Thread: Bad Ast Astro Van Build

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The weekend prior Mel and I worked on the rear enclosure. I spent some time spreading seam sealer on the tubs and getting all of the joints packed. This is messy stuff.
{img]http://images52.fotki.com/v726/photos/5/904975/11902235/MVC006F-vi.jpg[/img]
http://images12.fotki.com/v216/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
We also made up some flanges to rivet to the tubs to carry the bottom of the front enclosure panel.
http://images61.fotki.com/v545/photo...MVC011F-vi.jpg
We made these out of .090 aluminum sheet. Bent them up on the 3 n 1 and ran them thru the stretcher dies to make the curve.
http://images49.fotki.com/v1508/phot...MVC020F-vi.jpg
Me workin' hard...
http://images16.fotki.com/v301/photo...MVC022F-vi.jpg
The template...
http://images57.fotki.com/v1613/phot...MVC021F-vi.jpg
The fit...
http://images20.fotki.com/v1590/phot...MVC023F-vi.jpg
The final product...
http://images46.fotki.com/v297/photo...MVC012F-vi.jpg
We got both sides in, seam sealed and riveted...
Trial fitting with a few clecoes
http://images49.fotki.com/v606/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
Setting them in place with a smear of seam sealer underneath. This is a clecoe going in prior to riveting.
http://images12.fotki.com/v616/photo...MVC005F-vi.jpg
The passenger side from the front.
http://images60.fotki.com/v778/photo...MVC010F-vi.jpg
The drivers side.
http://images12.fotki.com/v213/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
Had a good day in the shop. Got a lot done and, at this point, I was hoping to be painting this stuff next weekend...
http://images54.fotki.com/v514/photo...MVC008F-vi.jpg
Thanks for looking
Mark

We got all of the minor brackets for the enclosure panels done today. Mel did the brunt of the work on these while I was dinking around smoothing out all of that seam sealer I put in last weekend...
Building brackets for the end panel closeouts.
http://images55.fotki.com/v608/photo...MVC005F-vi.jpg
The sealer smoothed out nicely with the stripping disc. It took me a couple of hours to get them ready for paint.
http://images54.fotki.com/v104/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
Passenger side.
http://images52.fotki.com/v640/photo...MVC010F-vi.jpg
Mel got the end closures made up. We put a nice roll at the top. I think this looks so much better then sharp corners... The Carbon Fiber panels will have this same roll.
http://images43.fotki.com/v398/photo...MVC013F-vi.jpg
The new closeout and the top panel in place. These will get painted black before being riveted in.
http://images20.fotki.com/v106/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
From inside the enclosre. A couple of clecoes holding the pieces in.
http://images15.fotki.com/v1624/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
The drivers side panel getting fabbed.
http://images54.fotki.com/v461/photo...MVC010F-vi.jpg
http://images108.fotki.com/v613/phot...MVC011F-vi.jpg
This is what paint looks like...
I cleaned the two top panels with some ScotchBrite and shot them with Eastwood Gloss Chassis Black.... Very Nice.
http://images16.fotki.com/v301/photo...MVC013F-vi.jpg
They turned out nice.
http://images108.fotki.com/v1629/pho...MVC007F-vi.jpg
I did the same thing to the rear suspension panel.... It started snowing big fluffy flakes right after I started spraying thing... There are a "few" boogers in the paint from the snow...
http://images50.fotki.com/v1558/phot...MVC009F-vi.jpg
Mel had left for the day when I prepped the back for paint. here is the passenger side ready to be sprayed.
http://images59.fotki.com/v112/photo...MVC014F-vi.jpg
I used Rustoleum Satin Black. Mixed it with about 15% Mineral spirits and shoot it thru my touch-up gun...
http://images43.fotki.com/v398/photo...MVC015F-vi.jpg
The paint is still wet in these pics;
http://images14.fotki.com/v219/photo...MVC017F-vi.jpg
http://images61.fotki.com/v432/photo...MVC018F-vi.jpg
After it had cured fo an a few hours... I also sat the other painted panels in place for the pics...
http://images59.fotki.com/v684/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
http://images57.fotki.com/v283/photo...MVC004F-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v514/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg
Tomorrow I will put another coat on the tubs.
Mark

