1979 Starline Chevrolet Van

John Burchfield

John Burchfield

PCS Life Member
Here are a few photos of the "vanbulance" I picked up last fall. She's spent most of the time since purchase in the shop getting various things fixed: alternator, brakes, radiator....so hopefully she's back on solid mechanical footing!
 

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Very nice, I like it. I sure would like to get to see your complete Pro-Car collection one day. You definitely have some nice looking cars.

Josh
 
Drooling

The van is awesome! Like Josh said though would like to see your whole fleet seems you don't have know trash. I love those orange interiors.
 
You know what you need now? You need an orange mattress pad for the cot. That will be period-correct and match the interior.

I think I have one....
 
Omg!

I can't believe you allow that cot to be in a position to "wander" around your garage like that! Are you one of those guys who just leaves their cart any old place in the grocery store parking lot, rolling into other people's cars? And to think you just finished restoring a fine Miller-Meteor. There outta be a law...

:071:

BTW, the Chevy, Merc, and Cadillac look great!

:cheers:
 
Steve Lichtman said:
You know what you need now? You need an orange mattress pad for the cot. That will be period-correct and match the interior.

I think I have one....
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Ooooooo, Steve that would be great! I'm in the position of having more cots than mattresses! As to Tony's suggestion that I was leaving the cot "rolling around" my garage, that was preferable to leaving it in the van while at the shop. Until a couple of weeks ago there were no door keys for it. Got it to the locksmith finally after the brake repair when I got her home. Need to get her to the hospital for some sheets.....and also to see if she'll fit in the parking garage (also a great place for brief tests of warning equipment)
 
fun facts on the Type II

Some fun things about this van: the odometer rolled over to 4,800 miles as I left the seller's place (a maintenance guy at the plant) She didn't leave the Alcoa property too much in 30 plus years. Rim size is stamped right next to the valve stems: 16.5" x 6.75". GM stopped putting the 16.5 wheels on the HD trucks sometime in the 80s, so they're scarce. 16" wheels w/ the same 8-bolt pattern are plentiful, so will probably have to get one of those for a spare. The 8-ply 8.75 x 16.5 tires bounce just like 8.90 x 15s, especially when it's cold! Biggish steering wheel might make you feel like Ralph Kramden! A/C and heat still work front and rear. There is a manual heater valve under the hood. Apparently in those days, the service parts label not only gave you the codes for how the truck was equipped, but a description of what those codes meant! Anyone notice an obvious missing piece? I noticed it immediately when I first saw it, but didn't know exactly what it was until further inspection. The beacon (a Dietz, I think-no external markings) makes an interesting little squeak. You have to pretty much crawl on the roof to get to it. I'm not sure that fiberglass would appreciate my 205 pounds! The main thing that's helped appearance-wise is getting LOTS of dirt out! Still more to do, but a lot of dirt and grime got washed off, swept, or vacuumed out when I first got her. There was so much dirt on the floor around the dimmer switch the headlights weren't working right. I got that cleaned up and wire-brushed, plus tightened up the retaining ring on one of the sealed beams and the lights worked fine. The paint is dull and thin in a few spots, but some compounding and buffing will probably do wonders. She'll be a good guinea pig to test out my random orbital buffer that I got a few years ago but have been afraid to try it out on a really nice finish. The GE Master Exec. II lights up, but no noise so far.
 

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I wonder when they fit it for a model 35 cot. I am not sure FW had come out with the 35 in 79 yet? I know in 79 we were still buying them outfitted with 30s
 
the 29 would be the one to have in it. that's the one we always used and they came out with them in 74. but it does need the orange mattress. sill got the red brick floor in it. the manual valve was to shut off the hot water to the rear. most of them used that cheap long winded screw valve.
 
I would ditch the 30+ year old tires, even if they look good, unless you only plan on driving it under 25 MPH.
 
