Astro van cat conversion

[Snowy Rivers]

The S10 Blazer plan for the cabin is still on the table at the top of the stack.
The White 98 is off the table.
The 85 blue rig is a mess. (Got a really good look at it yesterday with permission of the owner)
Far too big of a mess to deal with.

Ad copy for a Gen one S10 is running and we will be patient.....A good candidate will come along.

So for now....the project needs to move forward.

Time to get to work on the engine build....
Ordered up the soft plug/galley plug set yesterday.
We have some good weather on tap for today....
I want to get the oil galley plugs installed....INCLUDING the hidden one below the register on the rear main.
Rear 1/4" pipe plugs just above rear cam plug.
I tapped the front oil galley/lifter galley bores for 1/4" NPT and will get all this stuff in and finished up.

The crankshaft needs cleaning up from sitting in the shop.

The plan is to get the crank in and ready to go.....

Once the crank is in and the plugs dealt with things will be able to sit until I have rings and a few other parts.

So.....With luck an acceptable donor for the cabin will come along and present itself....

Not much else at present......

 

[Snowy Rivers]

The great plan fell on it's butt.

Get to the parts house and the soft plug kit they ordered was for a 392 IH engine....Not a 400 Small block Chevy.

Nobody had any kits in stock.

Soooooo...this great day was wasted.....Came home and got online....Complete set of plugs will be here in 3 days...

But not with the lovely 65F weather....

And a good time was had by all.....NOT.

Started revisiting the idea of using another standard S10 PICKUP CAB for the rear crew cabin......
Keep the same Generation and mount the rear one on backwards.

This will give us the room.....4 doors are a good thing.....
Ads on craigs list.....

So for now....we just sit and wait...AGAIN...

 

[m1west]

The great plan fell on it's butt.

Get to the parts house and the soft plug kit they ordered was for a 392 IH engine....Not a 400 Small block Chevy.

Nobody had any kits in stock.

Soooooo...this great day was wasted.....Came home and got online....Complete set of plugs will be here in 3 days...

But not with the lovely 65F weather....

And a good time was had by all.....NOT.

Started revisiting the idea of using another standard S10 PICKUP CAB for the rear crew cabin......
Keep the same Generation and mount the rear one on backwards.

This will give us the room.....4 doors are a good thing.....
Ads on craigs list.....

So for now....we just sit and wait...AGAIN...

you have already spent more time and energy looking for a body than if you just built it.

 

[vintagebike]

probably the Ashwagandha talking but “life is a journey, enjoy the ride”

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Looking for just what one wants can take time.
In this case, I am not interested in a "Tin can"....I want a comfortable cab with the amenities.
The current little single cab is fine....other than the fact that it does not have any extra passenger room....
I have looked at some of the "Add on" cabs and these are great....just outside of my budget.

Time is free.....at least to me it is. The energy....Subjective I guess.

Just going to move on to getting the 406 small block going together this winter.
We have much of what is needed.
Block is done
New pistons are on the rods and ready to go in.
Have the bottom end bearings
Cam bearings are in
Have new High capacity oil pan
Have the Vortec heads....need to clean them up a bit and drill the steam holes needed to use with the 400 block.


I can place want ads on Craigs list free.....
Will get going on the engine and related stuff and something good will come along.....always does.
The weather is not going to permit much outdoor work....so the indoor scene is where I need to be ......

This summer allowed quite a bit to get completed
The front axles are complete and ready to go with the air ride system
All the axle hubs have been gone through (Bearings) and are good to go
6 new wheels fabricated and ready to go....4 have fresh tires.

Plenty of work to do.....
The soft plug kits will be here in a day or so.....

Patience......not one of my strong points.....

Yessssss indeed......I am enjoying the ride.

This project is not the destination.....it's the journey, and it has been an interesting one so far.
We have met a lot of very interesting folks along the way.
Some here in the forum, and have met a few in person.....and many others along the trail while looking for goodies.

 

[m1west]

Looking for just what one wants can take time.
In this case, I am not interested in a "Tin can"....I want a comfortable cab with the amenities.
The current little single cab is fine....other than the fact that it does not have any extra passenger room....
I have looked at some of the "Add on" cabs and these are great....just outside of my budget.

Time is free.....at least to me it is. The energy....Subjective I guess.

Just going to move on to getting the 406 small block going together this winter.
We have much of what is needed.
Block is done
New pistons are on the rods and ready to go in.
Have the bottom end bearings
Cam bearings are in
Have new High capacity oil pan
Have the Vortec heads....need to clean them up a bit and drill the steam holes needed to use with the 400 block.


I can place want ads on Craigs list free.....
Will get going on the engine and related stuff and something good will come along.....always does.
The weather is not going to permit much outdoor work....so the indoor scene is where I need to be ......

