Timon & Pumba - A turbo Montero towed by a 4x4 ambulance

Love your ambulance build. Off to Craigslist......

Turbo_Rev said:

Go to StarQuestClub.com and see what fuel injectors are going for (and how many people are looking for them) AND what people are going through to repair/replace the old ones or retrofit new ones (besides EFI swaps). As far as I can tell, no one makes factory or upgraded replacements and no other injector from another car fits. I sold a pair of working factory injectors for ~$300 once on StarQuestClub. I looked today to be sure and one guy sold one rebuilt injector for $175 back in 2020.

Also, the majority of "good, clean, working" factory injectors that people are selling for stupid money are still going to leak externally; fuel seeps right out of the seams in the injector bodies. Rochester/Delphi or Lucas low-Z injectors can be retrofitted into the factory TBI with some machining, but the G54B never runs quite right on the factory computer with anything but the factory injectors. You can throw various piggyback AFCs on it and/or convert to a GM MAF with a translator, but you're always just trading your old problems for new problems with those devices.

Further piling onto the G54B hate, even if you have one that runs well, they use crappy old sealing technology. Paper gaskets slathered in RTV, rubber plugs that you also need to coat in RTV or they will leak immediately, graphite composite head gaskets, etc. Mine was rebuilt <50k miles ago and it's still wet all over. Want an MLS head gasket? AJUSA used to make one, but like a lot of other parts, it's NLA.

Oh, and V-belts! No serpentine belt conversion available. No automatic belt tensioners, get out the big pry bar...

Why yes, I grew up tuning in the 00's, how did you guess?

sevenracer said:

Did I spot Pumba when I drove into Ouray yesterday? I mean it is Colorado, but I figure there aren't THAT many lifted 4wd converted red ambulances running around. 

You sure did! What a small world! It's usually parked on the street right across from the Western. I also have a 1974 XJ6 with a 440 swap that usually hangs out in the street. No hood, rambler 500 logos on the side. 
 

next time you're in town let me know and I'd be happy to show you around.

A few updates:

Sold the Montero. It wasn't what I was hoping for and needed more attention than I can give it. Too many projects as always. 
 

Fixed the leaky intake plenums on the ambulance

I got sidetracked for a while building a gambler 500 car. Found a $200 Jag on marketplace. No engine. Rough shape. 

Found a 440 with a torqueflite but I had to pull it myself.

Success

Super fun event. Highly recommended to anyone. 

Sold the Jag after the event to a Mopar guy who parked next to us at the car show. He was planning to keep it as his daily. 

Did a lot of training and ran from Ouray to Telluride over Imogene Pass.

Did some co-driving (navigating?)

Then it was time to bust out the saw. I never liked that I couldn't stand up in the ambulance. If I was going to keep it that needed to change. 
 

step 1: cut off the roof. I used the rain gutters as a guide.

Step 2: raise it up. I went with 11" to give 6'5" interior height

Step 3: weld it in place. I've never tig'd before, or welded aluminum so it was a steep learning curve. But I'm happy with the results. 

In total I cut and welded in 78 individual pieces of aluminum. It was really time consuming, especially the corners that I had to build from scratch since the manufacturer can't get the corner extrusion anymore. I also have wanted everything to look fairly original. 
 

Next up, paint!

Great build!  Just curious, have you measured your exterior clear height yet?  I have a buddy considering doing this same thing (roof raise) and would be interested to know! 

Thanks again! 

golfduke said:

Great build!  Just curious, have you measured your exterior clear height yet?  I have a buddy considering doing this same thing (roof raise) and would be interested to know! 

 

Thanks again! 

 

I'm just under 10ft with a 6'5" interior height. That's with the lift and 35" tires. I still need to add some solar panels and the extraction fan to the roof so I'll be between 10-11ft when it's done. 
 

The biggest downside I've found is that backcountry roads and driveways are only cleared for cars and SUV's so the overhanging trees really scrape the upper half of the body. 

iiff

In reply to mysterymachine87 :

No way!!! It's still alive! I'm assuming it's been passed around a few times judging by how many times I've seen it online. The engine bay looks  cleaned up and so much better!

Update, I bought the Montero last August from a guy named Zach in Denver for $4400. It ran but died almost every time you went to stop, I put on a weber fuel pump and rising rate fuel regulator, aluminum radiator, connected turbo to water, water to air intercooler and some shocks and took it 4 wheeling. It is awesome on the trails but didn't start very good over 10,000 feet. It pulled like a little monster but would fall on its face and start back firing like crazy from the lack of boost retard with the non-turbo distributor at about 4k rpm, Later last year I swapped to Holley snipper EFI, modified distributor with MSD mag pickup to be able to control timing, MSD 6A ignition. I've only done the shocks so far but I've driven 85mph several times. Its getting a full turbo back exhaust right now. I still have to pass emissions or register it in Montana. Still have a long way to doing the suspension, brakes and the front diff whines like crazy past 20 mph but it runs pretty great for an old Frankenstein rig.

In reply to WillG80 :

Its had a lot of owners, can I ask what you sold it for? 

In reply to mysterymachine87 :

That's great to hear. I'm glad you're able to give it the attention it deserves. I'm in Ouray and it never ran great up here, although we're only at 7800ft. It definitely wasn't 85 mph capable. Suspension and engine wise.
 

I just looked on FB and I had it listed for $4500. I think I sold it for pretty close to that. It had a pretty good amount of interest back then.

In reply to mysterymachine87 :

Just checked, Zach is the guy I sold it to. 

Any update on the vanbulance by chance?

In reply to golfduke :

Nothing at the moment. It's been sitting outside covered in snow all winter so my motivation was low. I finally dug it out and moved it a few days ago so work will resume soon. Immediate plans are:

- enlarge the opening between the cab and back area. It's a pretty tight fit.

- finalize the interior layout so I can start building the bed.

- insulate (noise and heat) the ambulance box

- install windows

- paint outside

I hate working in tight spaces, Kudos to you though. everything here looks like my worst nightmare. cramped, way too heavy, oil soaked, ford.