My C304 finally gets some love.

[jamie_grieve]

My poor old Volvo has had nothing but abuse and neglect since I got it. It had 3000Km's on the clock when I got it. There's nearly 10,000Km's now so it was time for a makeover before it started to deteriorate. I painted mine yellow to get away from the 'action man' look of driving around in military colours and it's a kinda acceptable colour in most places without looking like a government vehicle. I spent many 000's of hours in Volvo dumpers so yellow it was since it's a Volvo colour. Next step is the Volvo Penta engine!!



The body jacks are probably the most useful thing I made for it. I got some 2.5mm chequer plate to make a flat bed to go under the body which hasn't happened yet. Without the body it's amazing off road and much more stable than a 'Mog.It could do with a bit more weight on the back so the flat bed will help sort that out a bit. I'm thinking of putting the Rockwell portals under it but I dunno? They'll add to stability a fair bit.


I used a Pro-tran polyurethane paint which seems to be better than the old Tractol and Fleet guard stuff I've used before.


Re-mounting the body takes about 20mins.


No, that's how I want the front tyres. Look at any motorbike or a tractor working on steep ground and you'll see the same thing. Better braking and better at reversing out of a situation. I'll stick some 'proper' tyres under there one day but these are fine just now.


Parked next to my Berliet it looks tiny. The Volvo has a similar footprint to a transit van so is not a difficult thing to navigate small towns and cities with narrow tight roads unlike many other platforms with a similar potential as a camper or overland vehicle.

Any ideas what to do with the inside to make it a proper camper van?

[ali-lee]

mmmm jaffa cakes

i was thinking and recon i was being to sensible! they rockwell axles want to go on there

[parrotveasey81]

[gords1001]

How about picking up a cheap caravan and transferring the shower, toilet, cookery, fridge etc over into the ambulance body?

[Sman]

I like it!

Is is for all year round use?

If its just for summer I would just make the inside into a bedroom/storage and use a portable gas stove for heating water/tins of food and a small bbq for cooking evening meals. You'll need a water tank, its amazing how much you can get through just doing a bit of washing, our van has a 12 gallon tank and we can use that up in 2 days if we're not careful. Its nice to have a small sink inside for brushing teeth or getting a drink in the night, if you install a tank with a pump and such, its also worth having a hose outside the vehicle so you can shower or whatever

With our camper van we have folding chairs and table to stick outside when we park up, its nicer than sitting inside.

A roll out awning (fiamma are good) makes all the difference to the camp, giving shelter from rain and sun and also makes a good boundary round your vehicle if you are in a crowded campsite or carpark.


If its for winter use aswell you'll need to line it, 1/4" ply and carpet is good. you can get gas fired heaters that have a heat exchanger and a fan so you're not filling the cabin with fumes. They are called "hotbox"

[jamie_grieve]

The body is already lined and fitted with a heating system connected to the engine cooling by the two hoses you can see sticking out the front in one photo. In one of the boxes on the side is an auxiliary fuel tank, exhaust and place to splice into the pipe work. Alas I don't think mine ever saw active service so was never fitted with the heater unit. I need to get one for cold starts in winter.
It's just four empty walls inside with straps for four stretchers coming down from the roof.
I'm not bothered about a sink but was going to have one on the inside of the back door that folded down.
I just use a collapsible bed that sits over the spare wheels, high lift, tirfor, cables, blah blah but thought if I put some kind of durable flat screen telly and a sound system I might not abuse it so much or use it as a shed.
For a bed and tables I was thinking about hinging something down from the sides but what to do about all the bedding?

[Sman]

maybe keep the bedding in a sail bag (doubles as a beanbag in the day) or in some netting pinned to the roof?

The coolant powered heater is a bonus but if you want to camp in winter you'll need a gas fired heater (or maybe a small wood burning stove)

[Let Luce]

doesn't have to be gas fired. Go single fueld and get an eberspacher in petrol or diesel flavour and an apropriate fuel powered stove.

[jamie_grieve]

[isle_of_man]

Great vehicle these I collected mine from Sweden with only 600km's still a work in progress 4 years later - keep up the progress perhaps this will inspire me to start on mine again.

[RichardD]

Stop ...

It makes me want another one.

BTW, stick with the original engine - it suits the vehicle perfectly, anything else will drink fuel like crazy and not go that much faster - the original's torque is ideal.

[jamie_grieve]