Chevy Astro and GMC Safari Forum banner

1994 AWD Cargo Build

11K views 59 replies 18 participants last post by  jess 
#1 ·
hi all

first post!! I've been lurking here while hunting for a van and registered when I finally took the plunge. making this post after my first day driving it.

purchased a 1994 Astro EXT AWD Cargo that someday i hope to use as a weekender/adventure/budget camper. that's the dream anyway - I bought it for cheap, it's been sitting for the past five years and it's got a ways to go.

regardless of how the camperizing goes I'm excited to have a low-risk beater vehicle to learn on and experiment with! this van won't be daily driven and i'll be able to mess with it as I'm able to. i'm pretty mechanically clueless, i'm hoping to use this van as an opportunity and a sandbox to learn in.



i can already tell that this board is going to be a great resource for me, i knew i wanted to start with a ground-zero build thread. today we took the van out for it's first real driving in five years. i drove it about 15 miles the night I purchased it but other than that, she'd been collecting grime and cobwebs.

quick assessment from the driveway:
  • runs and drives pretty well all things considered
    shifts smoothly
    rear brakes groaned initially but seem OK after just the short drive home
    heater/AC work but only on high(vacuum tube issues?)
    blower motor makes a loud obnoxious whine
    all exterior lights work but the cluster lights and dome lights don't work
    temp gauge doesn't work
    fuel pump buzzes (common with astros?)
    stereo is totally shot
    it has an aftermarket security system/keyless entry that works on everything but the slider.

today, feeling brave, we took it to emissions testing to see how that'd go (spoiler alert: it didn't).

the van made it to the testing site A-OK, about 5 miles in city traffic and even driving ~55mph on wide-open roads with no issues. stopped to get gas on the way. sat in line for about 30 mins with the other, respectable cars at a nice idle with no issues. failed the test but was told it was close, the tech working encouraged us to get it going at higher speed and for longer before bringing it back in again.

on the drive home, in city traffic, it died coming to a stop at a light. started again but died at idle, would only stay running when the pedal was down. we let it cool down while we walked to the parts shop, returning with a bottle of Lucas Deep-Clean fuel system cleaner. dumped that in, and let it run for a bit in place before putting it in drive - it made it home, dying once more at a stop and again as it slid up to the curb. tried it again a little later and it started fine, drove around the neighborhood no problem, coming to stop and start, accelerating and idling fine.

our current thought is that some old gas/junk/debris had collected in the tank while it sat for five years and adding new gas today kicked all that up. that junk could clog an already dirty fuel filter and contribute to some noxious emissions, right?

maybe the bottle of fuel cleaner helped, maybe it didnt. next steps will be changing the fuel filter and doing a general spark plugs/wires/oil change-and-check because that's stuff it surely needs done anyway! maybe will help illuminate what happened today. probably will add more fuel system cleaner periodically too, for superstition if nothing else!
 
See less See more
1
#27 ·
If it wasn't wet, no signs of leaks, I'd consider leaving that ceiling stuff in place.

If it were 1969 I'd consider leaving it in place, spray painting it and adding stick-on glow in the dark stars, moons and planets. And I'd figure out a way to hang a lava lamp.

Lump
 
#28 ·
Yeah it can be a little tricky, and you have to expect to loose a little Techron in the process. I usually hold the filter in a big rag, put a thumb over one and and dump it in the other. Then, tilt it down and onto the fitting on the lowest side (my driveway is sloped up) which will keep the leaking to a minimum. Then pull the thumb off on slam on the other fitting as quick as I can.

Hope that helps for next time.
 
