98 E-350 Type II McCoy Miller Ambulance Conversion

I made some progress on the light boxes to replace the Whelen 900 lights and posted an update in the thread entitled "Converting Whelen 900s/Similar Scene lighting to LED?" Here's a picture of it temporarily mounted though.
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Got another coat of FlexSeal on the roof and hit the lightbox side. It looks much more at home with everything the same color. :LOL:
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Also picked up the other light boxes, cleaned with denatured alcohol, and applied a coat of self-etching primer:
105950562_2818744111587366_2902804436161451250_o.jpg


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ITTOG

Well-known member
FlexSeal like the infomercials? I have to seal a roof on a camper and never thought of using it.

It definitely looks better being all the same color.

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FlexSeal like the infomercials? I have to seal a roof on a camper and never thought of using it.
Yeah, saw it used on a couple of RV forums and watched some YouTube compares, and it's the most available, bang for the buck option. Color selection is mildly better than the competition with white, light gray, and black. I applied it a little thinner than recommended, but knew I was applying two coats and paint on top of that once I figured out color. I used the white on the roof and will be using black to seal the recessed boxes.
 

ITTOG

Well-known member
I was planning to use a product called gacoroof based on recommendation by another member here. I like to over do things so maybe I use it and FlexSeal????

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Nice looking rig.

Flex Seal is probably the one infomercial that lives up to the hype. It really is good stuff.
Thanks! My list is a mile long haha, trying to be patient and balance it with life/kids/work and the track car.

Flex Seal is definitely a good product. I applied a ton of 3M 5200 to the inside of the recessed lightboxes, then black Flex Seal on the outward-facing part. I don't expect to have to deal with leaks there for awhile, which is good because the holes made for the Whelen lights (plus the lights themselves) have definitely leaked into the drip tray.

I was planning to use a product called gacoroof based on recommendation by another member here. I like to over do things so maybe I use it and Flex Seal????
I don't know much about gacoroof, but you'll want to look at adhesion instructions on the can. I tried masking the lightbox flange (outer surface) with masking tape to paint the recessed part black; the tape would NOT stick, which made me think to Czech the Flex Seal can. Turns out paint won't stick to it, so I'll need to rethink my topcoat approach a bit.
 

CaptainBuilt

Well-known member
Thanks! My list is a mile long haha, trying to be patient and balance it with life/kids/work and the track car.

Flex Seal is definitely a good product. I applied a ton of 3M 5200 to the inside of the recessed lightboxes, then black Flex Seal on the outward-facing part. I don't expect to have to deal with leaks there for awhile, which is good because the holes made for the Whelen lights (plus the lights themselves) have definitely leaked into the drip tray.

I don't know much about gacoroof, but you'll want to look at adhesion instructions on the can. I tried masking the lightbox flange (outer surface) with masking tape to paint the recessed part black; the tape would NOT stick, which made me think to Czech the Flex Seal can. Turns out paint won't stick to it, so I'll need to rethink my topcoat approach a bit.


3M 5200 is great stuff. Once it's on there, it's never coming off.
 
3M 5200 is great stuff. Once it's on there, it's never coming off.
I had some extra on the edges of the light box outer plate, after fastening it to the backing flange, that I was unable to clean up because it already started to cure. I waited until it was cured the used a box knife around the edges of the metal, then a flat razor to release it from the fiberglass topper. Thankfully it came off but was NOT easy.

It's incredibly impressive stuff, especially since water leaks are only secondary to electrical problems when it comes to ******** I can't stand on vehicles.
 
Made some light box progress over the past couple of weeks. First picture is 5200 being applied to the inside:
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Black FlexSeal applied to the inside, with Kilz oil-based primer on the face of the flanges:
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Also installed the rear light box. Really happy with the result. Before:
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After:
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Upper middle is the new third brake light, lower middle the reverse light. None of it's wired up yet, but I plan to do so this week and take pictures of the light output over the weekend.
 
Finally got the roof rack painted, aiming to get it installed Sunday with help from a friend and my younger brother.
Image


Also got the awning in, one of these. Looking forward to installing it soon, but might have to wait a few weeks.
Image

 
Rack mounted!!! My brother came by yesterday and we got it up top with the cart I made for it, ladders, moving blankets, and a piece of 3" PVC to slide it up and move it without the feet scraping the roof.

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I still need to mount the rest of the Trex which will be harder 10' off the ground, but had to get the rack outta the garage.
 
30-60 minutes? Tell me you are joking.

If it’s below freezing I’ll idle for 30-60 seconds before moving. I then take it easy for 5-10 minutes... it’ll be a bit sluggish for a few minutes till the combustion chamber warms up.
Digging this back up because I started and drove it within 5 minutes yesterday. I could tell it was sluggish while it warmed up but that only lasted the trip to the parts store and was better on the way home. So I suspect it's a combination of the weather being warmer and the diesel additives working from finally burning through a full tank haha. I really don't drive it that often since it isn't yet registered, but hopefully will be soon.
 

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