The BAD AST Project - Faze II

[astroracer]

I've got some updated styling pics I will post tomorrow.
The real news is; I started working on the actual van last night!
I started pulling the interior out. All of the rear side panels and carpet (yuck!) are in a pile waiting to get hauled out to the road. The headliner is a three piece unit so all I had to yank was the back piece. I will strip all of the material off that and save the cardboard just in case.
I will get some pictures tonight. I'll be laying out the cut lines to remove the inner wheel houses and floor which shouldn't take too long with the plasma cutter. I am planning to take the wheel houses out in one piece which will leave me the option of cutting them up to build the new inner wells. I won't make this decision until I can get the tires in place to see what kind of room they take up in jounce. I may end up building them from sheet steel but I like the look of a stock steel wheel house so I will do my best to keep them in the van.
The rear axle will have to come out before I can get the tires in for mock-up so the plan for this weekend is to yank that, finalize the cutting/trimming and get started on the new rear frame... The design for that has been done for a year and a half so it's good to go.
I think I will start designing a body cart also. The van can sit outside on stands for a month or so but, once it gets cold, it will have to come inside to work on it...
Mark

[Tiger]

Sounds good that youre workin on it.
as for the drawings, my favorite is still the first one posted in this thread but without the scoop.

[astroracer]

Hey Andre, yea it feels good to be getting something done, even if it is just tear-up stuff! If you want to do some photo shop stuff I took a few pics last night with the tires and wheels set in place. I did a two pic shot of the side of the van to keep the rims in perspective. If you want to merge them into one file give it a shot. I plan to do it when I get some time.


Have fun...

Here is a pic of the interior after I got all of the plastic and carpet pulled out.

And here is one after I had both wheel wells and part of the floor removed.

I had a tough time starting the cuts... It seemed such a shame to cut it up. I was amazed at how clean this thing was. Even the bottom side is clean! I have never had the opportunity to work on a vehicle that was as rust free as this one is... Usually I am cutting out RUSTY parts... It really is a pleasure to work on something like this and not raise a cloud of dust.

[twosaturns]

these vans seem to resist rust, I was surprised too about my '94 safari. I had the door apart yesterday to replace the handle, and it was CLEAN inside, like new.
your van is going to be EXCELLENT. I'll have to post the link to a astro project at www.astrosafari.com, some dude was putting a big block right in the middle of his van. chopped the top too. good for a diversion, I'll have to find it.
oops! just went over there and saw you are on there as well, maybe you know which van I'm talking about?

[Colvindesign]

wow, I can see you have been putting a lot of work and planning into this project. If I had never driven a Astro before, it would go on my list of possibilities. However I have driven one and don't like the seating position at all, I know that can be changed, but I like the low position of a sports car. But a astro that can haul 5 or more people very quickly, is pretty damn cool. Reminds me of the old Renault Espace F1.

[astroracer]

Thanks guys. Boopvanner did a ton of work to his van. I am going to be a LOT more conservative with my mods!
As far as seating goes I will be lowering the seats quite a bit. The plan is to use 4 Fiero or Dodge Neon buckets. Probably go with the Fiero units as I have a source for those. I did pick up a couple of Neon buckets last year for cheap and they are fairly comfortable.
Mark

[JMarsa]

Mark,

You might want to consider pickup wheel houses. Like from a S-10 looks similar in profile. I think there are OEM looking tubs for S-10's as well.

--JMarsa

[astroracer]

I believe you are right. I had looked at some before but didn't have the immediate "need" for them. If I can't get the old wells to work I will look into them further or make my own. I just won't know til I get there I guess...
A guy on another site put the two pics of the van together. I took his work a bit further... This is getting pretty close to the look (other then the color of course) that I am going for...

I removed the roof rack, emblems, door handles and rear bumper, modified the front bumper and added a rear pan and some ground effects... There will also be some hood revisions and a tailight delete (They will be in the rear pan).
What do you think?
Mark

[astroracer]

I went out last night to start pulling the rear end out of the van and got to thinking...
When I get the rear out the van is going to be "kinda" difficult to move around. Well, the motor and trans are still in place and they will have to come out before I can yank the diff... Just makes sense. Pulling them isn't an issue but then I will have them sitting in the shop getting in the way. I don't want them (4cyl & 700R4) The motor runs great though and there isn't a thing wrong with the tranny so I gave my mechanic/junkyard owner buddy a call. He will take them AND he will also pull them out! Of course I am giving him the stuff but I just want it gone... I will drive the van to his place this weekend and he will bring it back on his rollback some time early next week... He will also pull the fuel tank for me which is also something I don't need and won't have to hassle with...
Things are starting to move on the van now. I need to get the rest of the shop cleaned up now...
Mark

[Payton King]

of the top? I think that would be slick

[astroracer]

Yes I have Payton...
This is approximately a 3" chop...

I don't know if I like it. The problem with these vans is the width. They are very wide. Chopping the top more then an inch or two upsets the proportions and makes them look bottom heavy... To me anyway.
Here is one done by another guy with a little more out of the top and good chunk taken out of the middle (sectioned) this brings the proportions back in line but would be a hellofa lotta work...

What do you all think?
Mark

[twosaturns]

nah, leave it stock. vans are too wide and a chop looks out of proportion. the bottom one looks like a chrysler pacifica. that blue mid engine astro on astrosafari.com is chopped and looks foolish, IMHO.

[astroracer]

nah, leave it stock. vans are too wide and a chop looks out of proportion. the bottom one looks like a chrysler pacifica. that blue mid engine astro on astrosafari.com is chopped and looks foolish, IMHO.

I agree... The chop and section doesn't look to bad from the side but it is really funky lookin' from the front or rear... Wow! I think I just saved myself a whole lot of work!!!
Mark

[USAZR1]

Mark,could you post a photo of a flat hood with naca ducts? That cowl hood kinda makes the front end look shorter/taller.
Nice project!

[astroracer]

Here you go Clint. I robbed this from the first Bad Ast thread...

This is actually the FIRST sketch I did when I was bubbling up the van! It was modeled around a '95-'05 front end which may or may not happen.
This next pic is older and incomplete but you can see the '04 Silverado headlights in place.

This is sorta the plan for now. I am working on the artwork to combine the headlights from the above pic, the bumper from the other one and scoops similar to the ones above.
Thanks for the input I do appreciate it and it does give me some things to think about.
Mark

[astroracer]

Here is an updated styling pic. It's still far from final but it is going in the right direction. The grille, hood and headlight interface need lots of work and the bumper needs to be narrowed up a bit but the stance is correct and I got the roof panel done...

Mark

[Tiger]

Hi,
nice to see som progress
I like it full height Mark, I wouldnt chop the top.
and flat hood and the lights like the first pic in the thread.

[FoxGranadaChuck]

I would not cut the top either. The Astro would look much too clumsy!

[astroracer]

Thanks guys, I have come to that conclusion also. No chop. When it comes time for paint I plan to pull all of the fixed glass and replace it with lexan so that will reduce some upper body weight. Probably more then a chop would anyway...
Mark

[shep]

What about a stingray style hood scoop? I think that might look good.