Travelin _man
HEY HEY HOCKEYTOWN!!
I need to get me another astro or something lol. Any updates on this beast?
Herbie's Chevy Astrolander/ZMB Build Thread
- Thread starter Herbie
- Start date
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
No major updates, a couple of minor ones.
I went over the roof and patched some holes I'd added during the ill-fated attempt to use powered actuators to raise the roof. Doing this allowed me to relocate the mounts for the forward extra crossbar that I've used to mount the solar panel and TRED boards:
This stabilizes that mount some (more spread). I also finally hard-wired the roof solar through the aft-end of the pop-top, so I can raise and lower the top with the solar panel on the roof. (Previously always just had the wire running through the side window, so I needed to disconnect the panel (and pull it out of the mount if I wanted to use it) when raising the top. Fine for long stays when I put the panel out and move it around a lot anyhow, bad for quick stops when I wanted to pop the top for an hour.
Mostly though, just using the rig! Here's our latest video, form Thanksgiving:
I went over the roof and patched some holes I'd added during the ill-fated attempt to use powered actuators to raise the roof. Doing this allowed me to relocate the mounts for the forward extra crossbar that I've used to mount the solar panel and TRED boards:
This stabilizes that mount some (more spread). I also finally hard-wired the roof solar through the aft-end of the pop-top, so I can raise and lower the top with the solar panel on the roof. (Previously always just had the wire running through the side window, so I needed to disconnect the panel (and pull it out of the mount if I wanted to use it) when raising the top. Fine for long stays when I put the panel out and move it around a lot anyhow, bad for quick stops when I wanted to pop the top for an hour.
Mostly though, just using the rig! Here's our latest video, form Thanksgiving:
Last edited:
nobodyhome
Adventurer
Outstanding Herbie, thanks for sharing your awesome thanksgiving with us.
Stroverlander
Adventurer
Looking good Herbie, happy holidays to you, your family and your van!
Corneilius
Adventurer
I love this van
Silverhorse
Adventurer
Cool build, thanks for sharing!
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Minor New Year's update: Replaced the gas springs for the pop-top. This turned out to be significantly more complicated than I'd guessed when I started the project back in Summer. These are the original springs from the 1995 conversion, and they've seemed to have lost some oomph lately. Moreover, given that I have a lot of weight on the roof (forward-mounted solar panels, roof rack, etc.), I wanted a bit more spring rate over even returning to stock.
Background: As built by GTRV, the pop-tops used Faucher gas springs, specifically part #777-7357-P1-150lb:
The bad news is that Faucher no longer makes this exact spring. If you call GTRV or Faucher, they'll both tell you that the replacement spring is part #777-7305 (rated to 158lbs (700n)). I opted to order part # 777-7306, rated to 203lbs (900n). The length of both the -7305 and -7306 parts is the same. Unfortunately, neither of those is quite as long as the old 777-7357 part:
Those two inches turn out to be quite important. With the new springs fitted, the pop-top tent is quite slack, and since the spring is the thing that limits the upward travel, you can't simply push up and brace the tent to hold it taut. The bummer part is that Faucher springs come from Canada, and even if I got them to waive the restocking fee due to the supposedly compatible parts being different lengths, the shipping, customs, etc. would be a significant portion of the cost. Luckily, since these are a "standard" part on the newer GTRVs, I was able to shift them to a forum member whose springs were similarly worn and was also looking to upgrade the lift capacity for his roof. OK, back to "zero", wallet a few bucks lighter but otherwise unharmed.
Next problem is that there aren't a lot of replacement options at this length. It seems gas springs in the ~1000mm range are thin on the ground, especially at higher spring rates. Luckily, I found Gemini Gas Springs (geminigassprings.com), also in Canada, who has a similar part. Theirs is actually longer overall (1005mm/39.5"), but longer is better than shorter. I was not able to bolt these in directly, but since the spring mounting brackets on the van and pop-top are offset, I was able to make them fit by swapping brackets left/right to move the pickup points outward to accommodate the longer length. Getting the balls seated into the cups is always a tricky exercise, but by using a floor jack and a 2x4 lengthwise inside the van to jack the pop-top to the exact height needed, I was able to get things aligned.
For my notes or any future shoppers: Gemini Gas Spring Part # 10/23 450-1005/800N B32/B32 (10/23 rod/sleeve size, 450 compressed to 1005 extended length, 800Newton spring rate, B32 balls at both ends). The only bummer was that the B32 ball sockets turned out to be the wrong fitting, they're the correct 8mm thread, but fit a smaller ball than I had on the van. Luckily I was able to transplant the socket fitting from the Faucher springs. Next time I'll have to part-dig a bit better to make sure I get the right ball/socket joint too!
