1999 astro cargo build thread

[stent]

pics of both amp controllers mounted in the console compartment lid :

i found this factory fog light switch in a chevy express van at the junkyard.

express van fog light switch

it fits perfectly in the astro dash bezel.

perfect fit

i dug out the switch wire harness back to the relay & took it all home.

now i need to figure out the wiring pattern.

[stent]

i've been doing more work on the sound system. the amplifiers & speaker crossover networks will be hidden behind the driver's side interior panels between the gas filler & the rear wheel well. i plan on using the blower assembly from a junkyard rear heater to blast the amps with air to cool them. i got 2 autometer amp temperature gauges (#6392; one for each amp; amazon had a superduper sale) to keep tabs on how hot the amplifier heat sinks get - the gauges have a thermocouple that mounts right on the heat sinks.

gauge thermocouples

i'll mount the gauges in the sunglasses storage compartment on the overhead console.

lid from overhead console - holesaw bit the edge of one hole but the angle spacer covers it

backside of lid with sunglasses holder removed

autometer makes gauge mounting angle rings so i should be able to see the gauge displays.

angle rings

gauges mounted on the console lid :

after i got the gauges mounted on the lid i hooked them up to a power supply to test them.......

crap - one gauge is DOA

i like the displays, they'll be easy to see/read

i tried swapping the harnesses but no good, problem is internal. i left both running for an hour or so, the bad gauge would alternate between "50" or "0".

glad i tried them out before running the harness.
amazon is cool - they're sending another gauge & our UPS guy will pick up the dead one.

[sixsix]

Golly !!
Sounds ( sorry ) like you are building an actual 'Killer' stereo.

I'll be listening for it here in Ky. LOL



Mike

[AstroWill]

This doesn't make me feel good about the quality of it's construction.

whatever you do- do not remove this label as it is holding everything together.jpg (260.26 KiB) Viewed 1180 times

[stent]

This doesn't make me feel good about the quality of it's construction.

whatever you do- do not remove this label as it is holding everything together.jpg

i was snickering over that sticker statement myself - if you run your finger over the sticker you can feel an access hole to the gauge innards underneath - i was tempted to pull off the sticker on the dead gauge for a look-see (might have seen an obvious fix for the problem) but didn't want to void the warranty - hopefully the replacement will be fine, it's already on the way.

[AstroWill]

lol, yea probably just a place to plug in for calibration or something like that.

[stent]

more on the sound system :
i got two infinity 12" shallow depth # 1200S subwoofers to install - one behind each front seat, mounted to/through the cargo van bulkheads in shallow mdf boxes.

i mounted one subwoofer box to the passenger side bulkhead & did a little pic/description on my page 3.
i don't have anything hooked up to test the subwoofer with, but after mounting the box to the bulkhead, reinstalling the bulkhead in the van & thinking about what i did, i was pretty sure that a 12" subwoofer mounted to the single thickness of the metal bulkhead would make it buzz/rattle/resonate/suck - so i decided to heavy-duty the mounting.
i got another bulkhead set at the junkyard, took it home & removed my passenger side bulkhead again.
by turning the driver's side junkyard bulkhead piece around backwards, i can bolt it face to face with my passenger side bulkhead & have a double thickness sandwich.
i also got some 1/4" mdf sheet for meat in the middle.
the folded metal bulkhead edges match up on the top, inner side & the bottom.
i trimmed the outer edge of the junkyard piece to match the passenger side bulkhead outer edge.
with the bulkhead sandwich bolted together, there's no way it's going to rattle - but it is heavy (duty).

sub box & bulkhead sandwich

first cuts look raw/ragged, still have to smooth & trim

test fit grill & wire terminals

still have to trim the mdf sheet for the bulkhead window perforations :

from the back

our neighborhood welding shop made me these neat sheetmetal covers for the boxes :

viewed from the rear the metal covers will hide the subwoofer boxes nicely, and with the grills right behind the seats they won't show from the front much either.

a little update on the mini-shop project aka "stent shack" :

stent shack

i cleaned it out good & got it down to the inner wood framing & skin :

wall

front window

rear window

scrounged a good 6-gauge, 4-wire rv power cord & bought cord plugs & wall mount power outlet.

