The BAD AST Project - Faze II

[drflex]

like what you did with the fenders, I might have too find some astro fenders in the future.

[Martin71RS]

Mark, what's happening? Got any work done lately??/ I miss the updates :-)

[astroracer]

Hi Martin,
I miss them too... Haven't done a thing to the van since I put it on the hoist in November... Got lots of honey do's done and have been working on a '56 Chevy wagon I picked up in May. Wiring gremlins with it have kept me busy for the last couple of weeks going thru the entire lighting, starting and charging systems. It is winding down and I HOPE to have it wrapped up today.
Plans for the van are to get the fuel and wiring harnesses ran on the body. Finish the floor and get the underside cleaned up and painted. Figuring out the dog house to air cleaner problems is top priority and then rebuild the dog house to fit the air cleaner.
Get brake lines ran on the chassis and get that ready for paint and final assembly.
Lots to do, as you can see, just need to get back into it.
Thanks for asking, how is your project doing?
Mark

[Martin71RS]

Hi Mark, I've been busey with work and life in genereal, I guess it's the same for most of us...did some jobs on the Camaro to keep it running (or small improvements) however and even managed to put the rear axle back under the Nova so it's standing on it's own wheels again. I bought a small 3 in 1 (sheet metal cutter, brake and roller?) and a shrink/stretch setup this week to start on metal fabrication/rust repair..... I will have to learn how to use it but having the tools is half the work.

Martin

[elcamino80]

Mark I need updates

[astroracer]

Ah, updates... Yes Chris, I would like some also but I just don't have anyright now. Next month, hopefully.
The '56 wagon I bought in May has been eating my summer alive but, after a month long session out to a friends shop I have it "mostly" knocked out. New steering box, new cam to replace the one with a flat lobe, new timing chain set, water pump, intake, harmonic balancer, fuel injection set-up, radiator, hoses, belts, etc., etc.
I just got it running yesterday and found a leaky fitting at the tank for the new return line and a leaky temperature sender in the intake. Other then those two little issues and getting an alignment it is good for the rest of the year.
I have a couple honey-do's to finish in the shop and then I plan to get the van chassis in there to finish it. Building swaybars and getting the brackets welded in place are top priority then I can route brake lines, and start prepping for paint. Final assembly is not that far away.
Thanks for watching AND going through withdrawal! I really do feel your pain.
Mark

[driveit]

Wow. You absolutely amaze me with your skills...

[driveit]

When do we get to see more?

[astroracer]

Well, here we go again! Updates should be back on track in the next week or so. Mel and I got the chassis up on the rotissirie today!

This is a step in the right direction anyway.

I need to do some major cleaning and re-arrainging in the shop to make room to work but I am back at it and should have the chassis in the shop by next weekend. I will be re-working the K member to make room for the Gear vendors unit, running brake lines and finishing up the stab bar brackets. Once this is all done I can prep for paint! I hope to have the chassis in paint before December. I have the entire week of Thanks Giving off due to GM furloughing all of the contract people so, if I hit this hard, I see no proplem with that schedule. I will be shooting the frame with a dark graphite color to go with all of the grays and blacks I did the suspensions in.
With the chassis complete I will set it down on stands and start making it into a roller. Building the stab bars is the only real fab work left and I won't do that until all of the suspensions are in place. I hope to have it rolling by the first of the year. GM is furloughing us for the last two weeks in December so I will not be lacking for time!
I hope you will follow along.
Mark

[astroracer]

6 hours worth of cleaning, sweeping and rearrainging and the chassis is on the working side. I am wiped out today but tomorrow I will be starting the clean up process and laying out brakes lines.


It sure is grundgy looking!

[Martin71RS]

yes!!

[no go nova]

Glad your back at it.

[astroracer]

I have been pretty busy over the last few weeks. No real work being done on the van BUT, I have been getting a TON of honey do's completed for the better half and getting the shop all cleaned up. My last work day for the year is tomorrow and I will have a nothing on my plate other then working on the van for the next two weeks...
My "machine shop" is 8' x 24'. I built and finished it in '92 when I purchased a Smithy Lathe/Mill combo for turning aluminum model car parts. The lathe has been sitting on this stand I built for 22 years. The little tool cart has been there for that lenghth of time also. It was time for a thurough cleaning!
Here are some pics of it's previous disarray.


The lathe will get moved to this US General 44" roller with 13 drawers.

I also picked up an add-on cabinet with 7 drawers. I picked these up last nite and got them uncrated today. This set-up is 58" long, has 20 drawers and was 120 bucks cheaper then a 56" cabinet with only 11 drawers.
There is PLENTY of storage for all of my lathe tools and paraphenalia with a number of (for now) empty drawers.
Mark

[astroracer]

Picking away at the cleaning/reorg job. I got the Smithy cleaned up and I cut a piece of birch plywood I had left over from another project to make a top for the lathe to set on. It ended up 3 coats of spar varnish on it.
The Smithy all cleaned up.




Here is the top in process. This was the 2nd coat of varnish.


While cleaning up the mess in the shop I loaded a few of the drawers so the new cabinet is ready to go after the top is done.
This is the top drawer with all of the tool posts loaded on the right side.

The left side holds my expanding collets, boring bars, slitting saws and arbors and other pieces I use the most.

The add on holds all of my endmills, reamers, and lathe tools. Each with it's own drawer.

The bottom drawer of the big cabinet carries my vises and rotary table.

[astroracer]

This is going to be nice. I got the mill moved to the new cabinet and got the light rewired. Next up is cleaning up the "materials" pile in the corner and getting the heaters out of there.
Here's the cabinet with the plywood top installed.

The new cabinet is about an inch taller then the old table. I used a piece of 2 1/2" aluminum tubing to roll the machine over to the cabinet.

Then put another chunk under it to roll it up on the cabinet.

Worked pretty slick and made for an easy move.

I really like this. Very clean and organized now.

I'll work on the mess in the corner and get that cleaned up the next couple of nights.
Mark

[elcamino80]

How's the Astro?

[Martin71RS]

I was wondering the exact same thing.....!

[astroracer]

Hey Guys, thanks for thinking about me. The van has been on hiatus, as you can tell. Nothing done to make any progress since Nov. '13... :(
I have been busy with other projects and doing some customer work. This keeps me out in the shop and believe me I haven't given up on the van at all...
I do have a couple of issues that were holding me back though. The biggest one is the zero clearance over the carb for an air cleaner. I THINK I have that one solved. I still need to verify in CAD that I can do this but, I am going to move the engine down another 3 inches, possibly 4 if I can go that far. This is a bit of a tear up but it only affects the crossmember directly under the engine and, of course, the trans and driveshaft crossmembers. Not a show stopper by any means and this will get me out of that dilemma, which was affecting the shifter and doghouse removal as well.
Anyway, once I get this figured out I will be making some progress on the van once again.
Maybe I'll post up some of the projects I have been working on. This will get the thread back into the living realm and give you guys an idea of where my time has gone.
Mark

[raustinss]

No CARB.....efi

[icemanrd19]

after loading up the toolbox how well did the drawer slide now? Im really thinking about selling my craftsman for one of those