M1010 ambulance box build reference

[cucvrus]

You must buy the entire body. I am NOT having any part in cutting it apart. I will sell it delivered if we can come to a deal. Do you have a tree/truck to drag it off the trailer? Get back to me. No hurry my schedule is full till the first week of November.

 

[kapnklug]

Sure, entire body is fine, maybe one with good roof & bad deck if that exists, since I only want the top. I have a car-hauler double-axle trailer, i'll come get it. PM me with price/options.

 

[cucvrus]

No bad decks. This is a complete extrerior M1010. The inside has been altered with the bunks removed. I use it for storage. You PM me an offer and I will see if it makes my efforts worth while. I will need to hire a wrecker to load it. But I will let the price up to you.

 

[KamikazeKunze]

Here‘s a few updated pics of the old girl. I’m definitley considering a roof raise. Grind and drill out all of the rivots, use a drywall lift to push the top up and build a set of pony walls out a steel studs. Going for 12” finished. Keep the doors as they are.

has anyone ever successfully popped their M1010 top?

 

[chevymike]

I have wanted to do a raised/popup roof since I had my first 1010. Not sure how easy it would be. Only pic I have run across with a popup was this one. I think it was in Europe.

 

[kapnklug]

Here‘s a few updated pics of the old girl. I’m definitley considering a roof raise. Grind and drill out all of the rivots, use a drywall lift to push the top up and build a set of pony walls out a steel studs. Going for 12” finished. Keep the doors as they are.

has anyone ever successfully popped their M1010 top?

I'm in the pencil & paper stage of raising the roof on mine. I don't want to weaken the wall studs/top plate, so my plan (someone, talk me down!) is to:
1. remove the rivets & skin on the roof
2. supporting the roof from inside with (4) ceiling jacks, sawzall thru the rafters & ridgebeam flush inside the top plate
3. lift the separated roof structure (like a fish skeleton) up 8" or so
4. fabricate one additional rafter at each end of the ridgebeam from aluminum 1.5" square tube. Will need to copy the pitch of the original rafters.
5. weld a 9' length of aluminum 1.5" square tube to the cutoff ends of the rafters (one per side), connecting them all (perimeter on all sides now)
6. weld short diagonal rafters from on top of the original top plate (half-round profile) to this new top plate (square profile) on all (4) sides
7. skin with 4x8 sheets of thin aluminum diamondplate, held at the edges by the rivets that currently hold the rain gutters
8. Tack weld the diamondplate to the rafters from the inside.

Suggestions???

 

[kapnklug]

I have wanted to do a raised/popup roof since I had my first 1010. Not sure how easy it would be. Only pic I have run across with a popup was this one. I think it was in Europe.

View attachment 790997

Is that a slide-out??? or just a gaint box? That's nuts. Looks like he's converted to dually axles too.
Interesting roof idea, maybe I can find the roof off an old VW Westfalia....

 

[chevymike]

Is that a slide-out??? or just a gaint box? That's nuts. Looks like he's converted to dually axles too.
Interesting roof idea, maybe I can find the roof off an old VW Westfalia....

yeah, they added a slide out with the pop top. Wish I could find interior shots.

 

[kapnklug]

Here‘s a few updated pics of the old girl. I’m definitley considering a roof raise. Grind and drill out all of the rivots, use a drywall lift to push the top up and build a set of pony walls out a steel studs. Going for 12” finished. Keep the doors as they are.

has anyone ever successfully popped their M1010 top?

Hey Kamikaze, i've got that EXACT same sofabed, mounted in the same spot in my m1010! Except I kept the bench & bolted it to the top. Is that a bathroom foreward of the sofabed? I'd be interested in seeing some pics of how you worked that out...

 

[KamikazeKunze]

Hey Kamikaze, i've got that EXACT same sofabed, mounted in the same spot in my m1010! Except I kept the bench & bolted it to the top. Is that a bathroom foreward of the sofabed? I'd be interested in seeing some pics of how you worked that out...

Awesome! Yes, closet/bathroom. I have a cassette toilet in it with a tilt up shelf. But plan on making a slide out for the toilet. when I raise the roof I’ll make it a shower too.

My thoughts are to keep the roof totally intact. Drill out all the rivots in an out raise the whole unit. The trick is going to be securing the “top plate” to the existing Z bar studs. Then steel stud pony walls and belly band the outside and set the roof back down......unless I’m being dense about it and you all have a better way. I plan on overlapping the exterior sheeting as well. The real trick is sourcing the steel exterior corners so they match outside.

 

[jamesgrizzlyadams]

If you guys have instagram.. check out @freedom_from_routine

I believe he lives full time in his M1010, and is in the process of building out an extension to the roof including a cab-over.
Last photo I saw on his instagram story he had cut the whole roof off and had started framing up the new roof/extension.

I think he's here on SS as well, but unsure if he's got a build thread or anything.

He's just started up a camper fit-out/conversion company as well:

Just Roaming Design

Solar power installations and off-grid energy solutions. Specializing in custom systems for vans, tiny homes, sprinters and just about anything else that you can dream up. We serve the Greater Pacific Northwest and beyond.

www.justroamingconversions.com

 

[Mad Texan]

This thread is soo helpful!!! Can anyone tell me if you can pass anything behind the plate between the studs in the last bay. Looking to fish a wire up from the heater box opening up the wall... Thanks is advance!!!

 

[cruzer747]

View attachment 817982
This thread is soo helpful!!! Can anyone tell me if you can pass anything behind the plate between the studs in the last bay. Looking to fish a wire up from the heater box opening up the wall... Thanks is advance!!!

yes, iirc there is a gap behind the entire plate less than an inch so if you slide on the outer skin you should be able to make it.

 

[Mad Texan]

View attachment 817987

yes, iirc there is about a gap behind the entire plate less than an inch so if you slide on the outer skin you should be able to make it.

Thanks! We'll see what happens, it's just a really small bundle for the heater so hopefully I can snake it though.

 

[469Ecdr]

I found a build for[B] [/B]Kamikazi's Rompulance on expedition portal. A link follows.

M1010 Build. The Rompulance

I have been searching for an m1010 for quite some time and finally found one for sale in PA through Instagram believe it or not. One guy I had been following for a while and keeping up with his build etc put it up for sale so he could move out to California. Well i messaged him right away and...

expeditionportal.com

 

[cruzer747]

That is impressive! So having taken my m1010 down some somewhat dense wooded trails, while I do wish there was more headroom, I can not say how many times I have gritted my teeth while abusing the top of the box and especially my solar panels (I really need to make a deflecter and some safety rails for brush/limbs, last trip I thought for sure I had busted one). Anyways, just had to say, neat! Will be interesting to see what the owner's feedback is and how they use it. I have air suspension on my wishlist as the stock roll is more than I would like, cant imagine what it would feel like in that thing!

I found a build for[B] [/B]Kamikazi's Rompulance on expedition portal. A link follows.

 

[Mad Texan]

I got it through... the only wire that I wish was longer for my heater.

 

[Frank Bell]

Nice!

 

[ballencd]

So, do you think pulling the walls out and replacing the old insulation is worthwhile? I only want to do this once and I have a blank canvas right now. Seems it would help to get wires where I need them too....?

 

[chevymike]

I gutted mine but that was because I wanted to do a roof raise and needed access to the frame area. If I wasn't doing that, I am not sure I would have pulled the walls. Unless you have had issues with rats/mice, the stock insulation is fairly good. Here is what it looks like.