No pictures of the final springs - they look the same as before, and there were too many moving parts to stop and take pictures of the process, but I'm happy to report that the top goes up with less effort now, and holds in the full-up position without sagging, even with the solar panel in place, etc. (which it didn't do before).
Background: As built by GTRV, the pop-tops used Faucher gas springs, specifically part #777-7357-P1-150lb:
The bad news is that Faucher no longer makes this exact spring. If you call GTRV or Faucher, they'll both tell you that the replacement spring is part #777-7305 (rated to 158lbs (700n)). I opted to order part # 777-7306, rated to 203lbs (900n). The length of both the -7305 and -7306 parts is the same. Unfortunately, neither of those is quite as long as the old 777-7357 part:
Those two inches turn out to be quite important. With the new springs fitted, the pop-top tent is quite slack, and since the spring is the thing that limits the upward travel, you can't simply push up and brace the tent to hold it taut. The bummer part is that Faucher springs come from Canada, and even if I got them to waive the restocking fee due to the supposedly compatible parts being different lengths, the shipping, customs, etc. would be a significant portion of the cost. Luckily, since these are a "standard" part on the newer GTRVs, I was able to shift them to a forum member whose springs were similarly worn and was also looking to upgrade the lift capacity for his roof. OK, back to "zero", wallet a few bucks lighter but otherwise unharmed.
Next problem is that there aren't a lot of replacement options at this length. It seems gas springs in the ~1000mm range are thin on the ground, especially at higher spring rates. Luckily, I found Gemini Gas Springs (geminigassprings.com), also in Canada, who has a similar part. Theirs is actually longer overall (1005mm/39.5"), but longer is better than shorter. I was not able to bolt these in directly, but since the spring mounting brackets on the van and pop-top are offset, I was able to make them fit by swapping brackets left/right to move the pickup points outward to accommodate the longer length. Getting the balls seated into the cups is always a tricky exercise, but by using a floor jack and a 2x4 lengthwise inside the van to jack the pop-top to the exact height needed, I was able to get things aligned.
For my notes or any future shoppers: Gemini Gas Spring Part # 10/23 450-1005/800N B32/B32 (10/23 rod/sleeve size, 450 compressed to 1005 extended length, 800Newton spring rate, B32 balls at both ends). The only bummer was that the B32 ball sockets turned out to be the wrong fitting, they're the correct 8mm thread, but fit a smaller ball than I had on the van. Luckily I was able to transplant the socket fitting from the Faucher springs. Next time I'll have to part-dig a bit better to make sure I get the right ball/socket joint too!
No pictures of the final springs - they look the same as before, and there were too many moving parts to stop and take pictures of the process, but I'm happy to report that the top goes up with less effort now, and holds in the full-up position without sagging, even with the solar panel in place, etc. (which it didn't do before).
Last edited:
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Let's put this thing to bed...
Well, it's finally time to change up the interior to fix some of our lingering issues.
You can see from back on page 17 that the Dodge (MarkIII) Van-conversion bench/bed has never been perfectly flat:
I did the best I could with the extension platform, but the fact remains that due to the seat's geometry, the seat portion always sits slightly lower and at an angle to the "back" when everything is folded into a bed.
The advantage that this "bed" had was that it worked well with the relatively low overhead height of the Astro van. It sits at ~15" off the deck, though with a bit less rake than the stock bench seat. But more importantly, it doesn't move up too high when slid into bed position. But like I said, it sleeps worse than the rickety old hide-a-bed in your great-aunt's basement. Look, I paid $100 for the thing from Craigslist back in 2009. It's time for a properly flat (and comfortable bed).
A while back I picked up a set of reproduction Westfalia "Rock-n-Roll" bed hinges from Bus Depot, but I've been sitting on them for over a year because the westy geometry presents some challenges when it comes to headroom-challenged vans. That said, I finally got off the fence and started working on the problem:
No, I'm not building a miniature bed. I just figured the only way to figure out all the "gotchas" and be able to spec out the bed in order to fit all my needs was to mock it up first and run it through all the movements. Some time on the table saw with some scrap plywood and particle board, and I had this mockup built. I started with the usual "westy" dimensions and made some educated guesses on how I'd need to alter things. Aside from the width, it's pretty close to the dimensions I'll end up with, (still sits a bit too tall, and the back isn't high enough), but it's complete enough for me to see where all the critical clearances are. I've literally got pages in my notebook recording how one dimension influences the others.
