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BP's Super Sleeper - 2001 AWD Astro LS

3K views 25 replies 14 participants last post by  astroracer 
#1 ·
Hi Everyone,
I've completed a life long dream and purchased an Astro at the end of July. Believe or not but I've been dreaming of buying an Astro/Safari for the last 15 years, dropping in a V8, adding some boost, and creating a Super Sleeper to stomp unknowing muscle cars.

I bought it off of the 2nd owner who had it for the last 16 years. He garaged it it's entire life and it's immaculate (as far as WI cars go). Only a couple wart sized rust bubbles on the front side of the rear passenger fender, and some DIY paint weirdness on the driver side B pillar. Here's a ton of photos that I took the day that I picked it up...

Google Album: 2001 Chevy Astro 7-28-2018

Mechanically, it's it good shape. Besides a bad driver's side window motor and a MAF code, it seems really good.

It's pretty much been sitting in the garage for the last few weeks as I've putzed with it when I'm not working. So far I've cleaned the MAF, installed a K&N panel filter, replaced both window motors, the driver's side window switch, the headlight switch, the rear taillights, the front turn lights, front corner "lights", all of the exterior bulbs except for the headlight bulbs, and I put LEDs in the instrument cluster and an LED in the license plate light. Oh yeah, new wiper blades too. ;)

My first mods are going to make the stereo tolerable. I got 6.5" Infinity components for the front doors, 4x6" speakers for the rear pillars, and 6x9's for the rear dutch doors. I'm going to need to make some small adapters to fit the tweeters in the stock front door locations and I'll need to make spacers for the 4x6 speakers. Currently they bottom out on the rear HVAC ducts. I'm going to stick in a basic Sony single DIN headunit. I will help it out by using a compact Clarion amp for the front/pillar speakers and another to replace the stock amp for the rear doors. BTW, these Clarion amps are pretty slick. About the size of a chunk of 2x4.

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=clarion+xc+a ... _sb_noss_2

I picked up a 2.2L S10 gauge cluster for the 7k tach. I did some fitment testing last night and it's going to be interesting. The bottom two screw holes line up and that's about it. Connector is completely wrong, lens is completely wrong, body is about 1/4" too wide. Yeah, it's going to take some work. I'm probably going to be lazy and shelve it until the LS swap happens.

Oh yeah, and I also got a set of 18" wheels from a 2018 Jeep Wrangler JK. The chrome ones with the granite inserts. They have 5 holes sort of similar to the stock wheels. I already had a set of 18" tires and I need the bigger wheels because I'm planning on a brake upgrade in the future.

My end goal is a mostly stock looking van with somewhere in the neighborhood of 700-800HP. My wallet is going to be the main limiter. I'd like to get it in to the low 11-second range in the 1/4. That would be one heck of a fun ride. :D

Thanks,
Ben
 
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#3 ·
Thanks! I forgot to mention but I'm debating on whether I want to just take off the running boards or de-clad the whole thing.

BTW, I'm reading your e-fan writeup. That's going to be my next mod. I can't stand the mechanical fan sound. It sounds like I'm driving a 24' truck. I also can't stand all of the space that the fan shroud takes up under the hood. It's all got to GO.
 
#8 ·
Leeann_93 said:
Damn...only 100k on an '01? Real clean van.
Yeah, and the guy was asking $500 under KBB. I saw it on Craigslist about 16 hours after it was posted, went and checked it out that night. I was blown away. It was better then the CL photos, I told him I wanted it right then and there. We shook on it then I couldn't sleep for the next three days until I handed over the cash and was driving it home.

It was cool too. Their family literally took pictures with it. His kids grew up with it. I hope to keep it in perfect condition. I don't think he knew how good of a home that it was going to get. This Astro is now my baby. It will never see snow/salt. Some guys get a Corvette, I get an Astro.

BTW, so far I've gotten scary lucky with the Astro. Those Jeep wheels that I got, the guy was selling them for $100 for the complete set of 5. The guy lived in an apartment and just wanted them gone.
 