These are the final designs as it stands today. I ordered some parts from McMaster Carr and got a selection of 1/2-20 rod ends off eBay to build the end links. Now I just need to pick up the DOM tubing I will use for the actual bar.
Here are the 3D CAD pics
http://images60.fotki.com/v361/photo...ARREAR1-vi.jpg
A close up of the adjusters
http://images49.fotki.com/v1539/phot...ARREAR2-vi.jpg
The drivers side mounting tower. The angled plate provides a little additional clearance for the bar in jounce. I have the bar ends tucked in close to the rails so i had to move the bushings inboard a bit and this created a clearance issue with the mounting plate.
http://images12.fotki.com/v236/photo...ARREAR4-vi.jpg
Here is the passenger side. You can see another issue with the track bar bracket. There wasn't a lot of room to get this thing packaged...
http://images16.fotki.com/v388/photo...ARREAR5-vi.jpg
Here are the actual adjusters and rod ends...
http://images16.fotki.com/v387/photo...MVC001F-vi.jpg
I got a very good deal on this set of rod ends from QS Components on eBay. 42 bucks and free shipping. Saved me about 35 bucks over Speedway with shipping added in.
This is enough to do the front bar also.
http://images12.fotki.com/v531/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
Thanks for looking
Mark

Mel and I decided to remove the old fuel filler bump on the inside of the van. This not only cleans up the interior but will make interior panel fab easier.
http://images46.fotki.com/v372/photo...MVC015F-vi.jpg
Didn't make sense to leave it as the fuel fill will be in the back now.
http://images108.fotki.com/v191/phot...MVC014F-vi.jpg
We used an air chisel to get the old seam sealer out. Couldn't get it all so using the plasma cutter was just making a mess of it. We ended up cutting it out with a cut-off wheel on a die grinder.
http://images57.fotki.com/v1354/phot...MVC017F-vi.jpg
This left the flange spot welded to the body so we used a spot weld cutter and the air chisel to get that off.
http://images50.fotki.com/v1572/phot...MVC019F-vi.jpg
http://images43.fotki.com/v398/photo...MVC020F-vi.jpg
Bump is all gone...
http://images59.fotki.com/v112/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
Made a pattern and cut the patch panel out of some 22 gauge.
http://images20.fotki.com/v422/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg
http://images12.fotki.com/v155/photo...MVC008F-vi.jpg
Used the rotary shear to trim off what we didn't need.
http://images12.fotki.com/v254/photo...MVC017F-vi.jpg
http://images51.fotki.com/v278/photo...MVC015F-vi.jpg
Mel laid out a pattern for spot welding and punched the holes with the "bench" punch...
http://images55.fotki.com/v608/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
http://images61.fotki.com/v53/photos...MVC003F-vi.jpg
Put on a 90 deg bend in the 3 in 1 and set it place.
http://images54.fotki.com/v627/photo...MVC005F-vi.jpg
After a few welds and a touch with the flap wheel it's ready for seam sealer.
http://images52.fotki.com/v729/photo...MVC007F-vi.jpg
Laid in some sealer and it's ready for primer when this is cured.
http://images15.fotki.com/v587/photo...MVC011F-vi.jpg
With that done I shot a few coats of the satin black on the middle floor section. This is ready to go in now.
http://images14.fotki.com/v218/photo...MVC012F-vi.jpg
Mel and I were talking about how hard it would be to work on the back of the van with this piece installed. It's MUCH easier to work standing up then trying to do all of this on your knees...
http://images14.fotki.com/v219/photo...MVC013F-vi.jpg
That's it for van work. Thanks for watching...
Mark

Haven't gotten a lot done on the van until today. Been real busy at work and the early hours and long drive is starting to wear on me. Have been real busy with house stuff, you know spring cleaning, yard work and a lot of honey do's.
Have gotten a few things done though. Last Saturday we spent building a "bender stand". This will hold my Pro-Tools tubing bender and the HF tubing roller all in on stand. Got the plans off ebay and it went together well.
http://images55.fotki.com/v1618/phot...MVC004F-vi.jpg
Built from reclaimed 2 x 2 x 1/8 th wall tube for a total cost of about 14 dollars...
Here it is with roller mocked up on top and a HF furniture dolly for a rolling base.
http://images60.fotki.com/v778/photo...MVC005F-vi.jpg
I am waiting on an air over hydraulic bottle jack I ordered to arrive so I can finish putting it together. The jack will mount to these two ears.
http://images55.fotki.com/v509/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg
I don't want to weld them on till I have the jack so I can verify alignment to the bender.
We did get some van stuff done today.
These are all of the brackets for the rear sway bar. The axle brackets. The first one made on the right and the second one (on the left) in all of it's flat plate glory....
http://images50.fotki.com/v1513/phot...MVC003F-vi.jpg
And both of them complete. These will get welded to the housing during fitment.
http://images56.fotki.com/v714/photo...MVC008F-vi.jpg
[img]http://images50.fotki.com/v1522/photos/5/904975/12064735/MVC009F-vi.jpg[/img
These are the frame brackets. The will carry the ES bushings out on the frame. They are being bent along the dashed line on the SWAG bender.
http://images61.fotki.com/v138/photo...MVC011F-vi.jpg
http://images60.fotki.com/v661/photo...MVC013F-vi.jpg
This is a nasty pic with the flash on. I'll get better ones tomorrow. The little brackets in the middle will get welded to the ends of the sway bar and the link will run between those and the L bracket on the axle.
http://images58.fotki.com/v696/photo...MVC016F-vi.jpg
Thats about it. It's hard to believe it's been exactly two years to the day that this started... It's time to get this thing running...
Mark

