Chevy & GMC Vans

I'm old enough to remember when Cragar SS mags came on the market. I like them too. Your van looks great.

sweet van. the rims look badass. now ditch the running boards and run stainless lake pipes (I'm serious) and get some adjustable air shocks in the back.

I swung by the junk yard and grabbed some like-new rotors (still have the Blanchard-grinding marks) and some 2500 Suburban calipers for my big-brake upgrade. I also got another pair of roof bars and a pair of ABS hubs as the alignment shop says I have a bad driver's side. I can't feel it myself and I tech cars at SCCA events...
I also got another wheel so I can have a full-size spare that I'll mount to the roof rack.
Now, off to get some new pads.

got the other silverado seat in the safari. now I can ride in comfort and pimp style (they have orange and pink pinstripes on the inserts for pete's sake!). toying with ideas for incorporating the red seats into a gray interior (gives me an excuse to change the interior color). thinking about leaving the door panel itself gray but dying the carpet on them red and painting the tweeter panel, map pocket insert, and pull handle black. I'll have to sketch it all out first before I start spraying though. I also want to recover the armrests with cloth since I can't find nicer door panels at the junkyard and IMO its a total waste to toss a whole door panel just for a busted armrest. still need to think about how I'm gonna tackle that since the armrest is part of the doorpanel itself (dumb idea on GM's part)

upgraded the sun visors in the 2004 (ironically, with visors out of a 2000 model) and cleaned out the 87 to get it ready top sell.

still trying (and can't find) the vaccuum leak that makes the climate control vents all work simultaneously. don't get much force when the defrost, dash, and floor vents are all working at the same time.
wired up a new horn button (the button now protrudes out of a rod from the top of the gauage cluster). Its alot more convenient to hit now.
installed a steering wheel cover (because the wheel is falling apart). best $1 ever spent. the wheel is disintegrating (peeling) and is very grippy to your hands (makes it hard to make emergency maneuvers or fast turns). now the van handles like a formula 1 car.
also washed the van, cleaned the dash and door panels and speaker grates. door panels look about 5x better now (speaker covers were nasty and grungy).the towel I cleaned everything with went from pink to yellow/black. yuck.

also gonna pick up a new stereo. crutchfield is having a sale on a 200 watt (22 watt rms x 4) kenwood head unit and 2 6 1/2 " speakers for $120 or $130 (I forget which) either way, seems like a great bargain and the radio has an average review of 4+/5 stars from almost 300 people. plus it comes with a remote and a usb jack (for flash drive, etc.) my clarion works fine, but its on its second vehicle and isnt getting any younger (its almost as old as my van). plus only half the buttons light up at night.

I bent the crossbar of my roof rack in my friend's underground parkade.
My impersonation of him: "You're good... you're good... you're-- CRRRRRRUNCH!"

I picked up a replacement part at the wrecker for $12. Unfortunately, the design leaves something to be desired. To slide the crossbar out, you need to remove the rack end piece from your roof. Of course the water has been seeping into the exposed bolts for some time, so they become rusted into the couplings. Plus, the bolts are feeble so one snapped instantly and another is irreparably damaged now.

I'll let you know how it ends...

I put back the bench seat and capt chair in the 94LT that I removed to pick up the compressor.The bench seat is way,way,too heavy for this guy.Never again.

1Gary wrote:The bench seat is way,way,too heavy for this guy.Never again.

I don't think they could make them much heavier! I can unload mine by myself, but it's tricky... Good excercise, though!

Anyway, today I went to the car wash and spent $3 in quarters on the self-service washer. I find that the automatic one doesn't work as good. It's been quite a while since I've had enough cash to spare on it, so I went all out- did a presoak, then the high-pressure soap, then high-pressure rinse, wax and spot-free rinse.

I'll probably do it again in a few days.

started tinting the back glass (it came factory "tinted" but I'm tinting it to 5% limo black). I'm really liking the blacked out look. also installed a set of infinity 6 1/2 speakers in the back door. damn they sound good. I need to run bigger wire to them though. the factory 22 gauge isnt cutting it.
radio turned off and didnt come back on. an't figure out if its not getting enough power or its a bad ground (everything works but no sound). its really beginning to piss me off.
also filled up the van. cost me $75 for 20 gallions. last fill up averaged roughly 14mpg in mixed driving. I think my numbers got thrown off by speeding down the highway for a couple miles though. van needs a tune up bad (cap, rotor, plugs, trans flush), and an air filter.

put a "new" radio in the van to replace the one that died (I even tried rewiring the constant power and ground- didnt help) anyways, heres my new head unit. I dont remember where I put the knobs or trim plate for it (not like it matters though- I set it and forget it) its a clarion unit from '90 or '91. analog sound sounds oh so nice after listening to newer radios with digital processing. its like night and day. also installed a 20+ y/o 15 watt rms x2 jensen mini amp to help push the rear speakers (since they require more wattage than the front speakers).

silverado seats (they'll do until I can get a nice set on conversion seats- thinking about painting dash bezel and upper door panels dark red to match)

new rear speakers- second hand infinity reference series 6 1/2 compnents (using them as mid ranges though).

my door bell horn button. (currently shaping a piece of gray conduit to mount the buzzer into)

finally- my new (junkyard) steering wheel cover.

Changed out original ignition coil in the 97 last night took longer then planned

The "Astro" label fell off the door today... After driving nearly 11 miles at speeds topping 70 at some points. (Btw, the speed limit was 70, so 75 is no great crime)

It goes through all that, then someone shuts the door, and the thing falls off.

Using some hot glue and a butane torch, I reattached it.

97: changed plugs (do driver's side first always i did and it's the right thing to do lol) cap, rotor, air filter, pcv valve
only took 3 hours..... then dropped off at mechanic

The same thing I've been doing 2-3 nights per week for the last couple of months: spent some time disassembling all exterior and most interior trim pieces so it can be ready for the body shop. Target date is 21 May, one week from tomorrow.