[Rockridge]

Trailer looks really good and solid

[Dirge]

i found this factory fog light switch in a chevy express van at the junkyard.

it fits perfectly in the astro dash bezel.

Would you happen to know what year it came out of? You got the wheels spinning in my head.

[stent]

Trailer looks really good and solid

thanks rockridge - whoever did the main gut job was pretty brutal & broke a few framing members, but i'll bet they had fun.
the lower right rear corner has water rot but hey, it's only a few pieces of wood.
someone has gooped all of the roof seams so they look ok.
i'm going to keep it super simple - insulate with styrofoam, cover it with 1/4" underlayment plywood & call it good.

hi dirge,
i don't remember the year on the express, but it had the old style nose & a major Clarion VHS !! audio/visual system.
take a look at this junkyard picture of a 1998 express :

1998 express @ lkq

in the picture, on the dash, just above where the upper right steering wheel spoke is, that's where the switch would be - looks like it's either gone on this van or the blank-out cover is missing - hope this helps.

props to amazon - i already got my replacement temp gauge from them :

in the box

in the clear

it works too !

with the thermocouples clipped together...

both gauges are right on with each other :

miso happy !!!

[AstroWill]

i found this factory fog light switch in a chevy express van at the junkyard.

Would you happen to know what year it came out of? You got the wheels spinning in my head.

Late 90s early 2000s.
95-2000(02?) Escalade, Express, Sierra, Silverado, Suburban, Tahoe, Yukon

[Dirge]

Cool, thanks for the info guys. I've seen AC outlets and USB covers on newer vans and was wondering if they're the same size.

[stent]

FOR FUTURE REFERENCE - WHEELWELL STUFFING : General Grabber AT2, size 255/70R15.

https://www.amazon.com/General-Grabber-AT2-Radial-Tire/dp/B00521F4EE

comp1.tiff

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comp2.tiff

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this seems to be a "yes, no, maybe it fits" size.
i'll keep a lookout for a pair of cheap, near junk tires in this size - i've got two extra 15" x 6.5" chrome clad factory wheels i can try them on with.

[stent]

on my headliner project i'm left with a hole in the headlining where the middle seat shoulder harness mounts to the roof rib on a passenger van.

hole

i've thought about cutting a piece out of another headliner to make a patch but no matter what i do it'll leave some kind of a seam or scar.
i decided to cover the hole using the passenger van trim piece that covers the harness winder/mount area, but that roof rib is more complex on the passenger so on my cargo van there's nothing to mount the trim piece to.
so.....sawzall fun at the junkyard - cut out that area from a passenger van & took it home :

piece of roof

from the inside

hopefully i can whittle out and rivet on a piece of the junkyard section that allows me to just snap the cover on.

cover snapped on

FYI : body structure cross section

sawzall cut glass for about an inch then CRACK

i'll do more pics when i trim the piece to fit.

[Wiley]

Hahaha, ok I did not see that coming.

I ditched the belts a long time ago as well. I like having that seat belt thing, it makes a nice compartment up out of the way for shades, keys, wallet ect. while still keeping them within reach when I am sleeping in the back. You should open up that whole a bit more as it is a little tight getting your hand in there, and slap some paint on it.

[stent]

i haven't posted anything on my build thread lately so here's a few pics from the junkyard today.
i cut the driver's side sheet metal out of a safari cargo van with the trusty cordless sawzall to get the skin for the interior window blank covers i'm making.

i've been keeping an eye out for a good panel to cut out & finally found a good JY cargo van organ donor.
the cutout piece is in good shape, a few little dings from the inside out behind the drivers seat that i can practice "dolly whacking" on.
now i have to trim out the portions that i will use - it's too much cutting to try trimming the pieces at the junkyard with battery power so i just got the whole van side & took it home.

