Thread: Bad Ast Astro Van Build

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No problem...

The engine parts just sold on eBay so now I can order the new heads! Very Cool!

I have been picking away at the van stuff... It's been so FREAKIN" hot here it is almost unbearable!
Last weekend I would work for a half hour and then head into the house to change my shirt and cool off. Pretty ridiculus. The yard thermometer read 108 in my back yard.
This weekend wasn't as bad but if you weren't working directly in front of the fan you were pretty uncomfortable...
Anyway, I got the doghouse pretty well along last weekend. It is all glassed and there is a skim coat of Bondo on most it to start smoothing. Really won't take much from what I am seeing...
First coat. I knocked this down with a cheese grater. Quick and leaves a good surface for skim coats.
http://images45.fotki.com/v1427/phot...MVC009F-vi.jpg
This is how it sits now. I will DA this smooth and then flow on a coat of resin to make a smooth surface for the carbon fiber.
http://images55.fotki.com/v1618/phot...MVC003F-vi.jpg
The pass. side. Not a lot of filler here. I was really surprised how well the t-shirt material worked to smooth this off during lay-up.
http://images55.fotki.com/v1618/phot...MVC003F-vi.jpg
We worked on few things this weekend, the shifter housing, the left front wheel house and the seat mounting brackets. The seat brackets are being redesigned to better carry the "load"... Mel made a jig board that the sliders bolt to'
http://images61.fotki.com/v440/photo...MVC015F-vi.jpg
We decided to cut the original mounting ears off the sliders and make our own out of 3/16ths x 2" angle.
http://images60.fotki.com/v224/photo...MVC021F-vi.jpg
The angle will weld to the sliders and span the gap between them, essentially making the sliders one piece... I will have to order some angle, didn't have any on hand that size.
The front wheel house was pretty straight forward. Had to do some tack welding and make a piece to plug the large hole left after moving the old housinng inboard 3 inches.
http://images16.fotki.com/v369/photo...MVC020F-vi.jpg
I'll clean up the surface rust before it gets welded in.
This is from underneath.
http://images39.fotki.com/v1230/phot...MVC021F-vi.jpg

It all looks really good, Mark! Should work out great!

Some great detail shots, Mark. Thanks for taking time to stop & photograph, which I know is not always easy when working glass.

Thanks Roger! I am trying to be diligent in my photo taking. Some things I have missed but I have 98% of the build documented in pics on my Fotki site.

Got a bit done this past weekend. Saturday was pretty much a lost cause. Hit a yard sale and picked up an old Sears scroll saw for 5 bucks...
http://images18.fotki.com/v87/photos...MVC003F-vi.jpg
It ran! I had to rewire it, put on a new switch and do a lot of cleaning and some fine tuning but she runs like a champ and I was cutting 1/4" aluminum with it Sunday morning!
http://images9.fotki.com/v248/photos...MVC010F-vi.jpg
Sunday was a pretty good day! Earlier in the week my wife picked up an air conditioner for the shop!
http://images12.fotki.com/v20/photos...MVC001F-vi.jpg
I put it in the window in the machine shop side and it does a FINE job of cooling of the man cave... Do you see what the temp is in the pic? That was at 2 or 3 in the afternoon Saturday and the thermometer outside read 88... Very nice!
We got a good start on the seat mounting frames. I was not at all impressed by the mounting tabs on the provided sliders so thet got cut off.
http://images51.fotki.com/v424/photo...MVC021F-vi.jpg
See that thin little strip of metal that we cut?
http://images33.fotki.com/v1140/phot...MVC022F-vi.jpg
THAT is what was supporting my 270 lb bulk. And it didn't do a very good job either. I bent them just trial fitting the seats... They had to go.
We replaced them wih these... 3/16 x 2" angle. This will get welded to both sliders in leau of the pieces we just removed. Welded between the sliders on both ends.
http://images12.fotki.com/v20/photos...MVC012F-vi.jpg
After adding some "character".
http://images52.fotki.com/v639/photo...MVC014F-vi.jpg
We made the floor frames from bent up 3/16 x 2" strip.
http://images43.fotki.com/v398/photo...MVC019F-vi.jpg
The floor frames will bolt to the angles with two bolts on each corner.
http://images108.fotki.com/v205/phot...MVC004F-vi.jpg
I am in the process of designing the triangulation braces. This is what I've come up with. (built out of foam core)
This is the front (I flipped the pic to get it oriented right. We are building these upside down on the jig board) The brace will weld to the floor frame on the outer ends and bolt to the front crossmember with two 3/8 in bolts.
http://images55.fotki.com/v605/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
This is the side view. (also flipped) All of this will weld to the floor frame and not effect the seat.
http://images52.fotki.com/v733/photo...MVC001F-vi.jpg
This will made out of 3/16 x 1 and 3/16 x 2 strip.
What do you think? Too busy looking? Once everything is powder coated black I think it will look great!
Thanks for looking
Mark
P.S. The fuel tank is ALMOST DONE! My welder has been picking away at it on his breaks and during lunch. I looked it over today and all he has to finish is a couple small patches for the frame kickups and pressure test and we'll be good. It looks really good and he has done an incredible job of welding up all of that .090 with very little warpage!
I can't wait to get this thing home...