I see in the pictures that it has the normal side locking bar and a set of angel wings. they must have added the angel wings as they went with the floor mounted lock. it must have been set up for the 30 first and they replaced it with the 35. which is basically just a vamped up 30. they did not put in the safety catch hook which is a good thing they were a real pain getting the gurney our by yourself. the dark wood cabnets were a standard. and with it being set up to hang 2 was a four pt rig. you get traped looking for a 16.5 wheel I can get you one up here. the hard part about them is buying the 16.5 tires. there expensive. but you can get then in a 10 ply rating even in that small tire. the good part about then is Ford Dodge and Chevy used the same wheel.
 
This is all from memory, so forgive me if the exact dates aren't correct. The #35 cot came out about 10 years after this was built. So this probably came with a #30 cot. The #30 came with a #1 cot bar, the straight bar on the side. Many services (including my company) switched older vehicles over to the #35 as it was much easier on the crews.

The #29 cot was also available, and the antlers (or "angel wings" as Ed called them) were used for the head end of the #29 cot, but they had to be moved for the #35. Since I don't see holes for the old location of the antler mounts, I'd say it probably didn't have a #29.
 
Paul Steinberg said:
I would ditch the 30+ year old tires, even if they look good, unless you only plan on driving it under 25 MPH.
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Rest assured Paul, these aren't the original tires! The front ones look new and the rears look ok. Plenty of tread all around, but also no significant dry rot evident.
Ed, thanks for the offer on a 16.5" wheel, but one place quoted me 120.00 for a good 16" matching bolt pattern wheel w/ a good used radial mounted and balanced. I think this might be the way to go since it'll be a spare and the circumference should be close enough. Now the question of where to put the spare? An exterior swing away mount on a back door is one option. Jack equipment is in a compartment at the left rear, but there doesn't seem to be room for the spare.
Y'all are right about the 35 cot. It's too long to latch in my hightop because of the thicker cabinets, but it does fit in a combination. Those front wheels add several inches of length, so I think this cot will stay in the van. It's a very nice cot, angling "head up" when raised, regardless of how the back rest is angled
 
Unless you are going to be traveling long distances, you don't need a spare, since you hardly ever need them today. The spare on my 1997 & 2004 have never hit the ground. I have a 1979 truck that never had a spare, and never needed one. If you have good tires, the chances of needing a spare are quite remote today. This is why many of the cars of the last decade have had the "donut" spare. I can't even remember the last time that I had a flat tire, it has been so long ago.
On a side note, one of the requirements of the PCS judging is having a spare. I remember back in the day, that we never even carried a spare on the ambulance, and some didn't even have a convenient place for the spare. On my Pinner, the spare went behind the seat, as in my 1969 Miller Meteor. Unlike the MM, the spare in the Pinner took up so much room, that you have to have the seat pulled up to the point, where even a short person is uncomfortable driving it. When I got the car, the spare was located in the rear patient compartment, stood up in front of the cabinet. It was the original from 1963, and had never been used. I was told that it was kept in the fire station, and when the car was sold, they put it inside the car just to get rid of it. Tires today are a lot more reliable than they were 40 years ago.
Paul
 
Ron Devies said:
I wonder when they fit it for a model 35 cot. I am not sure FW had come out with the 35 in 79 yet? I know in 79 we were still buying them outfitted with 30s
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I'm thinking that this rig was probably used for many years, and probably did not see a very high call volume. They probably upgraded to a different stretcher as more modern ones became available. We have had trucks in service for 10 years or so, and have replaced the gurneys with newer models, and no Chief,:yankchain: not those electric ones!
 
looking over the list of options I think I'm see a 8.75x16.5 spare or at least the tires are listed twice. so they had to have a spot for it. check the rear behind the bumper. but make sure that it the same size tire front clearance is tight and with the locking rear end the tires better be the same size. I'm thinking that the tire went inside in the factory rig that's the reason for the swing away mounted on the conversions vans. but I'll bet they made a spot for it under neath somewhere. doesn't look to be room behind the rear seats the only other place is in the cabinet. most put there were assessed from the rear door. whats behind that panel in the center left side.
 
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