#9 ·
tungtide said:
Good looking van, best wishes on the build. we all have the wallet limit. Let the HP fly.
Thanks! Yeah, I thought of that and a few others for custom plates...

WALET LTD (One character too many for WI)
CASH LTD (good but meh)
DRAG LTD (Astor/Safari, not very aerodynamic)
FLYNG BRK (too many characters)
FASTRO (I just love it but I don't but I'm not sure I want the attention)
RD MNACE (you should all fear the red menace ;))
RASTRO (how Astro from the Jetson's says his name)
BEASTRO (reminds me too much of bistro)
BLASTRO (it's a blast...man)
 
#10 ·
WOW! MAJOR SCORE!!! AWD too!
Super clean.. great interior... great condition.. and it's ALL still there!
I'm sure there are some jealous folks here... lol.

So many vans get hacked along the way.. nothing beats getting one in nice original condition!
Of course, you'll be the one changing all that... but making it YOURS.

There are MANY V8 Astros... but not too many V8 AWD's.. and certainly nothing too radical.
We will enjoy watching your build!

The best with your fantastic find... and your move forward!

PS: Welcome... to the next part of your life!
And welcome to the forum!
 
#12 ·
Congrats and welcome, good find for that part of the country. I would pull the cladding and make sure there is no rust in those areas. Good luck.
 
#13 ·
ButtonPuncher said:
I picked up a 2.2L S10 gauge cluster for the 7k tach. I did some fitment testing last night and it's going to be interesting. The bottom two screw holes line up and that's about it. Connector is completely wrong, lens is completely wrong, body is about 1/4" too wide. Yeah, it's going to take some work. I'm probably going to be lazy and shelve it until the LS swap happens.

Thanks,
Ben
The LS swap will be considerably easier by comparison.
Make sure you document every step.
 
#16 ·
Thanks Everyone! :D

MI_Ghost said:
The LS swap will be considerably easier by comparison.
Make sure you document every step.
LOL! Yeah, it looks like it's going to be interesting. I need to troll the forums to see if anyone has done it already. If it hasn't, I'll definitetly do a full write-up.
 
#18 ·
Welcome, and where in WI are you?

ButtonPuncher said:
...It will never see snow/salt...
So, you're just planning to drive it for the week of summer?!? :poke:

-Andrew
 
#19 ·
ButtonPuncher said:
My end goal is a mostly stock looking van with somewhere in the neighborhood of 700-800HP. My wallet is going to be the main limiter. I'd like to get it in to the low 11-second range in the 1/4.
Have you done anything like this before?

Doing it yourself or paying someone to do it?

Are you planning on throwing in one of those fancy new LT5s that have been plastered all over car and driver and the like in there or a built LS9?

Turbo or supercharged?

I honestly hope you pull this off, or at least start on it, but have you looked in an astro engine bay? Not much room for the engine, not to mention a turbo or 2

Might be able to get close to those numbers with a built engine and a bunch of nitrous. At least that stuff will fit.

Honestly if the cluster being directly bolt on is holding you up then you might want to do some more digging on this subject
 
#20 ·
Pay someone to do it... :rofl: No. Not ever.

This will be my first V8. All of my past cars have been I4 or V6. Fords, Mazdas, and a Nissan. I've done two engine swaps, and I've done all of the mods and maintenance on all of my cars for the last 20 years. I have an above average tool set, good fabrication skills, and while I know how to weld, I don't own a welder, yet.

I'd prefer to get a 6.0 but I may get a 4.8 or 5.3L. It all depends on price/mileage/condition. If price was not a concern, I'd start with a LSX376-B15.

I'm planning on a remote mount Garrett GT5533R turbo where the stock muffler is. That will also have enough room for a big water-air intercooler. If I were going for crazy power and money weren't an object, I'd twinchage it. Put a Magnuson TVS2300 Heartbeat supercharger on top and feed it with a turbo. But for that to happen, I'd need a forged bottom end and a driveline that could handle 1,500HP. Maybe if I win the lottery.