#29 ·
thanks Wimp! i appreciate all the tips. major noob here.

regarding rainwater inside: i mentioned in my previous post how I was seeing water damage in the back, near the top of the barn doors. the previous owner's ply ceiling was rotting and there was some accumulation on the floor. after removing all that headliner/ply ceiling and unearthing the insulation i started to see water leaking in above the driver seat too, and pretty heavily.

taking tips from some threads here we adjusted the strike plates/fasteners on the rear barn doors trying to get them to close tighter and then checked the factory roof rack - it was all messed up. someone previously had probably over-loaded the crap out of it or something because the plates that should be sitting flush on the roof were torqued all over the place

we removed the bolts and factory gaskets and put them back in with some random washers that were laying around (on the interior) then siliconed all around the roof rack plates on the exterior and it made a HUGE difference on the driver seat leak - i haven't seen any water there since we did this and it's been raining everyday. still getting some water in the very back but it seems to definitely be less, i suspect the roof rack holes were contributing but not the only leak back there. maybe not though, and just adjusting the doors helped a little? hard to say.

drove it around town last weekend to get some stuff off craigslist and it handled it great! i can't wait to build a camper van but having an accessible cargo van is pretty cool too
 
#30 ·
flooring post!



i'm super stoked. the top is laminate - there's 2 different kinds because i was able to get one box from goodwill (the red cherry wood, like $12) but it wasn't enough for the whole van so we got another box from lowes. they're both 8mm with an underlayment attached. couldn't match the goodwill stuff because it had since been discontinued. underneath there's two more layers of underlayment and a layer of ply, all the cuts were done with a jigsaw. step-by-step pics below


before. we cleaned it up a bit after taking this before putting anything down


first layer is 3-in-1 underlayment, also from goodwill for $9. there were a couple tiny holes in the floor from previous tool racks and things, covered those with foil tape before putting this down.


second layer is plywood. we used pine subfloor, just over 1/2" thick


third layer is more underlayment since we had plenty from the goodwill roll


finished product!
 
#31 ·
firstly, about the rainwater i mentioned in my previous post: after adjusting the striker plates and roof rack we were still seeing it in the very back by the barn doors: we removed and re-seated the rear center brake light, putting a ton of silicone all around it when we did. that fixed it! no more leaks! for now at least :cheers:

now - paneling post!!

i'm super stoked on this. we did the driver side, ceiling, and bottom of passenger side from behind the slider to the rear. we used tongue-and-groove sanded pine only because we already had it in the basement from a roommate's past project but i'm so glad this is what he had! the tongue-and-groove helped so much with distributing the tension evenly and keeping the boards in there solid - i think it would have been a nightmare doing this with regular wood


before picture of the driver side. previous owner sprayed foam insulation and covered the windows. there's lots of holes in the floor/walls from previous racks/storage stuff that was in here


first step was putting reflectix up along the driver side. adhered it with reflectix brand foil tape but layed a stripe of black gorilla tape to remind myself where the rib is in the sea of reflective silver


started paneling with the longest lengths, starting above the wheelwell and moving up. screwing them into the rib with #8x1" self tapping screws. they're in there! it was kind of difficult to get each screw to bite the metal, some took a few attempts, but once they got in there it's solid. this is where we think the tongue-and-groove really helped us. in this picture you can also see that we put reflectix on the ceiling as well, on top of previous owner's spray foam


boom! driver side and ceiling all the way across to the slider. i'm super pleased with how it looks! had to cut some weird little shapes to fit around the wheelwell and filler neck, one of those is screwed into a rib and the others are wood glued in place.

i didn't get any pictures of what we did on the passenger side but i'll update when it's finished. basically we paneled from window down using the scrap cuts that were left over from the driver side. will need to figure something else out for the space from the bottom of the window up till it meets the ceiling paneling
 
#33 ·
sixsix said:
Well now... Is that a "Clean Look" or what ?
Very Nice.
thanks mike!

couple tiny little interior mods over the past week, nothing too exciting but steps closer to getting it ready for trips


on the panels on the rear barn doors i cut a hanging shoe organizer then screwed it back on through the existing holes. used a spare black bedsheet underneath to cover the width of the panel that the shoe organizer didn't cover


liked it so much i did it on both sides. the shoe organizer cost $2.00 at goodwill. can't beat that.


this is silly.. the pine ceiling paneling we put up stops behind the driver seat so above the seats in front was just bare metal previously and was baking in the sun. i had leftover underlayment from the floor, i cut that to size and taped it to one of those windshield sunshade things from goodwill (pretty much reflectix). I wedged the two of them up there. it fits pretty well and now i drive the van guided by horses galloping on the beach above my head

as you can tell there's currently a cracked windshield, no center mirror, and no sun visors - will need to replace all those!
 