This summer allowed quite a bit to get completed
The front axles are complete and ready to go with the air ride system
All the axle hubs have been gone through (Bearings) and are good to go
6 new wheels fabricated and ready to go....4 have fresh tires.

Plenty of work to do.....
The soft plug kits will be here in a day or so.....

Patience......not one of my strong points.....

Yessssss indeed......I am enjoying the ride.

This project is not the destination.....it's the journey, and it has been an interesting one so far.
We have met a lot of very interesting folks along the way.
Some here in the forum, and have met a few in person.....and many others along the trail while looking for goodies.

OK I give up, good luck on your journey

 

[Snowy Rivers]

M1
I appreciate where you are coming from, and your ideas are certainly sound plans...
I just do not want to fab up a box.....

Yes, I am capable of doing it....but this is not what I want to end up with.

The journey.....Very subjective indeed.

 

[vintagebike]

For your 2100, maybe take another look at an early Land Rover Discovery body...junk yard cheap, robust and very classy. A friend of mine is helping do just that in central California.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Yessssss.

There are several bodies that are quite suitable.

The S10 stuff ...if its decent is going for $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
One that I have been sniffing around is the Mitsubishi Montero. Saw a decent one for $800
Could not pass the smog test and they can't seem to fix it.
A few others that had mechanical or electronic issues that were cheap....

All looked decent in and out.

I am getting a tad gun shy....."Oh yeah...shes cherry"....Drive several hours and the thing is a ROT BOX.....

Trying to stay close...Within 10-20 miles from here on out.

I love the look of the Land Rover.....
How about a Benz G Wagen.....Woooo hoooo..$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

 

[Snowy Rivers]

OK
LOOKING FOR A CAB/CREW COMPARTMENT FOR THE 2100 IS OVER

Scored a 2001 outback this morning.
LL BEAN EDITION

Actually runs and drives.
DIRT CHEAP TOO.

Leather interior......very sweet...Needs a good mucking out and such.....but a sweetheart.....

Easy place to load too....nice flat ground....and it will run up on the trailer just fine.....

Need to prune out the factory wiring for much of the high tech wizardry....Make my own gauge panel and interface with the power windows and stuff we want.

Waaaaaaaaaaaay too many electronic modules to suit me......

But the creature comforts are many...Even has two sun roofs.....Just another leak....

 

[Snowy Rivers]

The beast is home safe and sound.
Weather was wretched all last night ....got a nice break while were getting the Little green rig.
Then we got slammed with a real gulley washer.....

But it is home now.
Not sure when we will be able to get after it.

But at least plans can be made in earnest now that we have something to work with..

This beast was all the trailer wanted to haul..... 3800 pounds

 

[Snowy Rivers]

With the new prize actually here now.....The task of preparing the chassis for it's new duty assignment commences.

Wiring is the only task that can take a bit of Back engineering and imagination.
The rig is so loaded with options that it would be a shame not to have all the goodies working...

Getting the wiring all sorted out will take a bit of time....so I set to looking for a factory manual.

I did not want to pop for a book until I had a rig in hand...ACTUALLY SITTING HERE.
Things change with every model year (At least they can)

Found the right one and grabbed it.

Plan
Use as much of the original engine wiring as possible to connect to the Chevy 406
I sent an email to an outfit that makes wiring harness adapters for Alernators to see if they have an adapter to go from the Outback harness to the GM CS130D GM Alternator......

The two alternators are similar......Would be sweet to just use the one that came on the OB

Sorting out the sending units for such things as OIL PRESSURE, WATER TEMP....
The oil pressure sender uses BSPT (British standard pipe thread) similar to 1/8" pipe.....An adapter is available readiliy

The coolant temp sender (Feeds the ECM as well as the gauge) also requires and an adapter to get it to the Chevy engine.
Also readily available...

Speedo is pretty much a moot point....WHY ??
The tach MAY be able to operate on the V8 with some sort of GIZMO....Not sure...but will research that.


As far as mounting the body goes....Simple task...A few brackets using standard urethane mounts (Will adapt an easy to source part)

The engine in the OB has a failed vibration dampener.....I want to replace that and get the thing running smooth (Get a video of it) before I yank it out.....The engine can likely recoupe most if not all of the $$$$ spend to get the entire rig.

This rig has an auto transmission....again...a very saleable item.
All the subframes, rear drive line and rear axle will all go up for sale...


The fuel tank is located midship, aft of the rear seat...transverse in the body...
The sending unit that feeds the gauge is a bastard ohm rating and this makes adapting a common tank sender ......BUT...Just might keep the factory tank and use things as they are...(Dash gauge will all work fine) just need to remove the high pressure fuel pump and refit the setup with a little different pickup tube....

