Chevy & GMC Vans

97CargoCrawler wrote:

wkastro wrote:Tomorrow I am going to drive the Astro up the hill to GM's Milford Proving Ground for my new job.

Congrats on the new job!

Now what kind of company secrets can you get us? Van related of course.

There are no Astro / Safari secrets, except for the locig behind decision to cancel the M/L platform...

This weekend I finally got my Astro to the slopes! Had my two boys and a friend from down south. My buddy and I tried to ski friday but HUGE complications arose for my cousin(closer than most of my brothers) so I had had to get my boys (to plays with his kids) and my friend there ASAP to help him try and figure things out. Cause I'm bored a few details; his wife of 12 years moved out with her lesbian partner to their new pad. They are both new to the lesbian world but my cousin and another friend just had their lives torn apart as well as five children. Really, really sad situation that I hope they can all work out. There is an epidemic running around the small town they live in with women hooking up and leaving long term relationships thinking they are gay. 12 since the fall now. One more is imminant that I know of, really wierd. So all this happens and we are trying to keep my cousin stable, his brother calls and says their mother is in ER fell and hurt pelvis and complaining about breathing. Pelvis not broke but bruised. Breathing issue is fluid in lungs. The antibiotic they give her goes in lungs not stomach. That alone almost killed the elderly 85 pound woman, but she has an allergic reaction to boot. Now they are up to CPR trying to revive her. Spends sat night and sun in ICU and my cousins gotta get there because the Drs. are sure her body is giving up. How much can he take?

So, we modified this grill to travel easy, had a slopeside cookout that was on off for 2 days! Way too much going on for many pics but I got one of the grill prototype.




It is still large, which I like for cooking lots of stuff. I do not need to camp out of van so space not a huge issue yet. Will be using it more to find out what still needs modification but very successful first trip with van and cooking set-up! Will get more pics in future! Kelly

Sorry to hear about the cousin. Tell him he has to be strong more for the kids than anything else.

Nice cooking setup! Much better than paying the high prices at the lodge.

That BBQ is the best van mod yet, second to the crapper! Oh snap! You should add a crapper too so you can multitask! Two roof vents required.

Sorry to hear about the friends troubles. I wish that whole lesbian thing was an epidemic here as well. I have been encouraging my gf for years and she still won't have it. I even offered to be there and hold (guide) her hand!

Anyhoo, I bought a 300A alternator today from DVPOWERINC. They are local so if it sucks at least I can chuck it at them personally. The taxman left my bungy with a sting.

I drove the van to work today with the new rack on. It felt different, like I had 120lbs. on the roof. The suspension was a bit mushier, cornering had a bit more roll to it and braking distance seems a bit longer. Nothing I didn't expect. I just kept a larger cushion in front of me and tried (really I did) not to drive like an A-hole. With the future braking and suspension upgrades I have planned it should not only solve these issues but still make the ride feel tighter.

Went to the JY this morning and picked up my donor trifold bed out of an Econoline 250 Hitop. Got the seat home and apart, measured out where it needs to be cut to fit and getting hold of a welder today to do the honors for me. Need to get this baby cut, upholstery and in before my Spring Break road trip to Yosemite. When it is done it will be 72" long, 50" wide, fit in the stock rear seat location and use the stock seatbelts. When it folds flat it should fit from the rear door to the middle of the middle bench seat. I am hoping when the middle seat is in, I can detach it and swing it forward and end up with sleeping for 4 and seating for 8. I'll start my own thread with the build once I get rolling.

I could send you some plans on how to make it convert into a table. You should do it up Sheen style with a hoist on the roof. Spring break party bus! Lookin' forward to those pix.

3500 series calipers and new brake hoses waiting on the porch for me when I got home. They have the 3.15" bore:



These are the "extreme duty" calipers. No idea what that means or how they differ from the normal 3500 series caliper. The regular duty start with an 18-whatever part number. I am going to paint these satin black with Duplicolor caliper paint.

Those are sick! Saw a set the other day, I believe they were on a 747!

Just keep driving it...broke 134k last night on the way to work.

Replaced the cap, plugs and wires. Arbitrarily started on #5, I was pleasantly surprised to find that that was the hardest one to replace. Got it in just under the hour... The other 5 took about the same. I'd been pulling a misfire in #5 code when going up hills at freeway speed, don't know if this fixed it, but there was a bunch of corrosion in the wire terminal. Hopefully this does the trick.

After a months wait the new Cooper AT3 tires finally arrived and are installed!

Yesterday I parked the Astro in Lot B at the Milford proving ground. I last parked an Astro there in 1996.

About 75 kilometers...

and btw, why were you at the Milford proving ground?

Today I started collected some "Dump-a-dump" for the van. It may not run the best but it'll sound decent beside the road waiting rescue! Maybe the wife is right, my priorities are out of whack. If it sounds bitchin' inside, I think I'll work harder on the rest, right?

I work there again!