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| | | I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83929 January 24th 2006 9:11 pm | Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 enthusiast | OP enthusiast Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 |
(post edited- more pics at [url=http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2239358]my cardomain page[/url])
having caught the van bug hard,
I decided back in aug. 05 to sell my trusty 4cyl S10
and get an Astro van.
honestly I never liked astros untill I saw an "early"-style
panel shorty... and I wanted one.
convieniently it fit the bill for a daily driver in all categories
and almost three and a half months later, with a budget of $2000
I bought an astro for $500
1994 RWD "Z" vortec 149k
former pool co. van
no leaks, smoke, or otherwise ominous issues
so far...
cut out shelves,bins, and dividers
scraped off those bastard decals
sanded,primered, roller-painted whole rear interior w/rustoleum
drilled and retapped intake manifold heater outlet threads after
connector broke off on me while working under the doghouse (!@#$%^&*)
radiator flush and prestone fancypants coolant and waterpump lube
k&n filter,
new belts
all synthetic - oil,gearoil,powersteering fluid, and brakefluid
(still looking for synth tranny oil locally?)
removed ac
2 new rear tires
utility seat covers
lots of scrubbing
new fuel filter
full-size spare
indoor/outdoor carpet and 2 layers of padding
made replacement brushed-aluminum chevy logo in grill
made wood panels for rear doors
panel slider from JY
still workin on headliner...
I LOVE THIS LITTLE VAN!
way more powerfull, smoother, more relaxed and WAY more roomy than the S10
it's maiden voyage (besides work and the autoparts store) was 10 hours to
Cato NY over the holidaze and performed beautifully, finished another 9 hour round trip
last week wihtout a sputter or whine.
By far my favorite daily driver I've ever had.
I put the shelves and bins from the back
in my workshop and used the steel sliding drawer unit
that was in it, along with a few wheels from shopping carts, and
made a rolling, locking, modular tool chest
also used some $ left over to get
more tools and ...
synth brake & PS fluid,
all new shocks
all new brakes
k&n
carpet padding
keyed kill switch
additional horn
and the stuff to seal my bay windows
for my Dodge!!!!
me and both my vans won on this deal!!!
got lots of ideas about what all I could do with it...
but it will probably be very utilitarian forever.
it has some paint issues in numerous places and the
decals left ghosts I havent tried to buff out yet.
the DS rear door is banged to hell,
I would love to have panel rear doors and
a little B+W camera on the rear leading
to an small lcd monitor up front.
if keeping the rear doors, I thought of using
diamondplate aluminum plates on the doors and
painting them to match.
love it!
Chris Poff
[ January 24, 2006, 10:14 PM: Message edited by: cp0ff ] | | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83930 January 24th 2006 9:15 pm | Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 2,632 Wood Carver, Supreme | Wood Carver, Supreme Joined: Dec 2000 Posts: 2,632 | Chris, You'll have to check out http://www.astrosafari.com as they have a ton of ideas for these babies! I have two myself! Had a third but after 240K it decided it was time to retire! lol enjoy your ride as they are a great deal and will give you miles of pleasure! B.W. | | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83931 January 24th 2006 9:25 pm | Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 enthusiast | OP enthusiast Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 | yeah! Im a member @ AS...
PRICELESS!!! just like here.
c.p. | | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83932 January 24th 2006 9:54 pm | Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 enthusiast | OP enthusiast Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 | oops! problem fixed... <small>[ January 24, 2006, 10:26 PM: Message edited by: cp0ff ]</small> | | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83934 February 10th 2006 9:01 pm | Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 enthusiast | OP enthusiast Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 | </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial"> That Astro better not be stealing away attention that could be turned toward your Dodge </font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Arial">I will have to admit that in the beginning I did focus on the astro alot because I needed to get to know it and make sure everything was in good, reliable condition, and try to stop the clorine induced cancer in spots.
unfortunately that did steal some attention in a way, but fortunately the trade-off was getting to use some of the $ left over in my budget for the Dodge, and although the going has been slow, I've replaced rear brakes, wheel cylinders, and lines, all shocks front brakes, hoses, and wheel bearings (done DS, workin on PS now) all synth. grease dual horns and painted all the interior wood door panels and subfloor pieces with thick, outdoor oil base paint (just to seal the wood).
