v8famvan wrote:My van & I were reunited today & she is all fixed & painted up.
Lets see pix
i second that!!
today is fathers day so i should be able to get done whatever I feel like.. right? .. LOL this will start with washing the 99. possibly cleaning the carpet and reinstalling. heck, it's only been rolled up in my basement for a year. i've been so busy with other things (the b2200, son's Z24, my 87 olds, house work, yard work & work) I haven't even had a chance to do anything on the van but change the oil a few weeks ago. poor thing, i think i've only washed it twice since around november
however, i think, after I get the van washed/dried and hit my 3 stores I get groceries at, Jen should be up by then and guiding me around the yard moving shrubs from one spot to another and weed wacking/mowing the lawn. yard work.. BOOO!
ah well, it's 7am.. for now i'll enjoy my coffee and my good intentions
I'll be takin the van the 30 or so clicks down the 403 to the kids place where they say they have somethin in the works,we'll see what evil they have planned
Grumpy: Stood on the roof to see over the closed on Sunday scrap yard's wall looking far an Astro RS that they had in there. I hope to be grabbing a sway bar.
Driving through the Appalachians on the BA/BE Rally made me want to reduce Grumpy's body roll as much as possible so I can have as much fun as possible on those wonderful twisty roads.
Might even grab the quick ratio FE2 steering gear out of it. I want to see if I can stuff the internals into an AWD's housing since I haven't been able to find a quick ratio AWD steering gear anywhere.
Drove my van to work and back an no leaks from the oil cooler lines or cooler manifold! But there is something positive about having oil and grease all over the under-body.......
everything stays rust free:
Almost makes me think twice about degreasing everything.
1997 SAFARI 2WD CARGO "I do not think there is any thrill that can go through the human heart like that felt by the inventor as he sees some creation of the brain unfolding to success... Such emotions make a man forget food, sleep, friends, love, everything." Nikola Tesla
just to followup on my f-day. only thing i managed to get done with the van was a wash and drive it around to collect the groceries. man, now that we've turned real hot and humid here this week... i really need to get the AC fixed. i did managed to have a great breakfast, a 2hr afternoon nap and a steak dinner with various yard work spread throughout the day.
Grumpy: Four days of work. It all started Wednesday with the ABS kicking in and almost having me rear end the truck in front of me. Thursday morning I called in to work and started in on the van. Pulling the front wheels off I found the known bad bearing is now really cooked. I decided that if I'm gonna do anything I'm gonna take care of it all. The time had come to get the front end back together again. I started by yanking the steering knuckles, then pulled the front diff (which requires removing the steering linkage), and since I was under the van I noticed that with the diff removed the leaky oil pan could also be removed. Might as well since my parts van has a good one. Between the heat, not knowing exactly what I was doing, and multiple trips to Sears, the first day was done, but at least everything that needed to be removed was.
Friday I got up early, drove to my brothers, and repeated the same process on the parts van. Things went a lot quicker after the previous day's discoveries. I was able to strip all the same parts and install Grumpy's parts on Seven by 5PM. I was planning on getting home and going to work on Grumpy, but my friend's Ford Ranger that I borrowed to get around had the right rear blow out while doing 60mph on I-90. I hate the Ranger's stock jack and I don't think the spare had ever been removed. Luckily the H.E.L.P. (Highway Emergency Lane Patrol) truck showed up with a real jack. An hour and a half after the flat I was rolling again, but I was done wrenching for the day.
Saturday slept in cause I felt I deserved it. Started work around 10. Things were going well till my torque wrench fell apart in my hands. Already returned my friend's trunk so now I get to wait till my wife and daughter return home for another trip to Sears. Dang torque wrenches don't have the lifetime guarantee. Bought another. Back to work on the van. Wife suggests going to a movie with friends and I agree. Got the oil pan, front diff, and passenger side half shaft and steering assembly together before the movie, but that's it for the day.
Sunday finished putting the driver's side together and filled the diff and engine with oil. Test drive shows everything is good. Haven't connected the diff to the transfer case yet. Gonna wait till after Green's trans is rebuilt for that.
Loaded a total of 7 people in the 'ol girl and drove from Mission Viejo to San Diego Sea World about 200 miles round trip, all freeway. I had not a single problem. Used only a half tank of fuel too.
I was really watching my rubber oil line replacements. Everything held up great. I was actually impressed as the engine temp seemed cool; 5 adults, a/c on and outside temps in the 80s. The gauge actually seemed low to me at freeway speed. It must be the tranny cooler...
Az trip coming up in a few weeks, 800 miles round trip.
1998 Astro, 246,000 miles
K&N air filter
TruCool trans cooler
2" Overland lift & 15" BFG Terrain, 3.73 gears
JET Performance SCU-2000 (Speed Control Unit)
Gabriel Ultra shocks, rear AirLift bags & sway bar
Draw-Tite Dual Port Hitch System, hitch-mounted bike rack (4), hitch-mounted cargo tray, Thule roof-mounted cargo box
Green Yesterday: Cut the last stubborn nut off the y-pipe/muffler flange. Removed the trans cross member and y-pipe. Refit trans cross member. Disconnected trans shifting linkage and passenger side electronics. Hope to have the rest of the trans disconnected/unbolted today.
finally got a timing light and reset the timing today, man it was off a bunch.
'89 Astro, 4.3L, TBI. Minor intake and exhaust mods. Rebuilt 700R4 trans (by me). Corvette servo, 0.5" boost valve, police grade 1-2 accumulator spring (shifts fast and solid). B&M stacked plate trans cooler. Bilstein shocks. Belltech sway bars front and back. New head unit, speakers and subwoofer. Needs paint and a new headliner.
name's Steve
I can't remember all I've forgotten about that....
GM put it here so you don't have to sit on the gas tank.
'89 Astro, 4.3L, TBI. Minor intake and exhaust mods. Rebuilt 700R4 trans (by me). Corvette servo, 0.5" boost valve, police grade 1-2 accumulator spring (shifts fast and solid). B&M stacked plate trans cooler. Bilstein shocks. Belltech sway bars front and back. New head unit, speakers and subwoofer. Needs paint and a new headliner.
name's Steve
I can't remember all I've forgotten about that....
ihatemybike wrote:
Grumpy Sunday: Cleaned what was left of the BABE Rally lettering off the back windows. I've actually used cleaning products on Grumpy twice now.
I can't do that. it makes the paint come off. '89 was a really a bad year at GM for BC/CC paint.
'89 Astro, 4.3L, TBI. Minor intake and exhaust mods. Rebuilt 700R4 trans (by me). Corvette servo, 0.5" boost valve, police grade 1-2 accumulator spring (shifts fast and solid). B&M stacked plate trans cooler. Bilstein shocks. Belltech sway bars front and back. New head unit, speakers and subwoofer. Needs paint and a new headliner.
name's Steve
I can't remember all I've forgotten about that....
LOL this will start with washing the 99. possibly cleaning the carpet and reinstalling. heck, it's only been rolled up in my basement for a year. i've been so busy with other things (the b2200, son's Z24, my 87 olds, house work, yard work & work) I haven't even had a chance to do anything on the van but change the oil a few weeks ago. poor thing, i think i've only washed it twice since around november 
