What did you do to/with your van today?

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Astrophysics
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Astrophysics »

Thank you for the insight. Yes, I see what you mean . Maybe I can put a round rubber or plastic disc seal and drill a small hole to proper port this one. It was on clearance at HD for $5.

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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by WE7X »

Yes, I would try starting with a pair of very small holes; one under the inlet port, and one under the outlet port.
You can always make them larger, if desired.
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Captn. Crunch »

Started tinkering with my latest acquisition. 03 SLT AWD. 123,000 miles full leather no rust or rot. Vacuumed and windows. New wiper blades fore and aft. Rear arm was frozen so PB Blaster and lots of wiggling fixed that. PB Blasted all the door hinges, side door rollers and door latches. Much better. Interior lites dont respond to door opening so tried to swap the assembly from the 99. Different plug. I’ll see about opening it up and pull just the dimmer relay
Captn. Crunch
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1994 Safari conversion (sold) and miss'n it!
1999 Safari SLE AWD junked
2003 GMC Safari AWD SLT
cast iron Torsen equipped front diff
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2” body lift w/Falken Wildpeak AT’s

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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Captn. Crunch »

When I drove my latest acquisition, the 03 SLT AWD home she had a bit of a skip. Today I pulled the doghouse and figured I’d start with a cap and rotor. A quick run to my local parts purveyor and the job was on. For some reason the screw on the far side of the distributor wouldn’t bite so after a closer look-there were no threads. Just a big chunk missing. Good thing there was a brand new White distributor in a box in the shed so now I’m changing dizzies! No surprises the rest of the way and the skip is gone purring like new. New universal joints in the 99 tomorrow.
Captn. Crunch
"I don't beat my rig-I use it to it's maximum potential"
1994 Safari conversion (sold) and miss'n it!
1999 Safari SLE AWD junked
2003 GMC Safari AWD SLT
cast iron Torsen equipped front diff
S-10 leafs-G80 rear w/3.73’s
2” body lift w/Falken Wildpeak AT’s
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Herbie
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Herbie »

Image

Putting my new vinyl cutter to good use...
Last edited by Herbie on Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:08 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"My minivan is cooler than your bro-truck"
2003 Astro AWD Astrolander/ZMB - GTRV Top Transplant, 4" OLV Lift, NP233 T-case, evolving interior
1995 Safari GTRV Organ donor - gutted and gone.
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by MountainManJoe »

@Herbie
The image doesn't show up for me. Private content?
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Herbie »

Fixed, sorry. Google photos still resists direct linking...
"My minivan is cooler than your bro-truck"
2003 Astro AWD Astrolander/ZMB - GTRV Top Transplant, 4" OLV Lift, NP233 T-case, evolving interior
1995 Safari GTRV Organ donor - gutted and gone.
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by MountainManJoe »

hah! one less sprinter ....

Astrophysics
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Astrophysics »

Hi All,

It is great that the forum is back.

Hello Herbie. Do you still have your Astro?

AP
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Herbie »

Yes indeed!

Still working on little projects here and there (just fabbed new awning brackets to raise my ARB awning up a bit more - the bag was occasionally fouling on the slider door). I owe my build thread a general update, just to sync up.

We have toyed with selling it, only to be able to get a slightly bigger rig since our kiddo is growing, but so far have found nothing (a) we can afford, (b) that does as much, and (c) fits in our driveway.
"My minivan is cooler than your bro-truck"
2003 Astro AWD Astrolander/ZMB - GTRV Top Transplant, 4" OLV Lift, NP233 T-case, evolving interior
1995 Safari GTRV Organ donor - gutted and gone.
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Astrophysics
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Astrophysics »

Hi Herbie,
I am working on a turnbuckle and 1 1/2" pull-ups to add a simple way to adjust the parking brake cable tension. I will post photos,

AP

Astrophysics
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Astrophysics »

Hi All,
The parking brake cable OEM adjuster on my 2003 Astro has always been a chore to use. I got a 4” turnbuckle with 5/16" bolts and a 1 1/2" fixed pulley.
Plan is to rig a way to pull cable sideways to adjust parking brake so it hold van on a hill. Once set, tighten lock jut on the turnbuckle bolt with the right hand threads.
AP

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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Astrophysics »

Hi,
Hooked up the auxiliary parking brake adjuster to my 2003 Astro. It Works well.
I used a square U bolt around my 2x2” steel sub frame extender to anchor the non pulley end of the turnbuckle.
AP

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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by gunther »

Thought I’d share my progress with the new van with y’all. Feeling pretty good about what I’ve gotten done. So far I’ve:
Replaced fuel pump
Cleaned EGR and replaced gasket
Fixed exhaust leak
New plugs wires and distributor
New tires
Front end rebuild which included
Shock absorbers
Upper and lower ball joints
Upper control arm bushings
Sway bar links and bushings
Inner and outer tie rods

Next on the agenda:
Fix leak coming from oil cooler adapter
Replace viscous coupling
She’s running rich too so I’m going to troubleshoot that once I get the light duty truck fuel and emissions manual that’s in the mail.
There’s also a few cosmetic/non operational stuff I need as well. Might see a WTB add from me here soon
1993 Awd Astro LT 262 ci V6 4.3L CPI
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Re: What did you do to/with your van today?

Post by Herbie »

Sounds like a lot of good work, Gunther!
"My minivan is cooler than your bro-truck"
2003 Astro AWD Astrolander/ZMB - GTRV Top Transplant, 4" OLV Lift, NP233 T-case, evolving interior
1995 Safari GTRV Organ donor - gutted and gone.
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