Thread: Bad Ast Astro Van Build

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Any body mods planed??. Chop top,channeling,etc??. Given that,now maybe you start the roll bar/cage tacking it in and then remove the body to finish weld it all around.

The cage finish weld I was talking about are the ones by the roof.Often those are welded as best you can considering the ceiling.I was suggesting a cage height adjustment given a top chop.

Originally Posted by 1gary

The cage finish weld I was talking about are the ones by the roof.Often those are welded as best you can considering the ceiling.I was suggesting a cage height adjustment given a top chop.

"The cage will actually drop down thru holes in the floor so I can finish weld all of the tubes. It will then be raised into position while the chassis is re-installed this spring."
No top chop. I've talked about this before. The vans are too wide to make a chop look good unless it is very minor chop. Not worth doing in my opinion.

I worked on trimming down body mount bushings during the week and got the chassis centered up and aligned so Mel and I could get the mount brackets finished up and tacked on today. We got all of that done AND pulled the chassis out and put it back on the rotisserie AND took the van off the lift and rolled it over to the cold side of the shop so I can putter with it this winter. I hope you enjoy the pics.
Trimming the mounts. I set them up in the horizontal bandsaw and trimmed them down to one inch high.
http://images41.fotki.com/v195/photo...MVC006F-vi.jpg
This is 7 of the 8 mount bushings I did. I still need two more to finish them up.
http://images109.fotki.com/v146/phot...MVC008F-vi.jpg
After squaring up the chassis we measured how much we would need to notch the body mount brackets. 1" by 2" was the magic number.
Running the tubing through the verticle saw.
http://images51.fotki.com/v94/photos...MVC009F-vi.jpg
After getting all of the brackets ready I tacked them to the frame. We re-used the 6 old cradle mounts and added 4 new (two per side) towards the rear.
http://images108.fotki.com/v205/phot...MVC013F-vi.jpg
http://images15.fotki.com/v2/photos/...MVC019F-vi.jpg
We fabbed up the rear mounts from 1/4" plate and some short sections of 2 x 3 tube.
http://images108.fotki.com/v360/phot...MVC014F-vi.jpg
These are just tacked right now. I am going to start the finish welding tomorrow.
As they look in the van.
http://images53.fotki.com/v249/photo...MVC007F-vi.jpg
http://images58.fotki.com/v154/photo...MVC009F-vi.jpg
We got the van off the hoist and onto the body cart. It sure did roll around nice.
http://images109.fotki.com/v146/phot...MVC020F-vi.jpg
My wife had a good time taking us for rides...
http://images108.fotki.com/v205/phot...MVC018F-vi.jpg
Once we got it rolled back in the shop we raised it up off the cart and set it on some jack stands.
http://images51.fotki.com/v103/photo...MVC003F-vi.jpg
http://images109.fotki.com/v779/phot...MVC006F-vi.jpg
The chassis is back in the shop. With body mounts! Have a few additional brackets to make and finish the welding. That will be tomorrow.
http://images57.fotki.com/v256/photo...MVC001F-vi.jpg
Thanks for looking
Mark

I like the looks of the 8 wheeled van body, but isn't that going to be kind of tough to steer??????

Really nice work as always Mark!!!! I'd say you had a very productive week!

Originally Posted by Dave Severson

I like the looks of the 8 wheeled van body, but isn't that going to be kind of tough to steer??????

Really nice work as always Mark!!!! I'd say you had a very productive week!

Thank you sir, yes, got a lot done this week and we still have tomorrow so I hope to have most of the welding done by end of the day.
Actually, the cart steers very esily. The first six sets of casters are swivels so it doesn't get "locked" up.

So Mark short of a different cut-out for the flooring and dog house for the on center drive train,are you retaining the stock flooring and not tinning it??.BTW looks really good bud.

Originally Posted by 1gary

So Mark short of a different cut-out for the flooring and dog house for the on center drive train,are you retaining the stock flooring and not tinning it??.BTW looks really good bud.

The only stock floor I will be keeping is the areas outside of the existing frame rails. most of the tin in between will see some massaging in one way or the other.

Originally Posted by astroracer

The only stock floor I will be keeping is the areas outside of the existing frame rails. most of the tin in between will see some massaging in one way or the other.

My thought Mark is the Astro's are pretty heavy.In the range of 4,000lbs +.So my thought is you trying to save wt anywhere you can.That does take a fair amount of a engine to get it to move. have you given any thought for a projected wt??. Just my two cents worth.