its great when a plan comes together

some guy have it bad AC in the shop ... what the hell ..whats next a TV man nothing going to get done.. i bet you have beer on tap you better re work then seats you hit that small block 254 de stroke chevy that.s going back in . it .s going to throw you in the back of your van

Seat mounts should be fine, Mark. When they've got to be that tall they need some size and bracing to keep the flex out of them.

Thanks guys! Hey Pat, what do you think the torque numbers will be on the 254 at 10grand? There is no beer or TV, yet, and the A/C just makes for a very comfortable work shop. Well worth it just to pull the humidity out of the air...
Dave, we mocked the seats in on brackets I got with the seats and they seemed a bit low. This was at a 4 1/2" height to the bottom of the seat. We added an 1" to that and redesigned all of the mounting hardware. I hope the additional braces, as well as the double bolts in each corner, will keep me in the front of the van! Pat gets to ride right behind me on the maiden voyage!

i hope your seat brackets are strong... i do not want to hold you up when you hit 2 gear

mark if your timming is right there may be some heavy hardware in kawkawlin if you like that ls stuff

Originally Posted by pat mccarthy

mark if your timming is right there may be some heavy hardware in kawkawlin if you like that ls stuff

What are you working on now??? 'Splain it too me Lucy!
A Big Ass fan would get the air moving. That would be a plus. It wasn't that bad in your shop the last time I was up there but, getting the air moving, would help a lot. Even a small A/C unit like I got helps a ton, just getting the humidity down is a good thing.

just went down the road with it caddy some work done to it. making 610 hp and 585 tq not to bad had a smile on my face for a hour or so.. the vett is coming in for me work on the rocker arms thats is the blue one in my photos road race car only.. but who knows is has a plate

HAY! Whats wrong with A/C and TV in the shop?? I have both TV is hardly ever on Lately A/C is on Radio never turned off.

Originally Posted by cffisher

HAY! Whats wrong with A/C and TV in the shop?? I have both TV is hardly ever on Lately A/C is on Radio never turned off.

yep and i hear you have beer on tap lucky for you i live far away .in my shop no AC old heater fan and the radio .but yesterday. i was thinking of buying one of then 4foot tall fans at tractor supplie

I'd love to see a high of 88F in mid-afternoon!! Yesterday we were at 103 to 105F, with humidity in the 30-35% range which is pretty high for that heat. Inside the barn/shop was pushing upper 90's. A fan helps, but when it's pushing 100+ air it's kind of like a blast furnace. Just glad I'm not in AZ in the summer! That place is brutal.