Dodge Ambulance is now Chevy ambulance

The 1982 Bad Company Dodge Van from MPC is a custom van with air dam, wing, side pipes, flashy chrome wheels and an interior involving a couch. (No bed; this kit is aimed at families.) Converting it to an ambulance wasn't going to be difficult but it was going to involve locating a stock front roll pan and other stock bits, and tossing a bunch of custom bits in the bin.





AMT's recently re-released 1975 Chevy Rescue Van is a better platform for this conversion, because it is a stock platform and because it includes a number of useful bits like a gurney and oxygen bottles. So when a copy of the Chevy turned up at a local hobby shop (Hobby Junction in Dorval, Quebec, if you are interested) I grabbed it and sold the Dodge on a model car swap group on Facebook. Fortunately, I hadn't broken out the hacksaw yet...



Loaded with exciting features! Super detailed chassis! While the kit offers fire and police versions, an ambulance version won't be too difficult.



Next I started cutting up the Chevy frame and floor, as the wheelbase needs to be lengthened by an amount to be determined.



The separate frame and floor panel is helpful, because it is easy to insert sheet and rectangular tubing by cutting one at the back and the other at the front. Sliding the rear section fore and aft will set the new wheelbase; eventually I will also need to extend the chassis rearwards to the rear bumper, but this will be relatively straightforward.



Finally I opened up the rear doors on the ambulance body obtained from BCS Trading on eBay. It turns out the body panels are all glued to the floor by means of styrene angle; it would have been preferable if I could build up the interior from the floor on up and then insert it into the body, but that won't be possible. So I am going to open up the roof so I can actually get stuff in there, and will close it off with a clear panel once done.



Next I'll get going on the standard stuff like engine and drivetrain, although some of this will have to wait for the dual rear truck wheels, ordered online from Scenes Unlimited, in order to get the stance and wheel well clearance sorted out. I'll also open up the side door on the box. Stay tuned!