From: chance wolf (chance_wolf@shaw.ca)
Date: Thu Feb 12 2004 - 11:31:17 PST
----- Original Message -----
From: "Nigel Hay" <Nigel@milweb.net>
To: "Military Vehicles Mailing List" <mil-veh@mil-veh.org>
Sent: Thursday, February 12, 2004 9:30 AM
Subject: [MV] Blazer radio truck
> Folks, could someone have a look at this and tell me if a personell or
> pickup or cargo body can easily be fitted to this?
>
> http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2459129566
It's an M1010 ambulance, Nige. While you *can* strip the back body off of it
and replace it with the standard 83-87 Chevy cargo body, you'll be stuck
with a big hole in the rear of the truck's cab where personnel crawled
between the cab and the ambulance body rear. The chief difference between
the military pickup body and the civilian one is a few extra holes drilled
to allow mounting of the fold-up troop seats in the factory stake-pockets.
It's a simple matter of drilling a couple of holes, so no drama there,
unless you want to mount the strips with the turnbuckles and fold-down bow
assemblies for the vinyl cargo enclosure in which case more holes are
involved.
M1010 ambulances are the rarest type of non-dually CUCV out in the open
market and it would be a shame to convert one to a typical cargo/troop
carrier. At least here in the CONUS, the ambulances got put on the
"destroy" list at most bases because the insulation in the pod itself had a
certain notoriety for being extremely flammable. Not something you want to
hear when you consider you have both patients and pure oxygen bottles in the
back. Canada dealt with the problem by installing a master battery
disconnect on the front grille of the ambulances so that either crew or
horrified bystanders could shut off the electrical system power in the event
of an incident.
Like the M886 Amblance before it, the Army evidently converted a few to
radio trucks by stripping out the interior. I don't *think* that's the case
with this one thanks to the complete absence of any mounting holes etc., but
unless you look inside - pig-in-a-poke.
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