#34 ·
Funny - last time I saw shoe organizers mounted on the doors - some time back, a guy did them for his cleaning bottles, tools and supplies. Looked just like yours. Perfect for him - it was Packed.

jess said:
... no center mirror, and no sun visors - will need to replace all those! ...
Using a set of JY Visors - we upgraded from the simple ones to the "Articulated Double Vanity" style. Some very minor drilling ( hole pattern slightly differs ) and one wire for power, as the visor itself grounds them. JY can xref other adaptable vehicles to check - but GM would be best. They were cheap.

Some nicer Rear View mirrors there also - some had Temp and Compass features originally. Might be tough to adapt to the '94, like our '92 with the later model Overhead Console.

Mike
 
#35 ·
sixsix said:
Using a set of JY Visors - we upgraded from the simple ones to the "Articulated Double Vanity" style. Some very minor drilling ( hole pattern slightly differs ) and one wire for power, as the visor itself grounds them. JY can xref other adaptable vehicles to check - but GM would be best. They were cheap.
thanks mike! i have the original visors from this van, i had just removed them when pulling down the headliner and hadn't put them back up yet. they're pretty gross (van sat for ~5 years) and I had been wrestling with the idea of re-upholstering them with some new fabric but had never considered just swapping them out with a JY pair - that would be way easier! sometimes it just takes someone else to point out the obvious alternative! :ty:

this past weekend's project was making what I'm calling a desk. i guess it's more just a surface? whatever. in a previous post i had indicated that on the passenger side we paneled under the window using scrap cuts from the driver side. that WAS true at the time but isn't any longer - i removed those lengths and built this in their place. the hope is that it will be comfortable to sit on the eventual bed and use this


it's the same 3/4" ply from the subflooring, cut to size and painted with some random paint that i was able to get for like $3, mounted using those black brackets to one length of the paneling which is stuck to the van with self tapping screws underneath. this past weekend we tiled the top of it! this picture doesn't really show the tiles well but i think it gives a good sense of perspective how big the slab is inside the van


detail of the tile. we used tile adhesive straight onto the wood then grout between the cracks. first time i've ever used any of these materials haha. the grout spacing is a little wonky to get things to fit length-wise and there was a fair amount of finesse-ing to fit in the miscellaneous tiles we had but all things considered i'm super pleased with how it came out! got really lucky that the grout we bought happened to match the paint i used almost perfectly

after adding the tile i added a third bracket underneath to help support all the extra weight, didn't get a picture of that
 
#37 ·
thanks again mike!

built the bed platform this past weekend. or at least the first version.


the basic frame is constructed out of 2x2 with a 2x4 down the middle. the notched corner goes behind the passenger seat


same frame with some additional 2x2 for support and 3/4" ply on top. all the ply is from a single 4x8 sheet. the black dots on the legs are "gripper" pads - i wanted to try a version of this where the bed is not attached to the van at all so that it can be removed (to use the van for hauling stuff around town) but i don't know if these will be sufficient to keep it from sliding around, may have to re-think that.


in the van, from the back. the ply hangs over the edge of the frame because it sits on top of the driver side rear wheelwell. the finished product is about 75" long (at the longest part) and 52" wide - nearly a full mattress. it's sturdy! i'm pretty tall, i wanted to design this for maximum headroom and i'm pretty stoked on the finished product, i can sit up straight in there currently and sit on the bed to use the "desk" area with my feet behind the passenger rear wheel.

the trade-off in making it so low was compromising on under-bed storage room but i think there should still be plenty of room for some low-profile plastic totes and we're not living in this thing after all - should be enough for weekend camping trips.


in the van, from through the slider
 
#39 ·
I believe that is the first time I saw the use of ceramic tiles in an Astro...it does look good, and it makes it yours.

