Thread: Bad Ast Astro Van Build

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Mel just sent me these pics of the hubs. He took them to a local automotive shop yesterday and lined them up on turning down the O.D. to fit inside the Vette rotors and they also pressed in new bearing races and swapped out the 7/16 lug studs to 1/2".
http://images61.fotki.com/v777/photo...nthubs2-vi.jpg
The bigger studs are Astro van pieces. The one on the right still had the spindly 7/16ths in it...
http://images56.fotki.com/v371/photo...nthubs1-vi.jpg
These will clean up nice in the blast cabinet and look great with some gloss black paint on them.
Thanks again guys!
I hope we can keep moving forward!
Mark

Thanks Dave, after a month or so of Over Time I finally got a full weekend off from the money job and got some stuff done on the van.
Saturday I worked on the front half of the left rear tub, getting that cut out and fit to the outer wheel well.
Here it is on the bench after I had run it through the rollers. I found it was easier to put a bit more bend into the panel then it actually needed and then sneak up on the fit by slowly unbending it...
http://images112.fotki.com/v386/phot...MVC001F-vi.jpg
Things went fairly smooth and it was clecoed in quickly.
http://images61.fotki.com/v390/photo...MVC010F-vi.jpg
You can also see the lower "skirt" piece is made and clipped in at this point.
Mel worked on the front brake hubs.... This was a job. He used the trusty sawzall to remove the rotor from the hub.
http://images16.fotki.com/v378/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
http://images60.fotki.com/v370/photo...MVC008F-vi.jpg
All cut down and ready for the lathe. These need to be reduced in diameter to 6" so they will fit in the Corvette front rotors. They will be shortened up quite a bit also.
http://images61.fotki.com/v390/photo...MVC017F-vi.jpg
Once this is done we will verify caliper positioning and drill out the spindle for the 7/16-20 bolts that hold on the abutmemnts.
http://images55.fotki.com/v659/photo...MVC015F-vi.jpg
Doesn't look like a lot but we made some progress.
Thanks for looking
Mark

The wheel tubs came out great Mark! Looks like the brakes and hubs are going to be well up to the task of motivating the Van!

Mark, you're doing some great fab work and your pictures are well done to help understand your process. It's a huge project, but one that's gonna get lots of attention down the road. Thanks for posting all of the details.

Don't you just wish you had more time to put in on your project?

We also started cutting up the pass side front wheel well. The whole front corner was removed in the process and there is a huge gapping hole in the floor and firewall now. You can see some of the carnage here.
http://images18.fotki.com/v438/photo...MVC011F-vi.jpg
We did this so we can get the tire wheel into full jounce and steer to set clearances and rebuild the wells.
We also started assembling the front suspensions. Pressing in the lower ball stud and bolting in the uppers, we actually assembled the front pass corner on the van for the first time!
http://images51.fotki.com/v299/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
http://images60.fotki.com/v361/photo...MVC014F-vi.jpg
The amazing thing to me was that it actually went together and looks right!
http://images60.fotki.com/v778/photo...MVC016F-vi.jpg
Even the calipers bolted up as designed. I was feeling pretty good by the end of the day! Even though we have a long way to go, things are coming together and it seems we are doing something right. Moving forward is good!
http://images17.fotki.com/v374/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
http://images50.fotki.com/v1530/phot...jpg?1332153347
I tried bolting up a front rim but the studs are too short (I knew they would be and I have longer ones from Summit on the bench) I need to change those out so I can get a wheel on.
Thanks for looking
Mark

Thanks guys, work is progressing slowly. We are into a stage where there is a lot of little things to do before we can get big things done. Last week was spent pulling together all of the parts for the trans build. Runnning the trans and rebuild kit up to Fred in Bay City after work Thursday night. I got home at 5:00pm to a flooded shop (TONS of rain) and spent an hour getting that swept out. I will have to mop and clean the floors before I do any painting this year.
Saturday was spent working on the hubs. Sandblasting, priming, painting.
Before blasting...
http://images17.fotki.com/v284/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
After blasting... Cleaned up real nice.
http://images16.fotki.com/v378/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
I painted them the same hammer black as the spindles. Looks okay. Not that you will see them after they are assembled anyway...
http://images61.fotki.com/v384/photo...MVC007F-vi.jpg
We pressed in new, longer 1/2 inch studs today and stuck it back on the spindle.
http://images112.fotki.com/v113/phot...MVC015F-vi.jpg
We also spent some time working out the new alternator bracket design. Took a lot of measurements and I designed the new bracket last night.
http://images55.fotki.com/v585/photo...RNATOR1-vi.jpg
http://images53.fotki.com/v249/photo...RNATOR3-vi.jpg
This will move the alternator up about two inches which will get it out of the way of the lower rad hose and still clear the engine cover. I will talk to the fab shop at work about laser cutting these for me...

