Chevy & GMC Vans

Hello, this is my first post here. I have a problem, my beloved astro threw a rod, so the motor is no longer with us. I have a few options, one is I have to swap in a motor/tranny that I have available, the other is swapping the complete running rear.

The first option I have is to swap in a V8... but not a chevy v8, a strong dodge 360 with a 727... I have it just sitting there from a old project and seems like the best option. I have all the skills (welding,etc) to pull this off, so I'm kind of leaning towards this option.

The second option I have and one I would really like to do is swap in a 4x4 frame. I have a 84 blazer with a very rusty body but killer running gear, a 454/ sm465/205 transfer case with dana 60 axles, 6 in lift with 42 inch swampers... man, that would be one awesome astro. But my big problem with that... how the heck do I swap the body? The only thing I have for heavy lifting is a engine hoist, but I have the welding ability to build platforms for the body to sit on while I do the frame swap, also I suppose I would have to take off the tires and springs and rebuild the suspension once I swapped the astro onto the frame. Any ideas how to do a body swap with the tools I have?

Thanks for any info or ideas.

I wish I did have the pictures of it,but here I Rochester NY there is a guy who has been swapping S-10's on those kind of frames and cutting off the extra frame section behind the rearend.You do see the frame very clearly and it does give you the monster truck look for sure.I don't remember the Astro's wheel base,but I do know long(EXT later models)or the shorter Astro's have the same wheel base.Maybe some of the guys will chime in and give you that spec.When I was actively working on a tube frame project for a Astro-the one thing that stuck out in my mind is how short the raise was over the rearend and how short the frame was after going back down after the rearend.Chris Alston chassis and I traded emails over that and how we could retrofit one of his 4 link frame rails.What I suggest you do after the guys here chime in with a Astro wheelbase,is for you to compair that to a frame you would want to use.

Btw-welcome to the web site.

Gary

Option #2 would defiantly require some serious fabbing. Not just to get the bodies switched but because the Van is unibody with a sub frame. Then again option #1 is also a dooozie.

To get the sub frame out of the van is easy with an engine hoist. you block the rear tires attach the hoist to the front end ( usually the rad support) and then lift the front up so the van pivots off the sub frame. After you have disconnected everything and have stands under the sub frame of course. From there I wonder if you could build a frame high enough and wide enough that the chassis from the truck would fit under and through. Rest the front of the van on it preferably bolted to it via a couple of sub frame mounting points then take the hoist to the rear drop the rear suspension and such then lift it up with the hoist roll the chassis under set the rear down go back to the front lift it back up off the impromptu frame, remove the frame then set it down on the chassis. I can picture this in my head but I don't think I'm describing it clearly.

One thing is for sure you would have to set it down perfectly first time because you would not be able to shift it around to easily after it's down. But the van's body shouldn't warp as it is uni body.

Another way I know of is an old one my dad taught me. It involves 2 tall floor jacks , 2 I beams wider than the chassis and 4 Jack stands. You use the floor jacks to jack one end of the body up off the chassis then you place an I beam under the body and use a stand at either end to hold the beam up off the chassis. You then set the body down on the beam. Now the beam has to be placed somewhere that won't crush under the weight of course. After that you repeat for the other end and then just roll the chassis out from under. This probably could be re created using just an engine hoist and the stands/beams but I would be concerned about safety.

thanks... yes safety is a major concern, I have very curious 7 year old who always wants to help. He learned how to weld when he first turned 7, and my 12 year old makes excellent beads... they will both be serious motorheads.

option 2 will be a serious job, and i prefer to do most of my work by myself.

I have had another option I thought about... a wheelie astro van

Well I think you don't lift much of anything.Cut the Blazer body off first.Bit size pcs of that are easier to handle.Strip the blazer frame down to just the frame.Then you build from the Blazer frame up and not from the Astro body down.I did a frame off resto on a Chevelle.The body was lifted on 4x4's which where on cinder blocks in stages.The wooden 4x4's ran accoss the body and was lifted with a cherry picker.Once the resto was done,we took threaded rods in the body mounts to guide the body back down and adjusted the measurements one end at a time.In hind site,we could have built fairly cheaply one of these which would have made the job much easier.

