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So it begins,"Happy Wife,Astro life" or something like that!

12K views 95 replies 22 participants last post by  Meili 
#1 ·
First be nice on the sketch, did that in about a minute to show my vinyl guy. May add "livin the" in there, have not decided yet. Anyway it was too nice to finish unpacking and organizing the garage so spent the day cleaning the Astro. Before starting I blasted 100 psi into all the door/body drains to make sure they were clear so I did not fill it with water. The van was also driven up onto cinder blocks in the front so the water would drain out the back when cleaning the interior not soaking the front jute. Had to use a scrub brush on the roof(outside) to clean off the PNW growth off. And yes, there were a few tufts of moss on the roof rack! Next De-cargoed the interior before cleaning it. The heavy mat will make a good template and also found NO Rust! Anyone for some Motorola radios? Empty it was washed with 1/2 windex:1/2 clorox clean up first. After that, another scrub down with 1/2 simple green(lemon scent):1/2 water. Last rinsed it with hose and dried it. All the jambs, door etc were done the same way. May hit the seats/dash etc tomorrow. Anyway I understand y'all like pictures so here you go!
 

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#2 ·
that looks to clean up real nice. Good job on the work and I'm very impressed my cargo had to be repained in the back because the paint was so jacked up from being a work van and yours looks like you just repainted lol
 
#3 ·
Looking good! Are the "De-Cargo'd" items (Shelving/bench, partition, "radio box") getting re-purposed in your build or are they for sale? Too far for me, mind you, but SOMEONE here may be looking for those items...…
-M!ke-
 
#4 ·
2 things come to mind:
1- Looks GREAT!
2- Ammonia mixed with chlorine will give off deadly chlorine gas. I'm not familiar with the exact formulations of the cleaners you used, but the combination of those brand names alarms me.
 
#5 ·
Big_kid said:
2- Ammonia mixed with chlorine will give off deadly chlorine gas. I'm not familiar with the exact formulations of the cleaners you used, but the combination of those brand names alarms me.
Yep, any bleach mixed with any ammonia makes chlorine gas. Dumb bitch manager at the local Farm Shoppe (later bought out by Friendly's) insisted my brother mix those ingredients to mop the floor. He told her his mother was a chemist and told him never to do anything like that, and she said do it or you're fired.

He should have let her fire him. He didn't die, but it burned the inside of his mouth, his windpipe and his lungs pretty good.

A year or two later, she was knifed on the steps of a local bank after hours while making a drop box deposit; she died before anyone found her. No one in my family mourned her death.

Moral of the story is: NEVER mix bleach and ammonia.
 
#7 ·
Must be so little bleach in it, never affect,never affected, never affected me! :banana: Anyway was nice out today so cleaning,gutting continued. The front looks almost as good as the back. After the seat vinyl cleaned hit the clothe with carpet extractor and they look almost new. Sometimes its the small things. I swapped the sill plates from my donor to the van. Cargo gets little stripes with metal showing, SLT got full plates with mastic backing. The gray trim beats the aluminum carpet edge that was on there. Its a small change but I like it. Test fitted the r/r panels from the SLT. Not all clip points exist in the cargo but I can make it work. Looks like a good spot for a TV!
 

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#9 ·
Meili said:
Test fitted the r/r panels from the SLT. Not all clip points exist in the cargo but I can make it work. Looks like a good spot for a TV!
i've been doing the "install passenger panels in the cargo body" too.
it's great to see someone else doing this !!
i've ended up cutting & drilling out all of the missing panel attachment points and have riveted the cut out pieces into my cargo body :
mount1.jpg
mount2.jpg
mount3.jpg

good luck !!!!
 
#11 ·
Decided to add a small "basement". After a lot of measuring decided on about 12" x 30", depth to be determined. At those dimensions,I don't cut out any bracing and will be able to change the D/S shock. Exhaust will be cut. One of the shelves from the De-cargoing happened to be those dimension. More to do but you get the basic idea. 240
 

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#12 ·
Only was able to invest a couple hours today. First, I crawled into the van for the last time to open the rear door,broken handle. The SLT had a good panel with an unbroken handle so.... Does anyone know the purpose of the sheet metal shield?? Went with 12 inch depth putting it above the tailpipe and rear hitch. The angles yardstick goes between the lower shock mount and the receiver/hitch. When done I will have gained clearance. Last, used some aluminum stock to build up the low areas of the mount to make everything even. Til tomorrow. :D 283
 

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#15 ·
sixsix said:
Meili said:
... Does anyone know the purpose of the sheet metal shield?? ...
After seeing it in quite a few "Dutch Door insides" pics ( or maybe it's in all of them? ) - the only thing I can think of that it could possibly deflect or protect from, is Rain.

:shrug:

Mike
Ditto that :shrug:
I've seen that in both my '97 and '02 cargos as well

Still clueless after all these years
If gmparts east still had the parts diagrams we could look it up. We need a spy or hacker or both to get that info...
 
#16 ·
Astro, unsolved mysteries! :? Bit the bullet and ordered the Dorman body mounts since I am trying to build a "kinder, gentler" van. They are all distinctively different. Have had a lot of Seattle sunshine (rain) lately so will be a while before the install. Also will be a mild 1" body lift at the same time even though I hate body lifts. 428
 

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#19 ·
CopperFiremist, I did not reply because I just don't like you! :poke: WoodButcher, I will respectfully disagree, According to GM the top half all have different part numbers. The Dorman uppers are all different in height and/or width and/or shoulder height. Hopefully when I pull the stock ones out, they wont be so deteriorated to compare.
 

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#21 ·
Huh. I just got one, too. also from seattle. Mine was, and is still pretty borked, but I did pick up a parts van a couple weeks after. Do yourself a favor, and check the motor mounts. if they break, you can kiss your oil cooler lines goodbye. If replacing the mounts, shim them in the bottom with some bar stock to prevent total collapse, and remove the flange on the frame bolts up to the bolt corners so they will work with the anchor brand mounts.
 
#22 ·
Meili said:
CopperFiremist, I did not reply because I just don't like you! ...
Well - almost spit out my Beer - but caught myself. No sense wasting a mouthful of 8% Natty Daddy.
Had this thread sitting there - just got around to reading... and ROTFLMAO.

Sorry so late to the Science class / discussion.

The ratios of chlorine ( Straight ) and ammonia ( also Straight w/ no dilutions ) in those Cleaning Agents are so small and not of the same qualities as their orig. Chemicals - all to keep people from killing themselves or other idiots.

Mike
 
#23 ·
sixsix, what's 8% Natty Daddy, some kind of lite beer? :? See below! Hopefully after a trip to Fastenal tomorrow I can do body bushings. Did some "prep" today and fully expect some flake about it! Carpenters and cabinet makers may want to advert your eyes. The previous home owner left a bunch of lumber including a nice 4x4. Since I don't have a dado blade had to make the groove by making multiple passes with my cheapo table saw. Cleaned it up with a chisel, but what is it? BODY LIFTER of course! The groove is about an 1/16 to 1/8" shorter then the pinch mold depth on the van. Mine is about 1/2 inch. When jacking up, make sure the pinch molding is in the groove and you will hear a little crunching. It's ok, the edge is squishing the wood in the groove. Doing this spreads the load of the lift across the whole body and at multiple points. If you dont have a antique bumper jack like me, 2 floor jacks work just fine just alternate "pumps". I have done this on cars worth over $100k+ with no issues. They did get a sheet between the body and wood though! Also found some arc marks on the engine cover, looks like new wires and loom are in the near future too. 600
 

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