Got some work done on the van the past two weekends. I even got out on it one night during the week. Working on the big floor insert and rear enclosure. Tuesday it was real nice when I got home from work so I cleaned up all of the seam sealer on the floor insert and got another coat of primer on it.
I used a fiber stripping disc on the seam sealer. It cleans it up, knocks down any high spots and smooths it out when it starts to get hot.
http://images61.fotki.com/v1609/phot...MVC001F-vi.jpg
After some fresh primer this is ready to go in. The top side.
http://images57.fotki.com/v1354/phot...MVC003F-vi.jpg
The bottom side.
http://images57.fotki.com/v80/photos...MVC006F-vi.jpg

Wow, I guess I didn't realize how long it's been since I updated the thread... These next few posts are from a month ago.
I have been Designing a rear sway bar for the van over the past couple of weeks. This is screen shots of my initial concept...
I modeled up the Energy Suspension bushings and rod ends. The bar routes under the fuel tank and attaches to the rear housing with the "L" shaped brackets. They will be welded to the Lower 4-Bar brackets. This is old news now so I'll post updated pics later.
http://images56.fotki.com/v371/photo...ARREAR3-vi.jpg
http://images46.fotki.com/v147/photo...ARREAR2-vi.jpg
Close up of the lower bracket.
http://images55.fotki.com/v585/photo...ARREAR5-vi.jpg
Bottom overall view.
http://images54.fotki.com/v461/photo...ARREAR6-vi.jpg
The bar uses up a bit of tire clearance at the rail but there is no other way to route it...
http://images15.fotki.com/v588/photo...ARREAR8-vi.jpg
Last week I ordered some 1" dia. x .120 wall DOM to make the bar. I also ordered some 1 1/4 x .120 for the front bar.

Honey dos are a necessary part of life. If mama ain't happy ......you know the rest

Two years??? That's not so bad Mark! It's certainly not like you can just dial 1-800-HOT-RODS and order everything for a build like this!!! I guess time and labor is the price we pay for doing a unique build!

Took me 5 years on my 38.

Hey Charlie, good for you. We watched it tracking right for us on 12 news. Wasn't fun.
Got out and finished the stand today. The first thing I did was cut down a Harbor Freight furniture dolly.
You can see it here, sitting under the stand from when I painted it yesterday. It's a little long
http://images56.fotki.com/v1298/phot...MVC012F-vi.jpg
I pulled off one set of casters and cut 5 inches off the length.
http://images61.fotki.com/v443/photo...MVC002F-vi.jpg
I also removed the carpet and, once the frame was back together, I painted black.
B4 paint. I used 1 1/2" long #14 screws to bolt it to the stand from underneath.
http://images60.fotki.com/v662/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
All put together and ready for a test bend.
http://images50.fotki.com/v1557/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
http://images56.fotki.com/v362/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v104/photo...MVC008F-vi.jpg
Ran a piece of thinwall 1" through the bender for a test. The jack cycles out in pulses. It doesn't shoot out real fast. it is slow and very controllable. I was concerned about how the jack would work but now have no issues with it.
About a 30 degree bend here.
http://images14.fotki.com/v373/photo...MVC012F-vi.jpg
Getting upwards of 90 degrees now. I had to reset the drive pin in the die at about 60 degrees. Not any real difference then if I was using the stationary tool post other then I am taking it easy doing it... This is going to be great. Being able to use the tubing bender at any time, without having bolt and unbolt the tool post, is going to make the bender a much more versitile tool!
http://images108.fotki.com/v191/phot...MVC014F-vi.jpg
Just an overall with a piece of tubing bent to 90 degree's without breaking a sweat!
http://images51.fotki.com/v1562/phot...MVC015F-vi.jpg
I also tried out the Harbor Freight Tubing Roller on a piece of conduit. It rolled it like it wasn't even there. I got a little heavy handed with the "down" roller and kinked it but that was my fault in going to fast.

