starting my diesel swap, 4cyl MB diesel engine into 89 Astro

[infinite.chris]

What would converting to rack & pinion steering do for your clearance issues?

X2, was wondering that myself.

Loving this thread so far. Super curious about going diesel myself, if only to do a greaser conversion kit. Free fuel? Yes please! I'll gladly take care of your used veggie oil ^^

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Rather than cut the springs and kill ride quality, what about using lowering spindles? Is there a way to make a removable piece above the valve cover in the fire wall? What about sectioning the valve cover so it becomes 2 pieces? If you do a 5" spacer lift, be sure to weld in the spacers and not just use longer bolts. It's been done here a couple times.

EDIT: meetthespeakers has 2" drop spindles for sale in the for sale section.

[tinworm]

What would converting to rack & pinion steering do for your clearance issues?

it would probably be in about the same place if I wanted to keep everything about the same height and avoid bump steer from what ive been reading on the internet. 6 one way half a dozen the other I figure. I think keeping the stock arrangement and raising the engine is simpler than modifying to rack and pinion.

Also another point is i just realized I can use the MB stock engine support arms and simply build a plate to hold the MB motor mounts with the engine higher, which already has the provision for the engine shock, so making things a little more complex with the height, i hugely simplify the engine supports and can use the diesel specific mounts, which is not without value thinking about vibration issues I might run into using the GM mounts

[tinworm]

What would converting to rack & pinion steering do for your clearance issues?

X2, was wondering that myself.

Loving this thread so far. Super curious about going diesel myself, if only to do a greaser conversion kit. Free fuel? Yes please! I'll gladly take care of your used veggie oil ^^

a long term goal.
My DD jetta is converted, I have some oil sources, and I have a nice 18 gallon tank to install long term in this van.

[tinworm]

Rather than cut the springs and kill ride quality, what about using lowering spindles? Is there a way to make a removable piece above the valve cover in the fire wall? What about sectioning the valve cover so it becomes 2 pieces? If you do a 5" spacer lift, be sure to weld in the spacers and not just use longer bolts. It's been done here a couple times.

EDIT: meetthespeakers has 2" drop spindles for sale in the for sale section.

Cutting the valve cover has been suggested by some MB guys as well, im thinking about trying it and making a clamshell. If I can do it within 2 inches of space above, id love to just keep this thing at the stock ride height. Ill pull it off and see how complex it might be. Issues with that plan is the valve cover has mount points for the throttle linkage, some venting arrangements inside making it more complex, and a bunch of ports. If i did it, it would be pretty complex to cut and make sure it sealed properly around all these features

What are the dangers of going with the longer bolts? I would think shearing, but lets say grade 8 for normal driving and use, not off road or anything. Plus I have bigger center bolts, there are 4 of one size, and 2 really big ones in the center on this 89. The reason I ask, is If I do the body lift, I have the perfect components lying around in my job area that would make excellent spacers-



this is a 3.5 inch long pallet jack front wheel. Its constructed of 1/2 inch cast iron inner core, and a 1/2 inch heavy duty plastic outer core. Rated to lift at least a couple tons. I was thinking of tipping it on its end, and running a long bolt through it. It has provisions for a bearing stop on either end, so my plan was to drop in a couple fender washers and glue them down to get it perfectly centered. If i use 6, I have a 3.5 inch body lift all around using some really heavy duty spacers

with a fender washer (needs to be drilled out larger, but shows the idea)

[tinworm]

here are the different bolt sizes in the mounts-




Apparently this is a weird arrangement in the astro/safari world, I had to go to the dealer to get the middle two ones. I wish they were all the big bolts, id have no qualms about using 6 big bolts much longer.

[tinworm]

ok, went to fastenall to look at bolts that I would need if I used the iron wheels as spacers, and after looking at this extremely long thin bolt for the front and rear mounts, decided im doing the pipe lift method and welding.

If only all six were the same size as the center ones. Those are nice huge bolts that I feel pretty confident about, even with 3.5 inches longer dimensions, then I would just use the spacers. Not with the small bolts that I actually have.

Pipe lift seems straightforward, seems the best option to me.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Plus it's easy since you have the subframe out already.

[infinite.chris]

Niiiice!!!

Thinking much the same here, just have to get my paws on a tdi Golf to prove to the SO that it can be done

What would converting to rack & pinion steering do for your clearance issues?

X2, was wondering that myself.

Loving this thread so far. Super curious about going diesel myself, if only to do a greaser conversion kit. Free fuel? Yes please! I'll gladly take care of your used veggie oil ^^

a long term goal.
My DD jetta is converted, I have some oil sources, and I have a nice 18 gallon tank to install long term in this van.

[arlon]

I'd love to try a swap with a 3.9 isuzu motor. Just can't justify the effort when my van only has 50k on the original.. An AWD Asro with some range, economy and pulling power would be a cool ride for sure. Good luck on your swap, I'll be keeping an eye on it.

[tinworm]

so some small updates-

for the pipe lift, I decided things would be way easier cutting if I did square pipe, so I used some 4 inch square instead. Just have to finish welding it up, but everything is tacked.

sizing the square stuff, went with a 3.5 lift-




everything tacked, hopefully get it welded this weekend-




a great development of raising the motor up that far is I think I can use the stock MB engine mount arms and mounts, which have a built in provision for the shock. Working on a few adapter pieces of steel to mount the shocks to the frame.

Meanwhile, ive got the body back down near the ground and ive been stripping out all the A/C stuff and other gasoline incidental stuff, like the ECU ect. The plan is to get the clutch pedal in, pivot worked out, and be ready to do the hydraulics as soon as the subframe is mated back to the engine.
taking some time, but slowly coming along.

[LiftedAWDAstro]

Looking good! Can't wait to see it fired up and running.

[HPbyStan]

Thanks for the update !!!

[tinworm]

wow, I am not excited about getting this clutch pedal in here.

Since this is an 89, there are no holes, but I do sort of see provisions non drilled on either side of the steering column for the pedal pivot to attach. Its going to be rough to install, im not sure how to do it without taking out the entire dash to drill these holes. Looks like thats the only way to get in there at the right angle

next weekend will be fun!

[doyoulikeithere]

Hmmm, I figured the 89s would have the hole since they still offered the T5 in 89. Guess not. My 87s all did.
My 90 Safari GT has the same 2 dimples, but it hasnt got the actual hole either..
I was gonna try this route. a right angle drill, and a stepped bit like these...
Before you drill !!! You need to consider the availability of bushings to stuff into the holes,and the dimensions of whats available.
so you need to know the shaft diameter of the pedal pivot, as well as the diameter of the holes you want to put the bushings/peddle assembly into.
I looked around at the UAP store around here and found what seems to be suitable bushings, but havent drilled yet. getaroundtuitmaybesomeday?
You will also find, after that is installed, that it doesn't work very well because the firewall flexes just a bit where the master cylinder is bolted on.
The OEM standard vans like mine have a few stiffener brackets installed up inside the cab on the firewall to stiffen the area where the master cylinder resides.
This site doent let you upload PDFs or I would show you a pic... Anyways, You could easily accomplish the same idea with a stiffener bracket in the engine bay instead of the cab.
Good Luck Man with your Build. Following closely and enjoyin the show.