Decatur Ambulance's '67 S&S Ambulance

Interior looks very good!!

Exterior not so much. Front and rear bumpers will need to be straightened. Grille is tweeked and would need to be replaced. Waay too many sheet metal screws in the rocker panel moldings which tells me that the rockers and lower fenders are full of bondo. Last paint job was horrible. Kind of squatty in the rear which would tell me that it could use some new springs. Needs a siren and a more correct beacon. Starting price $16,000 with a reserve??
 
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Thanks for posting this - it's a nice reference for mine. (Although, now I'm going to be up nights wondering where I'm going to find the S&S badge and V emblem for the back door.)

Also, just out of curiosity, why do you say it should have a more correct beacon? While I'm sure they were ordered with any beacon the customer desired, the builder's photo of the 1967 High Body that I've seen, shows a Dietz 2-11 / 7-11 beacon, as this one has, and the photos I have of my '67 in service show the same Dietz beacon (It was missing when I purchased it, but I have since located a replacement.)

Personal opinion, I agree that it would look better with a mechanical siren in between the two front tunnels.

Also, why are the retaining rings for the front and rear tunnel lights so prone to be missing / broke? (I know their the same as the ones used to hold the Federal Solar Rays etc., together) My '67 had one rear light held on with electrical tape, (front tunnels were missing, so no retainers), the Wellsboro '73, when I saw it last, had one retainer replaced with tape, and this one has duct tape holding on one of the rear tunnels.

Price is a little steep for me, but I wouldn't mind having a twin to my current '67.
 
Emblems

Jacob M. Fournier said:
Thanks for posting this - it's a nice reference for mine. (Although, now I'm going to be up nights wondering where I'm going to find the S&S badge and V emblem for the back door.)

Also, just out of curiosity, why do you say it should have a more correct beacon? While I'm sure they were ordered with any beacon the customer desired, the builder's photo of the 1967 High Body that I've seen, shows a Dietz 2-11 / 7-11 beacon, as this one has, and the photos I have of my '67 in service show the same Dietz beacon (It was missing when I purchased it, but I have since located a replacement.)

Personal opinion, I agree that it would look better with a mechanical siren in between the two front tunnels.

Also, why are the retaining rings for the front and rear tunnel lights so prone to be missing / broke? (I know their the same as the ones used to hold the Federal Solar Rays etc., together) My '67 had one rear light held on with electrical tape, (front tunnels were missing, so no retainers), the Wellsboro '73, when I saw it last, had one retainer replaced with tape, and this one has duct tape holding on one of the rear tunnels.

Price is a little steep for me, but I wouldn't mind having a twin to my current '67.
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The V I would think might be just be a GM something? I think I have some of the emblems .I will take a look.
 
Jacob,
The base on that Dietz beacon just looks like an after-thought to me. I think a straight-sided skirt like on a 184 would look much better. Thebeacon doesn't look like it sits level, but these are not especially good photos either. I believe that the listing states that there isn't a siren of any kind, electronic or mechanical, on it currently.

The "V" on the back door looks like it could have been off of a mid/late '50s Cadillac trunk lid. Is it correct on this rig?? I think it looks odd on it.
 
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don't believe I have ever seen a V on the back of any hearse or ambulance. I'm sure if the dietzs light is put on properly it would sit level. but most people just toss it up there and run the screws down. the base should be spaced so that it sits square with the world like a will place federal
 
Kurt Arends said:
Jacob,
The base on that Dietz beacon just looks like an after-thought to me. I think a straight-sided skirt like on a 184 would look much better. The beacon doesn't look like it sits level, but these are not especially good photos either. I believe that the listing states that there isn't a siren of any kind, electronic or mechanical, on it currently.
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I got it now - I can understand that. I'm so used to the look of the Dietz on mine, that it looks "right" to me. It looks like it's mounted in the same approximate spot on the roof as mine, which would make it sit level, although the roof of the S&S High Body is rounded, so it can be hard to judge when looking at photos of various angles.

Kurt Arends said:
The "V" on the back door looks like it could have been off of a mid/late '50s Cadillac trunk lid. Is it correct on this rig?? I think it looks odd on it.
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John ED Renstrom said:
don't believe I have ever seen a V on the back of any hearse or ambulance.
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I know I've seen it before on at least one other High Body - I don't quite remember where - I seem to recall it being a '59 or there about. I didn't know it was used as late as '67. Perhaps it was optional? - like the date marks on the hood. My car can be tough to figure out exterior trim - the car was repainted in the mid '70s, and a lot of exterior trim was removed and discarded as a way to "modernize" the appearance. All the belt line trim is gone, the rocker moldings, the "Professional High Body by Hess and Eisenhardt" badges, passenger side aftermarket mirror. I haven't pulled the interior of the rear door yet, so I don't know if there were any mounting holes that were filled in.

John ED Renstrom said:
I'm sure if the dietzs light is put on properly it would sit level. but most people just toss it up there and run the screws down. the base should be spaced so that it sits square with the world like a will place federal
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The trouble with spacing the base on a Dietz to level it out is that without a skirt that you can trim to fit the roof of the car, you'd have a gap under the beacon base that you could see.
 
no matter how you do that one you have a gap. it's designed for a pedestal mount. it was never designed to sit on a roof
 
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