As for the bed, maybe find some latches and attach it to the wall, then the bed won't move yet flip a few latches and you can slide it out for cargo carrying purposes.

Keep the pics coming.

-Andrew
 
#40 ·
srdragonusa said:
Looking Good! I'll be tuned in!
thanks paul! i've definitely drawn a lot of inspiration from your build and the discussion in your thread (and a number of others on here). you've probably seen the vids already but last I saw I think the Into The Mystery 13 guy bailed on his foam cabinets in his express van in favor of wood? will be curious to hear how your experience with it goes

icebrrg3rd said:
As for the bed, maybe find some latches and attach it to the wall, then the bed won't move yet flip a few latches and you can slide it out for cargo carrying purposes.
thanks andrew, that's a good idea! if the cheap-o gripper pads don't work I had considered using some L-brackets to secure the bed to the floor but was leery of screwing into the laminate too much - latches on the wall are a better solution i think

couple little updates from this past weekend:


mattress for the bed - it's 3" of memory foam on top of 1.5" of conventional foam. i'm pleased with it, seems plenty comfy and still leaves enough room to sit almost totally upright in there. both pieces are cut to fit the odd shape of the bed, the plan is to use the excess trimmings to make some pillows. i guess the real test will be when we spend the first night in it.


brand new tires - BF Goodrich A/T KO2s. LT215/75R-15


put a ladder on the back! got it from a junkyard astro. will be handy because the cargo box I already have opens from the rear (unlike the thule/yakima rocketboes i've seen that open from the side). also put AVS window deflectors on
 
#41 ·
jess said:
srdragonusa said:
Looking Good! I'll be tuned in!
thanks paul! i've definitely drawn a lot of inspiration from your build and the discussion in your thread (and a number of others on here). you've probably seen the vids already but last I saw I think the Into The Mystery 13 guy bailed on his foam cabinets in his express van in favor of wood? will be curious to hear how your experience with it goes
Yeah, well first off his idea of a cabinet was crazy huge, if you go that big you need to make it in sections. Also he had too many cubbies. I would have built the outer frame and maybe one shelf, then I would have built removable shelves.

Also I would mainly use this technique for hanging cabinets and I also feel a hybrid of Foam and wood might be better. i.e. wood on the horizontal, foam on the Verticals and tops. This is a time intense way to create cabinets and they didn't want to take the time.

jess said:
put a ladder on the back! got it from a junkyard astro. will be handy because the cargo box I already have opens from the rear (unlike the thule/yakima rocketboes i've seen that open from the side). also put AVS window deflectors on
Are those in channel Wind deflectors? I want a set.
 
#42 ·
srdragonusa said:
Yeah, well first off his idea of a cabinet was crazy huge, if you go that big you need to make it in sections. Also he had too many cubbies. I would have built the outer frame and maybe one shelf, then I would have built removable shelves.

Also I would mainly use this technique for hanging cabinets and I also feel a hybrid of Foam and wood might be better. i.e. wood on the horizontal, foam on the Verticals and tops. This is a time intense way to create cabinets and they didn't want to take the time.
makes sense to me! i only mentioned him because i saw you had posted some links to his vids in your thread.

srdragonusa said:
Are those in channel Wind deflectors? I want a set.
yeah they are and they're nice. super easy to install. i got AutoVentshade ones, i believe they were #192006 but I ordered them on my girlfriend's amazon account and can't verify this second. i'll ask her to check and i'll edit this post if it turns out they were a different model.

------------

i've got a couple newbie questions about knock and O2 sensors - if anyone sees this and can weigh in i'd appreciate it!

way back when I got this van I mentioned in this thread how it idled rough and abruptly died in traffic. since replacing the cap & rotor, ignition coil, EGR gasket, fuel filter, and fuel pump it hasn't died and it consistently turns over but the idle could still be better and i'm now seeing a SES light that pops on when it's started after sitting and then disappears as it heats up and drives around. this thread (viewtopic.php?f=43&t=119153) got me thinking i'd like to troubleshoot this a little more but i'm pretty clueless.

i'm going to try replacing plugs and wires first. i actually got all the necessary parts a while ago but just recently bought the necessary extensions and socket. whether or not that helps this situation i think it ought to be done.

