Thread: 1985 Astro V8 "Ole Yellar" Project Van

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Maybe my last post got missed.I mean it happens and I know that.Any advise guys.Please and thank you.

I had 2 of these a few years back and you can't kill them ,tough as nails. There was one not far from here that had a 4" chop done to it, looked good too!
I hated the fiberglass rear springs, not bad to change, always seem to spliter at the axle mount.
Brian

The mod for the rear springs is steel main leafs which if I just wanted the OEM update it can be done by swapping out the front hangers and using 1996 Astro or later springs.With this van I am going to a custom spring set-up.A steel main leaf and secondary springs with center holes that shift them more towards the front than the rear.Mopar used to call them Super Stock springs.When torque is applied it act like a traction bar lifting up the body.

I am going to do a 3" front and rear lift.I will go into more detail on that in a little bit.We are doing that for a tire size increase to 29".Rear end is going to be a Ford 9" build by a outfit near Syr,NY.

How's the van coming, Gary?

I am working my way threw parts selection for the stroker rotating assembly.Pretty much has settled on a Howard's steel crank,Scat stroker rods,King bearings,pistons are still not selected yet.Block is out getting a ruff bore 030 over and hot tanked.Going to get a pair of RHS cast iron 195cc heads for it.I have know for a while which cam I want to use and it is a GM nick named the "383" cam.Under a 500 lift with a smooth idle.Had the misfortune of while it was parked in my driveway by the road,some jerk drove by throwing a bottle and broke the driver's window.Just yesterday got done replacing that.Grrrrrrrrrr.

The Ole Yellar project van is a concept and not really tied to any van per say.I bought this 1985 conversion van out of KY and dolly towed it home to Roch 3yrs ago.The 1989 V8 Astro donor van I bought out of In and the same thing dolly towed it back to Roch.

The 1985 has never failed to take me wherever I wanted to go.Really has become a old friend.Really doesn't owe me dime one.But up here in the Roch,NY rust belt,it's body was becoming less and less likely as the body for this project.I was thinking I was going to go threw the process of repairing it and do a slider door handle shave,slider door delete(welded shut for one smooth panel),side windows fillers.

When I surf Craigslist,I almost never look at the cars/trucks section and just by chance I found on Monday a listing for a 1989 Astro cargo Florida van that was here in Roch,NY.It has tons of new parts on it.So I called the seller out of curiously and arranged to go see it.It is a really solid body with the normal rust/peeling paint issues on the roof(which won't matter because I would be putting the conversion roof on it from the 1985 Astro and one rust repair on the driver's side wheel well.Also no side window fillers because it is a cargo already.I shot a offer to the seller and he told me not one penny less.So I walked away from the sale thinking the price was too steep.

On Tuesday it was still bugging me.Here was a rust free van in Roch from down south.I feared I was going to go threw that in the pit of your belly feeling while I was doing all the repairs on the 1985 that I let 1989 get away which in the end would be a much nicer van.So I called him back to offer a deposit to him buying it to be the end of the month.He accepted the offer and I now own the 1989 cargo.I will take the conversion top from the 1985 and put it on the 1989 cargo.

I am thinking this is a major step forward in this project even through I was money I would have rather not spent.I'll put up pictures of the new additive to the family when I can.Kind of excited to have gotten it.

Oh yeah-two wks before this I bought a 1989 factory service manual because it was a really good price and I thought I could use it on the 1985.The donor Astro V8 van was a 1989 too that means the parts I have from that will fit the cargo.A chance happening to find the cargo,buy a manual,and gotten the donor v8 van that is a 1989 too??.All I am going to say is I do think someone above is looking out for me.

Been searching for a better than 1 1/2 car garage that I rented for two yrs.The issue is to find a garage door tall enough to fit the conversion van top with when it's all done a 3" lift.Commercial rentals are by the sq foot and so expensive.

At last I found a 30' x 50' metal pole barn to rent at a good price.Over the coming months I will do a build up to make it into a really good work place and that should have a very positive impack on my Ole Yellar van project.

Just wanted to tell you guys about this.I am very excited to get started on this and will be moving in on 2/15/11.

I have grown to very much like the name of my project van as "Ole Yellar" and I do think when I ref to it most members here know about the van I am talking about which is the 1985 High Top van you see in the picture.But it had gotten to the point where with the rust repair "could" get it back to a viable van and for me to have a no window cargo I would have to do fillers in the windows too.So I bought a rust free 1989 Florida cargo Astro.

So here is the name change.The 1989 cargo will be known as "Ole Yellar" and will get the conversion top from the 1985.The 1985 will be known as the "shop van" and will be top less this spring for hauling parts and materials,beach runs,and a back-up to the 1994LT if I don't complete a repair to that.I'll keep that at the new rental pole barn.

Thanks for your time.

Call it a old superstition,but we used to say when working on a race car in the shop we didn't run yet,if it pushed easy,it was a winner.I went to push Ole Yellar yesterday from one side of the shop to the other.Man it almost killed me to get it to move.Hummmmmmm.Not good.

I will have to remember that superstition.......Seems all of my cars over the years have been very hard to push across the shop

So here is the intro to the Florida Ole Yellar that will get the high top from the yellow van and a number of custom features and a 383 SBC:







I have a no window slider for it and the game plan is to shave the door handle and then weld the slider to the side for a slider delete.Right behind the seats across the van will be a area built as a sleeper.The are no window rear doors planed for it as well.Like you see aside from the normal dings it is a pretty clean deal.





It will be painted as named...........Ole Yellar case equipment type yellow and the high top going on is going to be the silvery New Caddy color white.

Like any other project.....more on this later.Thanks.

Guys-please I do need your input about cutting the Ole Yellar roof and keeping everything in place.It is a suit-o untli-body(sp) van with a front sub frame and rear sub frame.I saw in Dave's build a bar that was in the door jam,but I don't know if that is something that is commonly available or something he fab'ed up himself.

Thanks in advance,

Gary

Probably 3 or 4 good supports, 1" X 1" running crossways just below the roof, and another one front to rear. Then 2 or 3 braces on each side running at an angle to the opposite side on the floor. Big thing is to get the sides, door jambs, front and rear from moving when the old roof is removed.... Shut and latch all the doors, might even want to use some straps to temporarily tack weld them shut. Keeping everything and anything from moving is the key to keep things in position...no such thing as overbracing....

The high top roof is a key part of the van for storage of extra containers of selling product and I am going to delete the slider door and handle for a cleaner look.Then build a sleeper bed across the van right behind the seats with a wall between the sleeper and the rear cargo area.If it wasn't for all that,I wouldn't cut it.

Thank you for the reply.When I spoke to the handicap van place who doesn't want to do the job,he said it was because of all the steel they would have to add.Kind of hinted it was because of some legal requirement.I'm not sure if all these unitli body conversion vans over time shift somewhat.I am going to look hard to weld in a solution for the long term and try to get as much info out of the handicap installer as I can.I do agree to brace it as much as I can temporary while cutting it and permanently.Sure wish I had a tubing bender.Maybe a halo bar that went all around the top and tied into the base and top.

Thanks again Dave.I'll take that advise and put it to good use.

What do you think about big corner gussets top and bottom??.

Corner gussets won't do much, the big problem is the door openings at the jambs on top!!! They need very good support, if the jambs move and you don't catch it and straighten them, you'll have a van full of grief forever!!! Don't know that a halo would do much, good bracing with a few X's for added strength would be better. Bracing is more to do with the correct structure then anything else.