the Astro is a daily driver that I will tinker with and work on periodically that might end up something a litle more spicy in the future, but the initial comfort and contiued maintainance are all she's getting for a while, maybe some painted plywood wall skin in the back...
but the Dodge is a sentimental relic that I've taken responsability for keeping around. I've needlessly replaced parts for the sake of longevity. it is the first real automotive project I've undertaken and, along with everyone here, it has taught me alot and given me the confidence to do major things to my vehicles, but since it has been a first, my time-frames have been absurd and unrealistic for me, but having seen MAJOR progress over time I've decided that I'll get her done SOMEDAY and am not going to speculate anymore on when. this site got me desperately itching for a van faster that I realised the Dodge was going to happen and since my aging s10 was in need of replacement.. DING DING DING ASTRO! it's quickly getting a sentimental element of it's own, but when I've got the Dodge and the VW rockin and inspected, I'll put some mojo on the Astro. <small>[ February 10, 2006, 08:09 PM: Message edited by: cp0ff ]</small> | | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83935 February 10th 2006 11:22 pm | Joined: Nov 2003 Posts: 3,124 pooh-bah | pooh-bah Joined: Nov 2003 Posts: 3,124 | Congrats, Chris. Glad to hear that you're happy with it. I'm also looking right now for an Astro as a daily driver while SS gets done. (*gasp* a CHEVY??) I've owned a couple of them, never customized one. Have fun with it! | | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83936 February 25th 2006 4:59 am | Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 102 member | member Joined: Sep 2004 Posts: 102 | Hey Chris, Your Cargo van is begining its "New Customized Life" much cleaner than mine ever did!.....haha!
Your Van was a >> "Nice" pool cleaning company van....
And my Van was a >> "Beat-up and dented" Pizza Delivery Van!
However,My van has transformed further with a highly modified 350 V8 swap, utilizing ported and polished heads, with larger valves and an EdelBrock MPFI system (staying smog legal here in CA). Plus a New-style front-end body-swap, and a rear new-style dutch-door swap, shaved handles, gas filler and rear license plate, plus I added a custom roll pan.
I lowered my van with BelTech -2 drop spindles on the front with KYB "stock height" shocks, and a BellTech flip-kit in the rear with some extra lowering blocks.
My rims are 18 inch Chrome 5 x 5 Custom chrome IROC`s, with 245/45/18 Pirelli Tires.
I have Caddi-Tails, Gullwing Sliding door, plus many other shavings..... Hopefully I will get my Van painted soon.
| | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83937 February 25th 2006 8:32 am | Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 enthusiast | OP enthusiast Joined: Jan 2005 Posts: 199 | Boot- I had to look for quite a while to find a no-window here... even then I had to get a panel slider from the JY. even once you've got the SS
rockin' it's good to have something to use to
put to work... and why not another van!?!?
good luck man, Im sure you'll have to do SOMETHING
to it....
SoCaliV8- does your van have a permanent scent of
cheese and pepperoni? ... because, despite the fact I've cleaned, brushed, primered, and painted
every square inch from the seats back, it still has a slight chlorine smell... I guess it could be worse, it could have been a sewer excavation co. van! also, maybe you're tuned for performance mainly and don't care as much about mileage, but
I've heard that putting a v8 in an astro barely changes mileage, infact I remember someone at astrosafari.com saying they got BETTER mileage
with a v8... what is your experience with mileage and this swap?
and by the way, I do have a few dings and scrapes
and the rear doors are pretty bad but the real
nightmare was inside, it was filthy and the dash
covered in old tape where notes had been posted.
I should have taken pictures, but I didnt want anyone to know what it had looked like inside untill after I had cleaned it up and painted. | | | Re: I LOVE MY ASTRO!!! #83938 February 25th 2006 11:50 am | Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 194 member | member Joined: Feb 2003 Posts: 194 | Smoke a couple of good cigars in that Astro and the pizza/ chlorine smell will disappear | | |
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