The fuel tank pickup and pump is easily accessible through a cover plate behind the rear seat....RH side.

Having all the lines needed already in the body....A REAL PLUS

The ADDITION of an extra tank with a transfer pump to refill the stock tank looks very inviting (Stock tank is 16 gallons) NOT GONNA FEED THE V8 long.

Possibly a pair of extra tanks...each mounted in the rear wheel house openings will certainly be on the table....

Once we get the rig off the trailer...first thing will be to muck out the cabin....Clean it up as well as we can for now.
Then get the balancer replaced on the engine....

Once the engine is running smooth....Start the dismantle process.....

Not sure what all we can do this winter...but there are many things to keep these old hands busy.

Much of this sort of endeavor requires far more time doing online research and then planning the attack strategy.....

Best part...The cabin is complete...Right down to the last detail....even power windows and a CD player.

The floor shifter for the transmission is cable operated and will be easy to modify a bracket or two and get a different cable to connect to the TH350 tranny.

The rig has a 4 speed auto....But the pattern is the same on the shifter.
A mater of machining up a crank arm assembly to get the ratio correct to make things talk to each other....
Another plus....We don't have to buy the bastard step child ugly shifter for big $$$$$$$$$

Ah well... Plan is coming together....FINALLY......

 

[western auto]

just a thought-spend 75$ fix the subaru........ sell it for 3000$ and go buy something awesome to put on your chassis, like a short conversion van or something similar, you will even get a spare motor trans that way, i would think something full size would look better especially after the tracks are on

 

[Snowy Rivers]

I was originally planning on the Astro van.
Too difficult to access the engine.

Plus the big issue is the weight of the body is more than my equipment can lift.(Medium sized skidsteer)

Believe me...many ideas have crossed the table on this project.

Trying to find a combination that fits, that is cheap to acquire and that we can handle has been a tough sell.
For a time the idea of two S10 cabs back to back were all the rage.

Trying to find a single cab S10 proved to be nearly impossible...At least something that was not trashed.

I think the little Outback is going to be cool....

I have seen a couple with the Mattracks ...they look sweet.

Mattracks are a spendy item.....

I have made too many major change orders to date....I think this one needs to stick

 

[m1west]

 

[m1west]

Westernauto, gave me an idea that will solve all your problems and get you on the snow in short order. Fix the Subaru and sell it and everything else. Then buy a van or truck similar to mine for $4500.00 ( 4X4 with lockers ) and put a set of Mattracks EZ utv for $4100.00 and a lift kit for $300.00. It took me less than 2 weeks of spare time to make all the brackets, install the lift kit and install the tracks. It has a supercharged 3 cylinder that makes 85 horsepower. The van weighs 1500# without the tracks. It has all the comforts of any modern vehicle, even A/C that works. Very roomy inside and best of all still gets around 10 mpg in low range with the tracks climbing the mountain in the snow. This year I am installing studs on the tracks as last year it was very icy on steep mountain road. Very comfortable, reliable, good MPG and capable of anything I have thrown at it.

 

[m1west]

 

[Snowy Rivers]

That is waaaaay cool
How well does it work in the deeper snow

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Ya know
The Outback is in good shape
I have $500 in it
Why not do the Mattracks on it.
I have seen them on tracks before
Not sure if I can sell the 2100
But at this point in time the hard work is still to come
Building the tracks is gonna be a big job
The OC12 is all finished now
What you are suggesting may be a great plan

 

[m1west]

That is waaaaay cool
How well does it work in the deeper snow

It does extremely well in snow, especially wet heavy snow

 

[m1west]

Ya know
The Outback is in good shape
I have $500 in it
Why not do the Mattracks on it.
I have seen them on tracks before
Not sure if I can sell the 2100
But at this point in time the hard work is still to come
Building the tracks is gonna be a big job
The OC12 is all finished now
What you are suggesting may be a great plan

Problem with putting tracks on the Outback is its weight. The tracks you would need for it would be expensive.
You could sell off the components easier, OC12, grausers, your new engine, trans etc. would likely get what you need, especially if you can get 3k or so for the Outback.
In the tracked 4X4 section Is the Build on the van and a Truck that I did first. The truck burned up in a forest fire last year. The truck I had in at least 5' of snow. on steep terrain. An added benefit is in the summer 27" utv tires and wheels will bolt right on for summer exploring. With the wheels, they get upwards of 35-45 mpg.

