Joined
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39 Posts
saludos a todos (cheers all!)
i know i dont post regularly, more a lurker than contributor...
im the type that likes to map out a project in my head, accumulate the parts, then do it all at once as opposed to sticking mods on bit by bit...
but while visiting my local body guy for an estimate on a few dings i expressed to him my interest in a grill guard for the astro, explaining that they arent made specifically for the van and a Chevy truck guard would probably have to be modified.
he asks me what year my van is, tell him 2000 and lo and behold he goes into his ample warehouse of random s#!t that most car guys have and pulls out a full grill guard + brush guard set. says it came off a late 90s 2500.
i say "no way it fits." he says "i make anything fit." holds it up to the grill and i'll be damned, it might just work.
i leave the van with him and a couple hours and $200 total (labor and guard) later, with only two small cuts to the lower end of the stock bumper cover, i have this...
i would have liked a tighter fit on the brush guards wrapping around the headlights, but i cant beat this with a stick. i'll get up under it and take pics of the brackets and mounting tomorrow, but he says he used the brackets that came with the guard off the 2500 with slight modification. step bar supports two adults.
he also says this is not a true push bar as it is only mounted at the bottom and needs reinforcement more towards the middle of the bars (he suggested running two flat horizontal support bars from the holes for offroad lights on the center bar, thru the grille, onto the steel behind the grill as opposed to cutting thru the middle of the bumper to install two short brackets)...
anyways, here she is... not much of a looker yet, but i have full flare runners, all new lights and a roll pan waiting to go.. just needs paint after that.
![image.jpg]()
i know i dont post regularly, more a lurker than contributor...
im the type that likes to map out a project in my head, accumulate the parts, then do it all at once as opposed to sticking mods on bit by bit...
but while visiting my local body guy for an estimate on a few dings i expressed to him my interest in a grill guard for the astro, explaining that they arent made specifically for the van and a Chevy truck guard would probably have to be modified.
he asks me what year my van is, tell him 2000 and lo and behold he goes into his ample warehouse of random s#!t that most car guys have and pulls out a full grill guard + brush guard set. says it came off a late 90s 2500.
i say "no way it fits." he says "i make anything fit." holds it up to the grill and i'll be damned, it might just work.
i leave the van with him and a couple hours and $200 total (labor and guard) later, with only two small cuts to the lower end of the stock bumper cover, i have this...
i would have liked a tighter fit on the brush guards wrapping around the headlights, but i cant beat this with a stick. i'll get up under it and take pics of the brackets and mounting tomorrow, but he says he used the brackets that came with the guard off the 2500 with slight modification. step bar supports two adults.
he also says this is not a true push bar as it is only mounted at the bottom and needs reinforcement more towards the middle of the bars (he suggested running two flat horizontal support bars from the holes for offroad lights on the center bar, thru the grille, onto the steel behind the grill as opposed to cutting thru the middle of the bumper to install two short brackets)...
anyways, here she is... not much of a looker yet, but i have full flare runners, all new lights and a roll pan waiting to go.. just needs paint after that.
