Chevy & GMC Vans

Grumpy: Re-installed the front drive shaft to see if running without it locked the transfer case. 6 months, 4-5k miles without it and I'm very happy to report that it functions normally.

While under the van took a look at what I need to adjust for the torsion bar lift, perform a shade tree alignment, find good mounting points for under body armor, and general inspection. Found that the front diff's passenger side axle seal is leaking, and the rear diff's pinion seal is leaking, but fluid levels on both are still good. Other than that the van's looking pretty good.

installed new power window switches (thats 89AstroDan!!), reconnected loose vacuume hose on TBI, installed new wiperblase assemblys and rotated the tires.

Grumpy: Torsion bar lift. Was going for an inch, but the passenger side bolt bottomed out. Ended up adding 3/4" So big, so aggressive. All other vehicles on the roadway bow before its might, or maybe they're just trying to get away thinking it'll blow a tire of something.

yesterday: routine maintenance, oil change, lube chassis check front diff fluid level(higher then i had thought) and attempted to check rear diff level but couldn't get full plug out and my electric impact wouldn't fit in the space have to wait till i get my compressor back down stair my air impact will fit. also tempted to find the tread wear indicators on my tires holy crap they are so deep in the tread i don't know how long it'll take to hit them

today:drove home in a thunder storm everyone was creeping along with emergency flashers on i just kept driving at the speed limit passing everyone those window treatments to help water bead off your windshields are great. Oh and i love my tires

Well, this weekend I loaded up two 4.3 engines in the back of my 89 and delivered them to their next owner. One of the V6s was the original from my 89; the other was from my trashed out 88 Astro. May both engines find happiness in their new home.
(Hmmm, it now occurs to me that my van had 20 cylinders for that trip...)

yesterday am:

tore apart the 99 AC to rip off the rear air system and install the front only setup. only to find that i forgot to grab the return line for front air only. DOH! #-o

was going to top up the AC with duracool in the 93for the two hour long trip yesterday .. only to realize that I lent out my R12 adapter at work on saturday, double DOH!! #-o #-o

hottest day of the summer here yesterday, so far, 95F with the humidity it said on a sign i drove past yesterday #-o the air was as thick as sweaty pea soup

today:

going back to the guy parting out the van to grab the return line, if still there. install on 99, recharge AC

change front right brake rotor on 99, it's warped and hums pretty good at speed

Grumpy: Busy weekend.

Friday, help my sister move, again. Came home with a load of her stuff in the back to take to my parents.

Saturday, run to the hardware store to get concrete floor anchors for my Harbor Freight tire changer.

Sunday, 125 mile run to my parents house to get rid of my sister's crap and bring my daughter home.



Not van stuff:
Saturday, I helped a Jeep buddy swap out the tires on his Jeep.

He went too big and lost his fender flare and wheel well lining.

Grumpy lurks in the background.

Sweat soaked and making him do most of the work.


Seat it! Seat it with fire!

Put anti-squeal compound on the back of my brake pads and discovered on of the pad shims had come loose so I tightened them all up. So far no more squealing.

R&R rear transmission tail shaft seal.
The wife is out running around with it now. After she returns, I'll check for any leaks and report back.

Grumpy: Vacuumed the interior, washed the floor mats, and re-installed the benches.

ihatemybike wrote:Grumpy: Busy weekend.

Friday, help my sister move, again. Came home with a load of her stuff in the back to take to my parents.

Saturday, run to the hardware store to get concrete floor anchors for my Harbor Freight tire changer.

Sunday, 125 mile run to my parents house to get rid of my sister's crap and bring my daughter home.



Not van stuff:
Saturday, I helped a Jeep buddy swap out the tires on his Jeep.

He went too big and lost his fender flare and wheel well lining.

Grumpy lurks in the background.

Sweat soaked and making him do most of the work.


Seat it! Seat it with fire!

you know I'd never heard of seating a tire with fire, until a few days ago. My son saw that show on tv, where they do the high speed filming to slow things down, I forget the show title...anyway they did this and he told me about it. And, holy cow, one of my brethren posts it on ASV just days later. Man I do appreciate this site

Originally the idea was to seat the tires using my air compressor, but the pressure wasn't there fast enough. My friend Rob and I had both seen videos of the the seat the tire with fire thing. He suggested it, but I performed that act. The first tire I held the stick lighter near the bead, tire set really quick and smashed the tip of the lighter. After going to the store to get more lighters, I started using the redneck flame thrower method. Which brought a smile to my face as I started talking like Beavis going, "Heh heh! Ffire! Ffire!"

More tires will be mounted soon, plan is to take video.

Saturday night and Sunday I swapped out my composite leaf springs for steel ones.

kings-x59 wrote:My son saw that show on tv, where they do the high speed filming to slow things down, I forget the show title...

The show you are thinking of is called "Time Warp"
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv/time-warp/time-warp.html

Washed, waxed, and polished the wheels. I HATE polishing the wheels! But now it looks awesome. My daughters and I spent the evening driving around town showing it off.

6spd_monte wrote:Saturday night and Sunday I swapped out my composite leaf springs for steel ones.

any chance you took pics, made a parts list and did a full tutorial on this upgrade? LOL


AC update on 99: realized that the front only AC system on the donor van ran lines to the rear van (same location as my rear heater). that won't do. cut my rear line under the van right behind the motor pull out my front line (low side) and replaced with donor part. going to have an AC guy cap my high side line. after all this i really hope the guy that dyed it was right and it was my rear lines leaking LOL
93: went to work to recharge it, hooked up a can and broke the seal only to have the refrigerant leak all over me. someone lost the o-ring on the hose/gauge kit, there goes $12.50 ](*,)

didn't get to the brake rotor
by the time i get this all done i'm sure it'll be cold out again