Bulletproof Ford van!

http://austin.craigslist.org/cto/1771660872.html

A-Team that bitch up!

Wow!!!



I wish I were closer!! I'd get that and set it up as a mobile reloading room. With the gunport on the side, I might even be able to do test firing from the relative warmth or cool of inside the van.

i wonder how much that thing weighs? how good would it be for bugging out? seems like it would be top heavy and prone to rolling, may not do to well off road which is what i would imagine would be a top priority in a bug out vehicle.

$2500?  Buy that sucker.
Even if you don't want it for your own BOV, put a couple thou into it (paint, radio gear, whatever) and sell it to somebody who does for $10k.

1. Buy
2. Rig up
3. ???
4. Profit

That thing could be a blast with some serious work. Turn it into a 4WD, but yeah it's prolly pretty top heavy.

"completly armored, and bullet proof"

I got a good laugh from this. armored and bullet proof??? against what? sling shots?  bb guns? handguns? automatic rifles?

this ad is full of wrong, first of all the spelling, second the description "bullet proof" .......nothing is bullet proof its bullet resistant.

That is an older body style van than what I worked on as atm vans when I turned wrenches for a paycheck.



On the vans I worked on the front glass was 2 pieces with a strength brace in the center of the windsheild to help brace the glass.  The glass was super thick.



Those vans were no where close to bullet resistant in all areas.  No way to do that on a one ton chassis with cheap materials, well cheap when it comes to atm vans and bullet resistant stuff anyway.



The front suspension was what I beefed up and these were brand new and converted vans.  We order the heaviest rate coil springs we could get, custom order and place would not build anything with a higher weight rating for us.  And that was just a start.  We also put an air bag in each coil spring, like the firestone bags and what not, and set them up so we could air each one up seperately.



When my co-worker did the alignment he used air pressure to set part of the front alignment and we put a sticker on the van with the air pressure numbers needed for us to set the alignment.  They generally fell into a similar area but each van was a bit different.



I typed all that out to simply point out that while I don't know exactly what all that van has, atm vans are often overloaded on the front suspension and while we could get decent tire wear and handling out of the thing the methods we used to accomplish it were odd to say the least.



I liked having them to work on and learn about but after seeing them in person and crawling around on one a bit working on it I was not astounded by it once it left the shop.



They are what they are.

I've stopped and looked at a few, but I'd rather have the other type....don't know what they're called really.  I just think they look cool.  

I've always wondered.....

Is the roof armored?

Is the floor pan armored?

Are  the engine and radiator protected?

Is the gas tank armored?

Does the added side armor make the sides more rigid? Like it would be easier to pry open?

Do they upgrade the door hinges or latches?

Has anyone ever tried a bulletproof car with kevlar or some other fabric?

Are there bullet proof "ratings" to cars like levels of body armor or rated vaults?

Seems like an armored station wagon would make more sense, like Clark's,

There are ratings on bullet resistant vehicles, though more stuff turns up in a search about bullet proof vehicles.



Dupont Registry used to have some used cherokees with light armor and I worked down the street from a place that armored suburbans, o'hara or o'gara was part of the name as I recall.  They bought burbans straight from general motors and we beefed up the suspension and they finished them and shipped them out of the country.  They were interesting vehicles since they were going out of the country, different emissions and what not.  3/4 ton burbans and this is part of where I got my issue with half ton vs. 3/4 ton burbans I guess.



The atm vans I worked on had beefed up doors and hinges and a little gun port in the door, could have been a completely different door for all I know.



In no way are the vans fully armored.  Basically the concept is to let them get further down the road and somewhat protect the passengers but they are not going to stop rifle rounds in most areas and depending on how the glass is rated it might stop a few rounds of rifle fire but I believe repeated rounds into the same area will get through it eventually, play with box of truth since I think someone sent painless a bit of glass to mess with.  As I recall the atm vans would have problems with a lot of handgun rounds as well in many areas.



I don't recall diddly squat in front of the radiator but what you have to remember with the radiator is that it is keeping things cool.  Even as it loses fluid it will somewhat keep the engine cool and that lets the vehicle get a big further down the road and out of the problem area.



There is a good chance that different atm servicing companies do things differently to some extent so that van might be pretty neat.



But dupont registry had some of the higher end stuff where kevlar panels were used in the vehicle and it still looked like a more normal vehicle rather than something definately modified.



Some searches will turn up all the ratings and what not.



There is a lot of stuff out there but in many cases those vehicles are not junked they are parted out since some stuff can be reused even if it did age and just winds up being used behind fresh stuff.

HAHA, "bran New" engine needs a tune up huh?
i love CL