I bent up this little riser plate that rivets to inside the box. This gets the relays up, off the floor, so components and wiring can pass by underneath.
http://images50.fotki.com/v1522/phot...7/photo-vi.jpg
I used some light duty aluminum riv-nuts for the relay mounts. I only plan for two relays back here but you never know...
http://images60.fotki.com/v778/photo...7/photo-vi.jpg

With all of the components laid out.
http://images57.fotki.com/v1613/phot...7/photo-vi.jpg
I also decided where the Master Disconnect Switch and Starter Solenoid were going to live... THIS is what took me some time. Just figuring out where I was going to stuff all of these components!
The MDS is going to mount at the back lower corner of the battery bracket.
Here is a mock up with a foam-core "bracket".
http://images51.fotki.com/v747/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
I then made a cardboard pattern which will get transferred to more of that .090 aluminum.
http://images55.fotki.com/v608/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
Finally getting some real work done...
http://images16.fotki.com/v363/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
All bent up and ready for holes.
http://images60.fotki.com/v778/photo...8/photo-vi.jpg
Transferring the hole pattern. You noticed I dropped a nice leg back to the battery bracket at bottom. Adds a ton of stiffness to the switch bracket!
http://images51.fotki.com/v282/photo...2/photo-vi.jpg
Ready for riv-nuts.
http://images12.fotki.com/v252/photo...2/photo-vi.jpg
http://images54.fotki.com/v627/photo...2/photo-vi.jpg
The bracket bolts in, underneath the battery bracket. Nice and clean.
http://images108.fotki.com/v1623/pho.../photo1-vi.jpg
The starter solenoid bolts into the end of the battery bracket. This keeps all of the cable runs very short and the holes in the bracket allow easy routing of the 1/0 cables. These pics are with the battery tray removed so you can see how accessible the cables will be.
http://images55.fotki.com/v1604/phot.../photo1-vi.jpg
Most of the wiring will remain out of sight. Of course all of this is going to be enclosed anyway.
http://images57.fotki.com/v81/photos...2/photo-vi.jpg
Thanks for looking. I hope I am back on track for a while.
Mark

I got the box mounted in the back of the van Sunday. Spent about 4 hours playing with the Tig machine. I made up two little brackets that I welded to the top of the box and bolted the box to the tube structure for the rear enclosure.
http://images15.fotki.com/v1626/phot.../photo1-vi.jpg
There is another screw in the diagonal brace down low in the box to keep it from "flapping". It's good and solid here.
http://images49.fotki.com/v571/photo...9/photo-vi.jpg
With the cover in place.
http://images56.fotki.com/v714/photo...9/photo-vi.jpg
And an over all shot with the box and MDS in place.
http://images52.fotki.com/v728/photo...9/photo-vi.jpg
Well, got a lot done. I am waiting for my snap bushings to get here from McMaster Carr. I need to drill out the wire pass throughs but want these on hand just to verify hole sizes.
I am planning to start working on the dash harness this week. Cutting the old cluster connectors out and making an adapter harness to adapt the Autometer gauges. Everything is all labeled, just need to do it.
http://images54.fotki.com/v627/photo...1/photo-vi.jpg
http://images20.fotki.com/v1589/phot...1/photo-vi.jpg
Should be fun.
Mark

Excellent work, Mark! This is one of my all time favorite builds to watch.

Thank guys! I guess two years isn't so bad for the build side. I starting designing this thing in '04 so 7 years to get started is worse, right?

We've been cleaning up all week after a tornado passed about 200 yards north of my place about 8:30 last Tuesday nite... Close call. Had a few trees down and the power was out for most of the day Wednesday but no damage otherwise. A few houses north of us weren't so lucky. One lost a garage and three cars and another lost most of the roofing off his two barns and the siding off the end of one. Roofs and trees seemed to be the target for this F1... That was my week...

While all of that was going on I received delivery of the Air/hydraulic bottle jack I ordered. Didn't get to do anything with it till Saturday though. I got it mocked up in the mounting plates and lined it up with bender mounted to the stand.
http://images59.fotki.com/v222/photo...MVC001F-vi.jpg
I ended up moving the plate location by 3/4's of an inch or so. Glad I waited for the jack to weld them on.
http://images49.fotki.com/v570/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg
You can see here how much farther I moved the mounts as compared to the layout lines from the plans.
http://images20.fotki.com/v1588/phot...MVC002F-vi.jpg
Had to replace one of the bender arm spacers with a smaller diameter tube that will slide through the hole in the end of the jack stem.
http://images61.fotki.com/v52/photos...MVC007F-vi.jpg
I used 5/8 x .058 wall as I had it and the 1/2 in bolt will slide through it.
http://images20.fotki.com/v113/photo...MVC001F-vi.jpg
Once I wrapped up getting the jack connected I cleaned the stand up a little with a flap grinder and degreased it for paint. I used Rustoleum Hammered Silver.
http://images51.fotki.com/v424/photo...MVC007F-vi.jpg
These welds were still kinda warm when I painted the stand...
http://images60.fotki.com/v367/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
Doesn't look to bad for home brew...
http://images14.fotki.com/v380/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg