Hello... and a swap question

[Rockwerx]

I am not sure that you will have enough room to fit the rear driveshaft if you use a divorced t-case. 2wd with the 360 will be a good project. Is the 360 stock? Good luck with your van!

[BULLDOZER]

I finally got somewhere on this project, here are some photo's of the mock up i did to get my measurements for the engine and tranny.



This photo is where it stands now... it's in and ready to go. This week i am going to take the motor and tranny back out and clean it up and fix a few minor issues ( oil pump, rethreading a few header bolts)that will be hard to take care of with the motor in the van. My other issue is the alternator and the power steering pump... I'm kind of thinking i will not be having power steering.


I plan on putting it all back together next weekend. One thing I have noticed... man this frontend is heavy with the v8 in there, i can barely push it around now, and i'm no little guy.

[astrozam]

Good to see some progress on this, if your the only one pushing that around I now know why they call you bulldozer

Keep the pics and info coming

[BULLDOZER]

Good to see some progress on this, if your the only one pushing that around I now know why they call you bulldozer

Keep the pics and info coming

lol... yeah i can't even tilt it now, i think getting it back in the van is going to be a pain.

rock... this motor is not stock, i need to put a new intake on it but besides that it's pretty nice. when i had the motor in my old dodge 4x4 my neighbors hated it because it was so loud... and thats with mufflers

[Rockwerx]

That sure looks different seeing the Mopar engine and trany installed. Good progress pics!

Is there a way you can hook up the Mopar power steeering pump?

[GEJ]

When Peter did the 502 ZZ conversion,he had the cutdown shell(floor,body frame,firewall) from another van to trial fit the engine for the floor/doghouse opening.Abit on the extreme side,sure looked like a handy tool to have.How does the engine compair in measurements to a SBC??.

[Smiliesafari]

Interesting swap. I see your transmission crossmember is bolted to the top of the subframe. You might want to build some brackets that fasten the crossmember to the side of the subframe. Something as simple as a piece of angle would work. When you put the subframe back in place there might not be enough room to remove the bolts holding the crossmember.

[HPbyStan]

Where does the driver put his feet after this swap?

[Smiliesafari]

Where does the driver put his feet after this swap?

Funny .......They're tucked up under the parking brake where they always are.

[lockdoc]

Interesting swap. I see your transmission crossmember is bolted to the top of the subframe. You might want to build some brackets that fasten the crossmember to the side of the subframe. Something as simple as a piece of angle would work. When you put the subframe back in place there might not be enough room to remove the bolts holding the crossmember.

That is the stock crossmember and mounting. He hasn't touched it in that picture. There is room to get them out when the body is back on.

On another note, the driveline is centered in the pics. Are you going to move it towards the passenger side like stock?

[BULLDOZER]

Back again... Have not got anything done, between the kids football and my laziness, I have not got anything done.
Due to where I live ( the ozark mountains) I wanted to built a van that is fun to drive, keep in mind I know the astro is no sports car, but it would be fun to be a little more aggressive on the corners around here, so I wanted the motor as low as I could get it and centered in the vehical for better weight distrabution. The dodge motor appears to be a little smaller than a 350... but that is a guess. I made the mounts for the tranny so it can be easily removed from the bottom.
I got to thinking about the fact the motor is centered and the fitment of the body and clearance issues. I'm not too concerned with where the motor sits, I had already planned to make a new doghouse, and I have no problem working the sheet metal, so that shouldn't be an issue. I am concerned about my feet though... I got big feet...lol, I will just have to worry about that later.
As far as the power steering... I'm sure I could figure out something where I could use a dodge power steering unit.

Thanks for the responses and concerns...
At least I didn't go with the wheelie van idea

[Rebel]

Keep the pics coming. Interesting swap for sure. Curious on the driveline being centered. Remember you need to clear your gas tank unless your going with a cell or you could install an S-10 tank like I did, smaller but will give you the room needed if you run a centered driveline.

[GEJ]

Hummm-if it is a centered driveline-then you need a centered rearend???.

[astrozam]

Hummm-if it is a centered driveline-then you need a centered rearend???.

In Rebels case... yes

[BULLDOZER]

Depending on the angle of the driveshaft if there would be a problem or not, but I already have another axle ready to go. The fuel tank is a non issue too, I have a fuel cell waiting to go in.
There will not be too much left original under astro from the cross member back.

I have been planning this for a long time, I just couldn't make my mind up if I wanted a 4x4 astro or a fast astro... I like to think of my project as one day being a trans am astro... not the smokey and the bandit trans am, the trans am racing cars...lol