First, about knock sensors. i'm thinking about what coaster posted to this thread a long time ago:

coaster said:
replace both knock sensors. i chased stalling issues for years until i did this.
i've been poking around, reading some threads like this one (viewtopic.php?f=43&t=14819) which the following is quoted from:
chevymaher said:
No there is 2 of them on the drivers side. The upper smaller one is the temp sending unit. The lower big round one is the knock sensor. The passenger side knock sensor is in back of the head not on the side. Just in case type info.
checking RockAuto, there's a listing for ACDelco D8003 - the "right hand" sensor and that's the only Delco. there's other sensors listed (Standard Motor Products & Airtex brands) that are delineated by their size and threading: 3/8 Inch x 18 Thread, 1/4 Inch x 18 Thread, and one that's listed as "In Lower Hole with 3/8"x16 Straight Thread".

I'm unsure which is which. can anyone clarify:

  • is what ACDelco calls the "Right Hand" sensor the same that chevymaher was referring to as the "lower big round one"?
    if so, does anyone know which size/thread the second, passenger side knock sensor is for a gen1 with W-Vin?

maybe i'm getting them mixed up? or maybe it doesn't matter? i found this thread (viewtopic.php?f=43&t=6591) from which the following is quoted:
astro355 said:
Any junk yards around you? The knock sensors from most GM vehicles of the late eighties/early nineties should be the same, regardless of engine. Just make sure the threads are the same size.
which (at least for gen 1s) seems consistent with this thread (viewtopic.php?f=43&t=82850) from which this is quoted:
AstroWill said:
There are a bunch of different ones, but 95 and older should be the same if you have the same thread. 2nd gen is different, then 01 and up is really different.
also what's an ESC knock sensor?
mentioned today in this thread (viewtopic.php?f=43&t=14819)
eddbuck2017 said:
my Haynes manual doesn't mention removing fluid, and that on 1995 and earlier it was a ESC knock sensor? that sound about right?
and lastly, about O2 sensors: how many are there on my van? (gen 1, W vin). lots of threads seem to mention 2 or 4 sensors but is that a gen2 thing? from this thread (viewtopic.php?f=43&t=63761)
icebrrg3rd said:
That said, your latest post mentions a 1990 Safari, those are OBD1 like you noted, and it is a single wire O2 sensor right before the cat (only 1 sensor)
and
redfury said:
Yeah, single sensor on the gen 1 vans. The ground is the exhaust pipe like lumpy mentioned. Likely it just needs to be replaced. ( the sensor.. They wear out unlike other sensors and usually have a service life around 80k)
when I check RockAuto there's a bunch of different brands of O2 sensors listed but they're all "upstream". assuming my van has only one sensor like the quotes above indicate can anyone confirm if it's the "upstream" variety listed on RockAuto? is it called upstream because it's before the catalytic converter?

sorry for the long post! just trying to do some homework before tackling a new project. this van is the first vehicle i've ever worked on at all so i'm really starting from scratch here
 
#43 ·
got some awesome new seats from an astro conversion at the junkyard and yesterday we installed them with a swivel!


unsure of the year van that these came from. i think it was one of the "Mark III" conversions


boom! in the van. used the K & M #5006 swivel base - these seats have straight rails and mounting the swivel didn't require any offset spacers. the bottom bolts fit easily but we did have to drill new holes in the top of the swivel

also replaced my sun visors with a junkyard pair - thanks for the tip mike! followed your lead and got a pair of the deluxe "double" visors from another astro. it was a gen2 and just like your post indicated the hole pattern very slightly differed from mine but worked out OK after drilling in some self-tapping screws
 
#44 ·
Very Nice, Jess - looks like a family room!!
Good score on the Seats, Swivels and Visors.
Hope you ran your 12V to both so you can check
that gleam in your Eye from either side - LOL.

:banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

Mike
 
#46 ·
thanks paul and mike! and yeah, the seat swivel is a game changer in there

this past weekend we got a few things on done on the van


interior lighting! it's an LED strip that's USB powered, changes colors, and is dimmable through a remote control. we found a piece of miscellaneous wood molding that was exactly the right width which we glued and screwed into the paneling then stuck the LEDs to it. inside that crate behind the driver's seat is one of those "portable power stations" that have jumper cables/air compressor/120v/12v/USB outlets. the LEDs are plugged into a 5-port switchable USB hub (behind seat, above crate) which will allow us to add a USB fan/phone charger/etc.

i wanted to try this configuration to make it easy to disconnect when the power pack is needed outside the van or needs recharged and to keep all of this separate from the van's electrical which, as wimp noted, is full of gremlins. we'll see how it works


at night, from a little further back

going way back in the thread, took some advice from Mmusicman
Mmusicman said:
PS: White is a GREAT color! :D
But lose the hubcaps! LOL

ditched the hubcaps, painted the wheels rattlecan flat black

also my buddy swapped the wiring harness for the temp gauge out with one from a junkyard astro. we had replaced the temp sensor a long time ago, the gauge still had not been working. replacing the harness did the trick! another thing crossed off the list
 
#47 ·
got a few things done this past weekend

on the passenger rear side we reupholstered basically everything behind the slider that wasn't already paneled. there was some raggedy material there when i got the van (as pictured earlier in this thread) - we scraped that and all of it's adhesive off using acetone then stuck this new headliner up with spray adhesive


before


and after! i'm super stoked with the results. my girlfriend really knocked it outta the park - she figured out how to cut the headliner and spray the glue to contour one big piece of fabric around all the weird trim pieces, miscellaneous cargo van holes, and curvature of the metal


we put up these roll-down blinds on the rear windows. they were $8 each from the "as-is" section at ikea and i like them - the material is treated to block light and it does a decent job but as you can see they don't cover the whole window width and some light gets around the edges. i glued little magnets to the bottom of each one so in this picture they're sticking to the barn door metal

this would not be an ideal solution if you were going for a stealth camper and/or living out of the thing but i think it will work great for our purposes! keep the sun out of your eyes while you snooze and still allows the rear barn door windows to be popped out. i also like that they're separate from one another, you could have one down and the other up if you had just one side of the rear doors open

we also added a third roof rack cross bar from a junkyard astro. this will enable the factory rack to hold both my cargo box and an awning. we re-did the front roof rack mounts to do it and that required taking down the horses-running-on-the-beach material/insulation i'd stuck above the front seats previously. it was looking pretty sloppy anyway, i'll need to think of a better solution up there

the SES light i mentioned in a previous post in this thread isn't showing up anymore. it hasn't since my buddy swapped out the temp gauge wiring harness
 
#49 ·
thanks again mike!

took the van out for it's first little one-night camping trip!


here it is at Lost Creek campground inside Mt Hood National Forest

all things considered it did great - it never left us stranded and was comfortable. the battery setup i've got is more than enough for our needs for one night, will be curious to see how long we can push it between recharges. i'm really glad we got that temp gauge working before this though. the van handled the drive out fine (40-50 miles at highway speeds) and was putting around the forest service roads fine for an hour or two until we tried to climb and it overheated

we took it up a path that had a decent incline (but was not particularly demanding, I know some of you guys have super capable rigs this was nothing crazy) and the temp spiked from a consistent 190-200ish up to just under the red (around 240-250ish). it was HOT under the hood. after letting it cool down and pouring some water we coasted downhill and it dropped immediately and stayed down. current thinking is that the thermostat might not be functioning correctly? i'm clueless, i'll need to read up.

other than that though we had a lot of fun and the van was great. this was probably the most driving this thing's done in like 5 years so i'm not surprised that something came up


somebody found the bed plenty comfortable after a day spent chasing chipmunks
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top