M1917 Ford ambulance

It just shows that I am not the only nut job in the world. I question the exsistance of the Canadian Field Service or the Canadian Ambulance. This is the type of car used by the American Field Service of the
american Ambulance until 1917 when the AFS was taken over by the USAAS.
Those of you from the Great White North, if you have information on the Canadian Ambulance, I would like to hear of it.
Best
Gus
 
I took the ambulance to town to deliver a father's day present to my father, and as there were not modern autos parked in front of the theater, I got a photo of the T with a restored building from 1920, if I had been thinking I would have gotten a photo in front of the Bush building with the 1917 date on the front.
 
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Nice photo Gus! :thumb up:
You should try photoshopping it to black & white too...
 
RON said:
Nice photo Gus! :thumb up:
You should try photoshopping it to black & white too...

I did, I like it better in colour. I did edit out the garbage dumpster that was on the left side of the photo.
 
Things have slowed down since we got indoor plumbing, so I decided to start on another ambulance so I will have a spare when one runs out of gas.

Here we have the naked chassis ready for the body.

The first step is to fit the sills.

Getting things lined up to measure and compare with period photos, trying to tweek the body to match the originals. I have found a few places where it is off a small bit.
 
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I have made a little progress on the ambulance, some of the details are difficult to find. For example the "staples" for the tool box hasps have to be made from scratch as all modern ones that are available formed from sheet metal rather than steel rod.

The floor boards and sub frame are finished for the driver's compartment, these do not seem like a big deal, but getting a good fit with parts that have compound curves and several angles are a challenge to fabricate. This turned out rather well.

All the screws that connect the walls to the pillars have to be counter sunk, and using slotted screws, it is easier to just put them in by hand, even though I have managed to develop a few blisters doing it.

Here is the right side panel framed up and primed on the out side, the left is at the same stage, and as soon as they are painted, they wll be ready to bolt up to the sub frame.

More progress has been made on the construction after another delivery of correct fasteners. There is a lot of detail that has to be deduced from period photographs. There are bolts visible on the outside of the body, that have to have some reason to be there, Here is what I have deduced to be the correct construction of the upper corners of the body. There is a bolt that is three inches below the bolts that attach the steel angle that reinforces the ends of the body, I have added a bit of flat iron that bolt under the angle and runs down the body to the unknown bolt, this ties the construction together so that it is nearly indestructible. I have seen a photo of an ambulance upside down in a ditch and the wooden body is still intact while the sheet metal hood and cowl are mashed beyond repair.

Here I have bolted up the sides and floor, and replaced the tool boxes. Next step is the front panel and roof.

 
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I just have to remember to check myself for blood before I return to the house. After hitting myself in the head with a board, I had to work longer to wait for the blood to stop flowing, but Maggie noticed the black eye. She asked me if that was why I quit for the evening, and I told her that I had to work and extra hour for the bleeding to stop. Last night I hit my head on a fender bracket and did not realize that I had cut my forehead, she noticed that right away. I am a bit accident prone, but it has been 45 years since I have seen the inside of a modern ambulance. Although there was a time in 1980 that I almost ended up in an ambulance. I was teaching a fellow to fly a powered hang glider in Arizona, he bumped his kill switch and landed in cactus and rocks. I was standing by my pickup wearing my helmet and parachute when he landed about a quarter mail away, I do not know why I did not drive down the runway. I ran as fast as I could, thinking he might be injured. He was fine and was disassembling his flying machine when I got there. I was so out of breath that I lay down gasping for air. The crash truck and ambulance came bouncing across the main runway and to the smaller runway we were using, the medics came running with the gurney and loaded me on it. I was still so out of breath I could not speak, and the other guy was laughing his butt off watching. I finally managed to tell them that I was not the victum, and I was just out of breath from running and they let me go, but it was a close call.
 
A little more progress has been made, the main construction goes pretty fast, but the little fiddly bits seem to take a long time, partly because I have to wait on special fasteners for much of it.
 
A perfect day for a test drive, it is above zero (above -17C for our Centigrade members) I just finished with the basic car, I still have to sew the side curtains but I figured it was time to get it out of the shop so I could sweep the floor.


 
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Gus it looks fantastic, really impressive! I am curious (my other hobby is 2- and 4-wheeled transportation): what engine do you have in there? Is it original? Ignition? Power supply (magneto, alternator)? If original was it modified to run on unleaded gas? Do you work on it yourself?...
Bruno
 
Hey Bruno, it has a stock Ford Model T engine, there is no generator or alternator, no starter, also, there is no oil pump, gas pump or water pump. The T was designed to run on unleaded gas, as leaded gas was not available until the 20s or 30s.
It is currently running on the magneto, but it can use a battery to power the ignition coils, I just do not have one in it at this time. Originally, they would use 4 1.5 volt dry cells for battery ignition to start. They were the same batteries used in telephones at the time.
Best
Gus
 
Gustaf said:
Hey Bruno, it has a stock Ford Model T engine, there is no generator or alternator, no starter, also, there is no oil pump, gas pump or water pump. The T was designed to run on unleaded gas, as leaded gas was not available until the 20s or 30s.
It is currently running on the magneto, but it can use a battery to power the ignition coils, I just do not have one in it at this time. Originally, they would use 4 1.5 volt dry cells for battery ignition to start. They were the same batteries used in telephones at the time.
Best
Gus

Thank you Gus. Very interesting. I have learned several things, notably that leaded gas was a later invention.
No gas pump!... I suppose you think twice before climbing a steep slope!...
Bruno
 
911car said:
Gustaf said:
Hey Bruno, it has a stock Ford Model T engine, there is no generator or alternator, no starter, also, there is no oil pump, gas pump or water pump. The T was designed to run on unleaded gas, as leaded gas was not available until the 20s or 30s.
It is currently running on the magneto, but it can use a battery to power the ignition coils, I just do not have one in it at this time. Originally, they would use 4 1.5 volt dry cells for battery ignition to start. They were the same batteries used in telephones at the time.
Best
Gus

Thank you Gus. Very interesting. I have learned several things, notably that leaded gas was a later invention.
No gas pump!... I suppose you think twice before climbing a steep slope!...
Bruno
Actually, they often reversed up steep grades, if the gas tank is not clear full, you can not handle much of a grade, bet even worse, the front main bearing will not get enough oil if the grade is too steep, so by reversing, you get gas and oil. At Camp Crane, where the ambulance drivers were trained, they had a steep and fairly narrow ramp that he drivers had to back up to get qualified.

I just got home from the Utah Gun Collector's Association gun show in Ogden, Utah. I displayed my ambulance there and won 2nd prize with it.



The display that beat me out of 1st prize was a collection of water bottles and mess kits, I would have really been bummed to be beaten by such a display, but since it was mine, I guess I am OK with it.
 
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Man Gus,

Should have postponed the show for a couple of weeks. Will be out in Salt Lake for a meeting the week of the 26th. Your ambulance box is on the way...a week late. Getting over a bout with pneumonia (I could have used your ambulance, I think)

Keith
 
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