Getting the hubs done with longer studs let me get a rim and tire bolted on.
http://images16.fotki.com/v382/photo...MVC021F-vi.jpg
This pic is with the fender in place. What you see here is full jounce
http://images55.fotki.com/v659/photo...MVC015F-vi.jpg
We also mocked up the steering rack so we could get an accurate lock to lock on the tire.
This is full right lock/full jounce. We developed all of our trim lines from this position.
http://images51.fotki.com/v103/photo...MVC004F-vi.jpg
This is from the pass side door before any extra trimming. We trimmed enough to give the tire a full inch of clearance.
http://images17.fotki.com/v62/photos...MVC002F-vi.jpg
This is full left lock/jounce.
We'll build a new inner fender to cover the suspension and tie into the firewall and new front structure.
http://images55.fotki.com/v585/photo...MVC005F-vi.jpg
Mel got the old inner wheel house cleaned up and we'll use that as a base to rebuild the new one.
http://images112.fotki.com/v113/phot...MVC020F-vi.jpg
We got a lot done today. Everything went together very well and we don't have any real issues other then the lack of time...
Thanks for looking! I think this van is going to look BAD AST... What do you think?
http://images16.fotki.com/v258/photo...MVC012F-vi.jpg

THANKS A TON GUYS! I am glad you are enjoying the build. I DO wish I had more time to devote to it but I wouldn't be able to pay the bills that way. I haven't updated the thread for a while so here is what we've been up to. Just kind of picking away at things, lots of little things need doing to get the bigger stuff taken care of...
Got some work done the past few weekends. Welding and grinding on the wheel rear tubs last weekend with Mel getting the spindles set up for the brake abutment adaptor brackets.
http://images55.fotki.com/v648/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v103/photo...MVC008F-vi.jpg
Drilling and tapping holes for those. We had to do some plugging to relocate one of them for better caliper positioning but the other was a straight drill and re-tap for both holes.
http://images51.fotki.com/v299/photo...MVC014F-vi.jpg
Today I put off doing any welding. Worked on the alternator brackets. The brackets that came with the engine are set up for the drivers side. I have NO room for an alternator over there so it has to go on the pass. side. The pulley is out of alignment on this side so I made up a couple of spacers to push the whole bracket forward 3/4's of an inch.
http://images55.fotki.com/v585/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
http://images45.fotki.com/v1257/phot...MVC008F-vi.jpg
http://images60.fotki.com/v367/photo...MVC010F-vi.jpg
You can see the spacers behind the bracket. The belt lines up beatifully now. The next job is getting an adjuster plate down there. It is getting fairly close to the lower rad. hose but I think it's do-able.
Thanks for looking.
Mark

Yeah Mark-it is coming together nicely.You think your going to driving it by the end of the summer??.

Nice work Mark, especially like the look of the front wheel and tire set up!!! Kind of does away with the plain Jane grocery getter look for sure! Sorry to hear about the flooding in the shop, I know what a mess that makes! I had a shop years ago that was in a low spot, went in there one Monday morning after a weekend of rain to find 6" of water! Took a week to get everything cleaned up.

Good progress on the van, all these little pieces really eat up the old clock, don't they?

Realy nice work, you can tell it was thought out.

More great fab work, and for sure it's living up to it's name! Can't wait to see it all together!!

A buddy found the trans for me. It's a '71 out of a motorhome... Low miles on it although Fred found evidence of an amatuer rebuild. Nothing major, just a couple of snap rings in the wrong spot and a missing parking pawl spring. He said it was perfect otherwise.
Here are a couple of pics of the Gear Vendors "J" model overdrive I got off eBay. It took me over an hour to uncrate it and it seems to be in fine shape. We'll go through it at Freds shop tomorrow.
http://images54.fotki.com/v104/photo...00_4499-vi.jpg
Manuals, Wiring harness and a speedo adaptor.
http://images114.fotki.com/v1605/pho...00_4497-vi.jpg
The CRATE...
Drywall screws and bolts man...
http://images57.fotki.com/v647/photo...00_4494-vi.jpg

I got my gear vendors out of a newspaper ad, 700r4 setup, works great! just wish i had more power. I wound up ditching the computer set up. just my preference computer worked great, just wanted control, although the unit gave me option of manual.Good luck trying to break it! Super nice project, Can't wait! oh wait I have a 8 speed! you only will have a 6 speed! I win .just kidding!!!!

Originally Posted by astroracer

A buddy found the trans for me. It's a '71 out of a motorhome... Low miles on it although Fred found evidence of an amatuer rebuild. Nothing major, just a couple of snap rings in the wrong spot and a missing parking pawl spring. He said it was perfect otherwise.
Here are a couple of pics of the Gear Vendors "J" model overdrive I got off eBay. It took me over an hour to uncrate it and it seems to be in fine shape. We'll go through it at Freds shop tomorrow.
http://images54.fotki.com/v104/photo...00_4499-vi.jpg
Manuals, Wiring harness and a speedo adaptor.
http://images114.fotki.com/v1605/pho...00_4497-vi.jpg
The CRATE...
Drywall screws and bolts man...
http://images57.fotki.com/v647/photo...00_4494-vi.jpg