Just a regular turbocharged junkyard LS will do 600HP all day long. Put in a forged bottom end with ARP hardware and that goes up to 1,000HP. If you guys want to see some good stuff, check out Drag Week 2018 and the Street Machine Eliminator class. There were a few LS turbo Volvo wagons and S10 pickups running low 10's and even high 9's. I'm not saying that getting an Astro to do 11's will be easy but I also don't think it will be that hard either.

Like I said in my original post, I've been dreaming about and planning this for the last 15 years. It's not a matter of if this will get done, it's a matter of when. Because I'm a regular guy with a regular job doing this by myself, this will take a while. V8 swap will probably happen in late '19 or '20. Forced induction a year after that. The rest of this year and next year will be taken up with overhauling the entire suspension and driveline, doing some minor upgrades like the front swaybar and adding a rear swaybar, and the thing that will take the most time will be a SRT8 big brake upgrade.

If the cluster is holding me up... :roll: I've searched this forum using Google and haven't come up with anything other than ,"S10 cluster will work!" But no actual pictures, how-to, or any evidence that anyone has ACTUALLY done it. I figured after reading that it will work that it was just a matter of swapping the lens/hood, rewiring the connector, and wiring a tach feed. Instead, it is going to require narrowing the S10 cluster to fit, adding mounting points for the top of the cluster, and somehow cutting/Frankensteining the hood/lens to make it work and not have it look like crap. Most likely not a weekend project.

icebrrg3rd said:
So, you're just planning to drive it for the week of summer?!? :poke:
-Andrew
LOL! Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm in the Milwaukee area. I may have to stop by and bribe you with some beers so that you can tell me all about that Ford 9". :D

BP
 
#21 ·
ButtonPuncher said:
"S10 cluster will work!"
But no actual pictures, how-to, or any evidence that anyone has ACTUALLY done it.
Whoever said that hasn't seen them side by side ;)
 
#23 ·
Welcome to the big show!
Yep, very clean. Hope you have a G80 or posi-plans.

BTW best/ cheapest way to add a tach I've found is with a OBD2 bluetooth, an old phone and Torque app. About $20 and you get a ton of other functionality.
:2:

PS- LS swap is NOT easy, TurnNBurn and Copper have both done it, are both mechanics with access to fully tooled shops... and neither felt it was anything short of a complete PITA.
 
#24 ·
ButtonPuncher said:
icebrrg3rd said:
So, you're just planning to drive it for the week of summer?!? :poke:
-Andrew
LOL! Yeah, yeah, yeah.

I'm in the Milwaukee area. I may have to stop by and bribe you with some beers so that you can tell me all about that Ford 9". :D

BP
Hey, I'm just southeast of the stadium, off Lincoln. PM if you want more details.

Since it sounds like you have done mods on your vehicles, maybe you can help tune mine. I've done work on all my vehicles for decades, but I'm more of a parts changer than a mechanic, I can never seem to get it to the GREAT stage, more of the IT'S RUNNING stage. If anything we could shoot the breeze and compare vehicles (but mine is way more of a beater than yours...) over beverages.

-Andrew
 
#25 ·
AstroWill said:
ButtonPuncher said:
"S10 cluster will work!"
But no actual pictures, how-to, or any evidence that anyone has ACTUALLY done it.
Whoever said that hasn't seen them side by side ;)
Or front to front, back to back.
DRZ claimed (no pics) to have had one, but never installed it. Sold van to LS1prostreet who has not installed it.

S10 Wiring connector in top. Astro Wiring connector in back
Top mount holes no where close.
Clear face cover angles reversed.
Trip reset in different locations

There is a pinout for the wiring posted and I added the wiring colors in one of the topics.
Just enough info available to send you on a wild goose hunt, but no map to guide you.
 
#26 ·
You would be much farther ahead to simply gut the original cluster and load it with aftermarket gauges. You know it will fit and you know the gauges will work when plugged in.
This is what I am doing with the cluster in BadAst. You can check it out here:
https://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopic.p ... &start=220
Mark
 
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