 

[m1west]

They are very tuff little units with real axels with differentials, real transfer case with 2x and 4x low and hi with lockers. No chains and belts like Polaris etc. Very roomy feel inside. I have a Nissan frontier and the feel is nearly the same inside. The van has rear seats with a cargo area or the seats fold up and there is a very large cargo area that you could sleep in if necessary. Most have around 25,000 to 40,000 miles on them and will go well over 100,000. there is a lot of youtube on both just the trucks and vans as well as tracked ones with lots of video. How I ended up with it is first I had a Thiokol 603 snow cat I used for a while, problem with it was 1- it weighed 5000# 2- got gallons to the mile 3- was extremely hot inside even with the doors open and snow on the ground 4- it was a bitch to steer on tight roads with switchbacks and the wife couldn't drive it in an emergency. So I sold it on this sight and bought a Tucker 442, thinking it was liter to haul, steered like a truck and the wife could drive it.
2 years in a row the snow melted off the road half way to the cabin and there is no where to unload, park or turn around 1/2 way. Made 2- 500 mile dry run trips with hotel stays. Built the first one ( Suzuki truck ) it was great, except a little tight inside with the wife and 100# dog. So I built the van. The van is perfect. Lots of room, comfort, easy to haul, reliable and capable. Not to mention miles to the gallon not gallons to the mile. After testing I sold the Tucker ( on this site ) and have never looked back. Seriously if you are looking for reliability, comfort, mileage and capability. I believe this is your best option as it was mine after a long trip around the barn trying other units. And they don't cost much to build (10k ish ) and if for some reason you need to sell it, a tracked one already done brings around $20k.

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Thank you for suggesting this idea AGAIN...
This is making a lot of sense.

As much as I love my project and all the fooling around making stuff....The pile of p[arts is getting along well.

Still need to get track belts....bolts, nuts...yada yada yada....
The engine is in pieces with most parts here.

The OC-12 IS DONE
Just needs the axle tubes bolted on and axles installed.
The sprockets will need to be recovered at some point.....

Still a fair bit of work.

A set of tracks to bolt to the OUTBACK WOULD BE SWEET...

I hate to cut and run...but this idea is looking pretty decent....and the thing can be trailered or just run down the road.....

I need to check out the Outback engine and see wasssup....then fix the balancer.
Check the tranny and sniff the oil.

I need to drive it and see what else is or is not in shape....

With the balancer rattling ....that's likel;y why it was offed ....

 

[Snowy Rivers]

AHHHH YEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS...
I just popped a call to a couple of bolt on track vendors.....Big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for the stuff to fit the bigger SUV.

With the amount of work already done to the 2100....I think I will keep plugging along.

The $20,000 plus cost for the bigger units is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of my budget range.

In actuality my cat is well along.....

With a viable cab/crew box ready to go...ALMOST ...the engine will not take much to finish it up.

Lets just go for the gusto...and finish the Frankencat....

With all the wheelin and dealin that I have done I have very little hard $$$$ in this beast......

I have plenty of grousers and tires guides....Just need the belt and bolts/nuts

Still need a couple more tires and things are good.

When the $4100 for the tracks number was mentioned I was curious....The little ATV stuff yesss.

Ahhh well.....
We are good........

 

[m1west]

AHHHH YEESSSSSSSSSSSSSS...
I just popped a call to a couple of bolt on track vendors.....Big $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ for the stuff to fit the bigger SUV.

With the amount of work already done to the 2100....I think I will keep plugging along.

The $20,000 plus cost for the bigger units is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out of my budget range.

In actuality my cat is well along.....

With a viable cab/crew box ready to go...ALMOST ...the engine will not take much to finish it up.

Lets just go for the gusto...and finish the Frankencat....

With all the wheelin and dealin that I have done I have very little hard $$$$ in this beast......

I have plenty of grousers and tires guides....Just need the belt and bolts/nuts

Still need a couple more tires and things are good.

When the $4100 for the tracks number was mentioned I was curious....The little ATV stuff yesss.

Ahhh well.....
We are good........

You want UTV tracks for the mini van and trucks, they are around $4000,00. Thats why I recommended selling the outback and buying a Japanese mini truck or van. They only weigh 1500# and the UTV tracks are good to 3500#. The P.S.I. on my van is .68, thats right there with many snow cats. I have seen UTV tracks on Suzuki samurai, and they Kinda work, as they are too heavy like the Outback. The tracks for that weight are $$$

 

[Snowy Rivers]

Yup....big $$$$

I had looked at large SUV Mattracks back a couple years.....big $$$$$

 

[vintagebike]

Is the Mitsubishi in your pics JDM right hand drive?

 

[m1west]

Is the Mitsubishi in your pics JDM right hand drive?

yes, shifting with your left hand takes a minute to get used to.

 

[vintagebike]

Yikes…riding and trying to share snow machine trails could be life threatening.

 

[m1west]

Yikes…riding and trying to share snow machine trails could be life threatening.

I use mine for cabin access, in the winter I have never seen another vehicle or snowmobile up there.