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/prod ... word=12171

Don't need the hyro feature of a rotisserie and the materials are fairly cheap.Yeah up welds are some of the hardest to do which means you could tilt the Astro body to do whatever body mounts to attach it to the Blazer frame and given the fact the bottom of the Astro body would be exposed,I would think you would want to have the bottom of it as clean as you could get it.I think I am fairly safe saying you would have to use spacers between the body and the frame to get the BBC to fit the doghouse openning.

Looking forward to posts on this project.It does sound like a great father/kids project to do. =D> =D>

Here is a after thought too.The fab work you do to build equipment can be as much fun as the project it's self.It does help the outcome of the project.

How wide is the Blazer frame???.What is the wheel base??.

Welcome, Bulldozer.
I like the idea of the Dodge 360/737 transplant, so that has my vote. A few years back, we had a member who grafted an Olds 403 into his Astro. To date, I believe that he's been the only one to swap in a non-Chevy V8 (I'm going to assume here that the LS series engine is considered a Chevy). I'd love to see a non-GM V8 installed in an Astro.

SafariRob wrote:Welcome, Bulldozer.
I like the idea of the Dodge 360/737 transplant, so that has my vote. A few years back, we had a member who grafted an Olds 403 into his Astro. To date, I believe that he's been the only one to swap in a non-Chevy V8 (I'm going to assume here that the LS series engine is considered a Chevy). I'd love to see a non-GM V8 installed in an Astro.

Well I guess your going to see it, because that is what I am doing. The body swap is just too much of a job for me. I have already pulled the motor from the donor and I should start on the astro motor pull on friday.

So if I understand this correctly, I am going to pull the motor and tranny out of the astro by lifting the body and unbolting the frame from the unibody?

Thanks

It all depends on what year van you have. Up to 94 it is fairly easy to pull out the front. Later years you will have to cut the rad support to come out front. Seeing as how you are doing a non GM engine, you would prolly do better to drop the subframe. That way it will be easier to fab up things as needed.

Well I kept trying to talk myself out of pulling the motor/tranny/frame out... but my neighbor was gung ho to start the task. Went pretty well and pulled everything out in about two hours. The only thing that bothered me was when I jacked the body up... I kept thinking to myself what the hell am I doing. The radiator support I was chained to didn't fare too well, but no biggie and we had a problem with the frame and the engine puller supports... but it worked out, but I'm wondering how much trouble we will have getting everything back together.
My astro is a 93 and I thought about something after I was done... how the heck am I going to tell my speed, all my gauges are digital, and I guess I had some though about the wiring... I guess I will set it up with a seperate electrical system for the van and the motor. Also I guess I will have to fab something up for the power steering, my motor does not have a power steering pump, so I will keep the one off of the 4.3... same for the alternator too.

I will have pics soon.

Bulldozer, it looks like the fun has begun! Now about those photos...

Welcome to ASV, Bulldozer. Good luck with the project.

BTW, of course you know what MOPAR stands for: My Old Plymouth Aint Running, usually because they are
Mostly Old Parts And Rust.

Just kidding. Good luck and we want to hear about how good this thing runs.

I thought Dodge (my motor) stood for Drops Oil Drips Grease Everywhere. I did a rear good job of that because I didn't think to drain the tranny fluid.

Found a nice hole in the side of the oil pan, about the size of a dollar.

Here's a few photo's

I was outside looking at the motor mounts, is there a reason why the motor is offset to the right?

The drivetrain is offset to the right to give more foot room to the driver. At least, that's what I've always heard. Makes sense, too, when you consider that up until 1990 (if I remember correctly) a manual transmission version was available, so floor room was needed for the clutch pedal.