number.
Check with local body shops about either restoring or repainting the vehicle. It is usually betteer to use a more modern primer and paint than the automotive paints of the 1970's. We had to use a lot of car wax and polish to keep them looking good.
Keep us posted, it is a neat project.
RL
The emergency tunnel lights appear to be old "Bulls Eye" Weldon warning lamps which were used on ambulances and school buses. If you can find these fixtures in a junk yard, obtaining replacement lamps should be fairly easy. I would suggest you update the flasher. Most ambulances in that era use a simple alternating or wig-wag flasher and members of the board can probably fix up with a compatible model number.
Check with local body shops about either restoring or repainting the vehicle. It is usually betteer to use a more modern primer and paint than the automotive paints of the 1970's. We had to use a lot of car wax and polish to keep them looking good.
Keep us posted, it is a neat project.
RL
EVModules
Member
JennyCop said:Todd,
I think you may be wrong, I believe the "Fat Boy" ambulance was widened all the way around here is a pic! (with your third door
Good heavens! I can't wrap my mind around the idea of "Hey, let's split a van right down the middle and add stuff in the middle to widen it!". I would have declared him a public nuisance & shot him on the spot. Twice for good measure.
Thanks for the info on the tunnel lights. I do body and paint work myself, so that won't be a problem. I will probably blast the metal clean, start with an epoxy primer, then use a polyester primer/ filler and top it off with a base/clear coat. I use to work at a PPG paint store, so Im a bit partial to it.tnems7 said:
See if someone has pictures of the ambulance when it was new, or if some of the Fire Dept. members can recall lighting configuration.
I don't think the lights on your ambulance had the chrome bezels. Those would have most likely been a surface mount Unity sealed beam light with the white extrusions used to create the tunnel light. (The 1976 Ambulance pictured was probably from another manufacturer.) Siren speakers or a small light bar with center speaker grill was mounted above the crew cab.
Were there holes for roof-mounted beacons? Since rear roof warning lights appear to be missing, search for bracket holes at the rear and front of the top. Model 184 or Model 14 roof beacons were common on the front, or tear drop lights or Unity flood lights on the roof cap at the rear. The mounting holes or pictures of the original vehicle might show how it was configuered.
Most of the era flashing light's were a Weldon or similar red plastic light face and diffuser, with a GE sealed beam and metal lamp cage. The lighthead was flush with the roof cap, but the lamp could be tilted a little in the light cage to direct the light beam. That was the reason for the large recessed holes. (A strobe conversion kit was introduced later, so the same light heads could be used.) The amber OEM front signal lamps are missing in the photo, and there don't appear to be warning lights in or behind the grill.
The rear signal lamps appear to be Grote tail lights like those used on recreational vehicles in the 1970's. We used to glue in some polished aluminum foil into the back as a reflector, since these tail lights just had a white plastic backing
I don't think the lights on your ambulance had the chrome bezels. Those would have most likely been a surface mount Unity sealed beam light with the white extrusions used to create the tunnel light. (The 1976 Ambulance pictured was probably from another manufacturer.) Siren speakers or a small light bar with center speaker grill was mounted above the crew cab.
Were there holes for roof-mounted beacons? Since rear roof warning lights appear to be missing, search for bracket holes at the rear and front of the top. Model 184 or Model 14 roof beacons were common on the front, or tear drop lights or Unity flood lights on the roof cap at the rear. The mounting holes or pictures of the original vehicle might show how it was configuered.
Most of the era flashing light's were a Weldon or similar red plastic light face and diffuser, with a GE sealed beam and metal lamp cage. The lighthead was flush with the roof cap, but the lamp could be tilted a little in the light cage to direct the light beam. That was the reason for the large recessed holes. (A strobe conversion kit was introduced later, so the same light heads could be used.) The amber OEM front signal lamps are missing in the photo, and there don't appear to be warning lights in or behind the grill.
The rear signal lamps appear to be Grote tail lights like those used on recreational vehicles in the 1970's. We used to glue in some polished aluminum foil into the back as a reflector, since these tail lights just had a white plastic backing
tnems7 said:
This is a wayne care-0-van ambulance, the same as in the brochure photo. The only difference is the year, mine is a 75. The lights were pretty much the same. Im guessing the polished bezels were an option , I found a picture of another one the same year, they were painted. The beacon was origionally a model 184. It had dual cp 100 speakers on top the cab just like the photos. I know this for sure becuase I went back to the fire department that it came from and I got one of them back. You are correct on the tail lights. I have yet to find another, but they were on recreational vehicles from the 70's.