1976 Former Ambulance/Sheriff C30

[HarrisonLe]

Nice score. Too bad the bucket seats are no longer in it. Is the tach part of the hand throttle system?

The Tach is just a summit branded piece the owner slapped on there, would be cool though!

More pics of that center cup holder thing! I love the color! And the mirrors!
Extremely envious.

For sure! When it gets light out here I'll send some. It looks almost like the Ambulance company installed the cup holders as the siren is bolted onto it.

Holy crap that thing is awesome! Love the dual pillar spotlights.

Thanks! The passenger side one has a red lens on it.

Is the factory hand throttle control still in place? I always wondered what that setup looked like.

The hand throttle is still there, it is under the dash marked throttle. A quick glance I thought it was a manual choke I have not tried it but I will let you know if it is still hooked up.

 

[HarrisonLe]

Interesting rig. Surprised this was allowed to be sold with all those blue lights still on it.

Here in Texas blue lights are a grey area, I know over west they will smash the light as soon as they see it. The owner told me he never had a problem but I have no use for a light bar so I may just stow it. Also, the light bar up top was originally I believe red and blue before being swapped out is what the owner told me. All the lights including the side markers and big square lights were stuff he took off the ambulance body and onto the flatbed.

 

[gotyourgoat]

Hand throttle? Please elaborate on this throttling.

 

[HarrisonLe]

Hand throttle? Please elaborate on this throttling.

I believe it was a method for specifically work trucks to control the throttle without pressing the pedal. I’m sure more experienced users can chime in.

 

[idahovette]

I think most hand throttle applications were on 4 spd manual transmissions to keep the engine rpms up while using a PTO for whatever reason(winch etc.)

 

[HarrisonLe]

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Just checked out the hand throttle and it does work, at idle it raises my RPM as you pull it out.

 

[Old77]

as far down as that hand throttle is I'm not sure what it's purpose is LOL Can someone explain that has some experience?

 

[bucket]

It's to manually raise the idle when running pto-opperated pumps and such. It's not used while actually driving the truck, normally.

 

[bigcountry78]

It's to manually raise the idle when running pto-opperated pumps and such. It's not used while actually driving the truck, normally.

Makeshift cruise control? Lol probably a bad idea but that doesn’t mean it hasn’t been done before.

 

[SDJunkMan]

My 78 has one, I have no idea why, no PTO or anything. It is a 4 speed manual. I use it to warm up the truck on cold days since there isn't a choke on the truck.

 

[Craig 85]

as far down as that hand throttle is I'm not sure what it's purpose is LOL Can someone explain that has some experience?

I started working in law enforcement in the late 80's. The light bars back then where all incandescent bulbs. They drew a lot of voltage with everything on (Light bar, Spot lights, Wig-wags, A/C, etc). Even though we had high amp alternators from the factory, they couldn't really keep up with the demand for a long period of time like being at a major crime scene or collision. You would often see often see the lights dimming and rotating slower. Occasionally the vehicles would die and would would have to jump start them.

I would assume with the ambulance package they used this when parked at a scene. They have more equipment running than a patrol car, plus dual A/C systems.

My 1989 Caprice

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[DoubleDingo]

I started working in law enforcement in the late 80's. The light bars back then where all incandescent bulbs. They drew a lot of voltage with everything on (Light bar, Spot lights, Wig-wags, A/C, etc). Even though we had high amp alternators from the factory, they couldn't really keep up with the demand for a long period of time like being at a major crime scene or collision. You would often see often see the lights dimming and rotating slower. Occasionally the vehicles would die and would would have to jump start them.

I would assume with the ambulance package they used this when parked at a scene. They have more equipment running than a patrol car, plus dual A/C systems.

My 1989 Caprice

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Back when it was easy to spot a patrol car from a distance on a dark night. The headlights gave it away every time.