Hey Gary, I am not concerning myself with the weight. There is really nothing I can do about it. Granted it will be heavier with the full frame and all of the cage work but I think the 509 will be up to the task of moving the van down the road. My main focus has been in getting the CG lower. That and moving the engine rearward and down will definetly help in the handling department.
Things have been going slow although I have not been slacking!!! Got all of the chassis welds completed over this past weekend along with the rearend housing. I added some triangulation bars to the back side of the lower suspension cradle. Fabbed them up out of 1 5/8 DOM and fit them to the bottom of the side rails.
This is the passenger side (upside down on the rotisserie)
http://images51.fotki.com/v628/photo...MVC001F-vi.jpg
Looking at the rail fitup. This was a head scratcher... Took some thinking and mocking up to get the cuts right...
http://images56.fotki.com/v1298/phot...MVC003F-vi.jpg
I got the shock towers mocked up and welded tonight. That means the welding is about 99.9% complete. I have LOT of clean up to do to get it ready for paint but that will happen this weekend.
http://images56.fotki.com/v1298/phot...MVC019F-vi.jpg
After the welding.
http://images57.fotki.com/v1354/phot...MVC002F-vi.jpg
http://images43.fotki.com/v1505/phot...MVC005F-vi.jpg
This what I've been up to.
Thanks for looking
Mark

This is another thing I have been doing. A friend of mine has a little junkyard just up the road from me. He brouoght this down for me to strip. I pulled off the entire front end, Hydroboost setup, tilt column, overhead console (and bracket), instrument cluster and throttle pedal, the last few nights. I will get the doors for the electric windows and locks and I will strip out all of the light grey interior trim and dash along with all of the wiring. I think the light grey will look better then the beige that is in the van right now...
http://images46.fotki.com/v1506/phot...MVC015F-vi.jpg
This thing is a pile. It had almost 260K on it though so it was rode hard and put away wet...
It had been hit hard in the right front also. You can see some wrinkles in the sub-structure. This is kind of wierd because Bad Ast had been hit hard in the right front also...
http://images57.fotki.com/v1354/phot...MVC016F-vi.jpg
The hood is bent at both corners so that will be used as a donor for hood experimentation.
http://images58.fotki.com/v154/photo...MVC018F-vi.jpg
The roof console and bracket.
http://images9.fotki.com/v248/photos...MVC012F-vi.jpg

Nice work on the chassis and rear suspension. Lookin good.......Im watching this build with a close eye....Im also learnin a few things from watching you too.

Originally Posted by RadRidesByDan

Nice work on the chassis and rear suspension. Lookin good.......Im watching this build with a close eye....Im also learnin a few things from watching you too.

Thanks Dan, it is Dan, right? I appreciate the kudos very much!. It is funny you say that about learning a few things. I don't think a day goes by when either Mel or myself says that little phrase. I am glad you appreciate the work we are doing.
Thanks

Well, today was another good day. We got a crap load of "little bits" done. Capping off and reinforcing the upper shock crossmember, capping off the body mount brackets and getting the support tubes made for the lower shock mounts and panhard bar mount on the rear end. I also did a LOT of welding today. The housing has some to do yet and the chassis is probably about half way there.
One of the caps... Man, these little bits take a lot of time.
http://images15.fotki.com/v2/photos/...MVC002F-vi.jpg
You can see the some of the other pieces we made today already welded in.
http://images51.fotki.com/v94/photos...MVC003F-vi.jpg
The passenger side.
http://images109.fotki.com/v146/phot...MVC010F-vi.jpg
I will be using these areas to carry the roll cage down bars so we plated it in with a flat area for the tube to sit on and weld too.
Fitting the lower shock mount support bars.
http://images53.fotki.com/v249/photo...MVC011F-vi.jpg
http://images56.fotki.com/v1298/phot...MVC012F-vi.jpg
The panhard bar support.
http://images51.fotki.com/v628/photo...MVC014F-vi.jpg
I tied the lower shock and panhard bar supports into a small plate welded to the housing.
It's hard to see here but the plate welds in over the lower shock tube and bottom edge of the housing and the panhard bar tube sits on it. It also very effectively spreads the load over a larger area.
http://images51.fotki.com/v94/photos...MVC016F-vi.jpg
One of my welds. I am getting better.
http://images44.fotki.com/v301/photo...MVC018F-vi.jpg
Body mount weld.
http://images51.fotki.com/v628/photo...MVC019F-vi.jpg
We got a ton of work done this weekend.
I will be plugging away at the finish welding this week. I have a few early welds I need to grind out and re-weld so that is what I will be working on.
Thanks for looking
Mark

Nice work Mark, the van is really starting to take shape and lookin' good!!!! Thanks for the pics, lots of incentive there!