Recent content by mike.marcacci

Wow, thanks for the kind words @Hugh Heifer, and good luck with your build! I'm really glad you linked Ambolorian's, and I totally agree – it looks fantastic. Crazy enough, we also recently decided to put ours up for sale. (We actually just put together a Medium article and another YouTube...

@Bikersmurf you are an absolute hero! I totally didn't see that under the fuse box. I'll wager my "low vacuum" sensor isn't working too well :) Thanks so much!

Hey everybody! I've got a bit of a head scratcher. In a nut shell, where is vacuum line #3a supposed to go? It was disconnected and uncapped: The van: 2003 Ford E350; Type-II Ambulance; 7.3L PowerStroke The story: An old, small vacuum line broke recently, locking the vents on defrost. So I...

I have no experience with real wood as a van floor, but I too heard all the warnings about vinyl expanding and shrinking with heat. At the end of the day, though, we put in a single large vinyl sheet, and I am SO glad we did. We purchased it from Home Depot, and glued it right to the plywood...

Thanks! I definitely agree – there are surprisingly few Type-II threads out there, and I'm glad mine could help! As far as things we would have done differently, that's a really good question. Over the past 6+ months of using it full-time, we have made slight modifications here and there...

Right now the propane is only used for the stove, which means it lasts for ever!! Since the water system was designed later in the build, and we were getting tight on time, we didn’t add hot water at all. This might be a really great addition eventually, but hasn’t felt like a big omission so...

Hey epinfRN! SO sorry to keep you googling for a week (we were back off the grid, except for some very weak service). Latches It looks like you found the same kind of latch we used, although I believe ours are made by SouthCo. They come in multiple different depths, so just make sure you have...

Those are fantastic points about the LP – I hadn't found those standards, even after a surprisingly unproductive scour of the internet. Without a proper spec, but with some understanding of the density difference, we did place the vent on the side towards the bottom of the box. Also...

OK, well... I've neglected my thread again :( Apologies for the delay. If you do wish to see more regularly uploaded photos of our van (and trip), you can follow our project's Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/theboltlineproject/ Long ago I promised (and filmed) a van tour video, but...

Those plates are really cool looking. We really wanted to use rails, and got the Renogy ones working PERFECTLY, giving us a total of 180sq inches of 5952 VHB tape. They've been absolutely rock solid and keep the panels at the perfect height above the roof. If you DO go our route, make sure you...

Hey all - sorry for the long pause! We got the van past the "90% done threshold" and spent the past month on the road working on our climbing project throughout Arizona and part of New Mexico. We're back in San Diego for a brief stint at my brother's, finishing up the details that remaining and...

California actually has companies that are registered as DMV liaisons (like AAA and Finest City Registration here in San Diego). I just went to the latter and said I wanted to change the classification, and they inspected it right there. You essentially just have to prove that it's no longer...

I re-titled my ambo as an generic "vehicle" (so, non-commercial) and USAA was able to insure it by just calling them and explaining that it had been re-titled. Before I did the conversion, I was able to insure it through Progressive without even picking up the phone. Changing out the...

Yes, I've been considering that but mostly out of paranoia: according to the technical data sheet, 72 hours in water, salt water, hydraulic fluid, motor oil, or antifreeze had no effect on peel adhesion; their technical bulletin on durability shows that wet/dry cycles are not harmful. All that...

Ya, just clean really, really well (make sure there's no more white coming off), degrease w/ alcohol, and that's it. We attached the panels to the rails first, applied the tape to the rails (keeping the backing on the fiberglass side), got the rails exactly where we wanted them, and then just...