[stent]

i've become interested in the Mercruiser marine MPI intake manifolds for the Vortec V6 & V8 engines. i like the way the fuel injectors are mounted and the fact that the plenum doesn't have the plastic injector spider in it any more. my van is running great right now, but it seems that eventually we all have to dig out the spider and do the change to a new one. i know it will be a lot more work to get up and running with this total intake swap but i've warmed up to it. if i buy a V6 marine setup i'll add it to my parts stash, learn about it as much as i can, and try to acquire the parts & pieces i need now, before i'm pressed for time to get it done. i found a thread at Pacific Performance Engineering pertaining to the V8 manifolds and wanted to paste a link for it here, for future reference & for anybody here with interest in the subject. that thread started in 2005 and is still active, now 60 pages long - it'll take a while to go through it - WHEW

http://www.pacificp.com/forum/viewtopic ... 2f70e041f6

2 pics i pulled from the PPE thread :

marine v8 manifold - wiring the injectors

marine v8 manifold - throttle body spacer keeps the cruise control cable connection off the fuel rail

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below is a link to a thread here at astrosafari with pics of a V6 marine manifold :
https://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.p ... e#p1412594
i don't think the OP ever used the manifold, the thread fizzled out in 2018 with the manifold still in bubble wrap.

astrosafari thread pic

astrosafari thread pic

[stent]

brand new Mercruiser 4.3L Vortec V6 marine intake setups with 4-bolt mount, drive-by-wire throttle bodies are available on ebay right now in close-out-sale status for about $400.00. these manifolds were designed for 2008 and newer engines. the manifolds are 2-piece, with a cast iron base and cast aluminum upper piece. this marine base will physically fit earlier 4.3L engines with Vortec heads that have the 8-bolt attachment intake manifold. compared to the astro van vortec 4.3L engine intake manifold with spider-type fuel injection, the marine intake mounting surface for the throttle body is at the same height, and the throttle body location front-to-rear is in the same place, so the original astro/safari intake air box, tube & TB cap assembly can be used.

top-view pic of currently available marine v6 assembly - note that the throttle body mounts with 4-bolts :

4-bolt TB manifold

.

Mercruiser 4.3L marine intake setups with 3-bolt mount, cable-drive throttle bodies were used on 2007 & earlier Vortec headed marine engines. the astro-safari vortec cable-drive throttle body for the spider-type fuel injection uses the same 3-bolt mount pattern. too bad i didn't know about these 3-bolt marine manifolds a few years ago when they went to close-out-sale status; i would have bought at least one. today i can't find any of this style for sale new - all gone i guess. this is the style of manifold sitting on bubble wrap in the pics i posted yesterday.

top-view pic of the gone type marine v6 assembly - this version has the 3-bolt throttle body :

3-bolt TB manifold

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the thread for the V8 marine intake swap i added the link for in my last post discussed using their original street-type, 3-bolt, cable-drive throttle body on the marine manifold. that is what i plan to do as well, but i'll need an adapter to go from the 4-bolt manifold pattern to the 3-bolt throttle body.
something like this - a Holley in basic black :

4-bolt manifold to 3-bolt throttle body mounting adapter

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i've got a spare throttle body that's going to come in handy here for test fitting & mockup. i got it at the junkyard with the all of the underhood components for a cruise control setup, which my van doesn't have now, but i would love to have cruise for road trips.

spare TB

compare my JY throttle body pic to the 3-bolt marine manifold pic and see how my cruise control cable mount is going to hit the marine manifold fuel rail. on the V8 blog their solution to this interference was to use a throttle body base spacer to raise the mount above the fuel rail - see the pic of engine in a truck in yesterday's post. i'll see what the base adapter i'll need to use does to help clearance in my situation. i've also read about people just cutting off the cruise control cable mount, or bending the mount out of the way - i'm not interested in either of those options.

while i've got the camera out i'll do a few more pics pertaining to the cruise control swap.....

at the JY i got the cruise module box, the cable that controls the throttle body, the bracket that the cable clips to by the throttle body, the throttle body with the cable still attached, the accelerator pedal cable, still attached to the throttle body, and a long pigtail of wire still connected by the plug to the control module. i got this stuff on one of the JY holiday sale days so i left it all hooked together even though i wasn't planning to use all of the pieces for my swap - the price was right then and the throttle body, cables and cable bracket are good for me now for mockup purposes.

cruise control assembly

[stent]

big change in the weather here in denver sunday - fresh powder so fluffy it sucked right down into the hood vents when i turned on the heater fan - i hope some of this got up in the mountains to dump on the forest fires.

snowee

niplee

[Leeann_93]

I have a friend in Steamboat and they got over 6".