Joy of joys, the biggest relief is that the bed can be made to sit really flat. Once I get the numbers all worked out, there will be minimal gaps, too, so it should be a LOT more comfortable. The HARD part was making it sit not too tall. I needed the main "box" to be at least 8" high, so I can still fit the 12g water tank under it on one side, but because of the arc the pieces move through, they end up rising almost 4 inches, so I had to keep things as low as possible otherwise.
So the mock-up went together fairly quickly. One thing I don't like about the Westfalia construction, though, is that they always build the box, back, and seat out of plywood. Very simple, and probably sufficient if you're only using the seat as a sofa or bed, but since I'll be strapping my daughter to it as a regular auto seat while we're driving, I wasn't feeling good about the construction. Instead, mine will be steel!
More pictures to come...
Well, it's finally time to change up the interior to fix some of our lingering issues.
You can see from back on page 17 that the Dodge (MarkIII) Van-conversion bench/bed has never been perfectly flat:
I did the best I could with the extension platform, but the fact remains that due to the seat's geometry, the seat portion always sits slightly lower and at an angle to the "back" when everything is folded into a bed.
The advantage that this "bed" had was that it worked well with the relatively low overhead height of the Astro van. It sits at ~15" off the deck, though with a bit less rake than the stock bench seat. But more importantly, it doesn't move up too high when slid into bed position. But like I said, it sleeps worse than the rickety old hide-a-bed in your great-aunt's basement. Look, I paid $100 for the thing from Craigslist back in 2009. It's time for a properly flat (and comfortable bed).
A while back I picked up a set of reproduction Westfalia "Rock-n-Roll" bed hinges from Bus Depot, but I've been sitting on them for over a year because the westy geometry presents some challenges when it comes to headroom-challenged vans. That said, I finally got off the fence and started working on the problem:
No, I'm not building a miniature bed. I just figured the only way to figure out all the "gotchas" and be able to spec out the bed in order to fit all my needs was to mock it up first and run it through all the movements. Some time on the table saw with some scrap plywood and particle board, and I had this mockup built. I started with the usual "westy" dimensions and made some educated guesses on how I'd need to alter things. Aside from the width, it's pretty close to the dimensions I'll end up with, (still sits a bit too tall, and the back isn't high enough), but it's complete enough for me to see where all the critical clearances are. I've literally got pages in my notebook recording how one dimension influences the others.
Joy of joys, the biggest relief is that the bed can be made to sit really flat. Once I get the numbers all worked out, there will be minimal gaps, too, so it should be a LOT more comfortable. The HARD part was making it sit not too tall. I needed the main "box" to be at least 8" high, so I can still fit the 12g water tank under it on one side, but because of the arc the pieces move through, they end up rising almost 4 inches, so I had to keep things as low as possible otherwise.
So the mock-up went together fairly quickly. One thing I don't like about the Westfalia construction, though, is that they always build the box, back, and seat out of plywood. Very simple, and probably sufficient if you're only using the seat as a sofa or bed, but since I'll be strapping my daughter to it as a regular auto seat while we're driving, I wasn't feeling good about the construction. Instead, mine will be steel!
More pictures to come...
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Lots of work, not too many photos to share, yet.
The Rock-n-Roll bed is nearly complete. All the fit-up, welding, and grinding is done. I'm working on the finishing in pieces because it's hard enough to move the big pieces around and there's moving parts.
Here's the "base" frame. On a VW bus, this would simply be three pieces of plywood bolted together and fastened to the rear firewall. Here's an excellent set of photos of how a Rock-n-Roll bed normally goes together. Obviously I don't have a rear firewall or engine cover to sleep on, so there's a bit more "structure" to my version.
The frame is just over 8" high, so I can still fit my Valterra 12gallon tank under it. The Rock-n-Roll hinges attach to the side pieces, one bolt through the center tube (sleeved), and the other through the plate. Setting the angle of the hinges is pretty critical to getting the "rake" of the seat back correct. The raised front tube (right side) sets the angle of the seat bottom, but also has to be at the right height for the supports to sit on when the bed is deployed. This will be easier to understand later. I've left the rear cross tube open as I plan to use it to chase wiring through. The chunk of angle-iron on the left attaches to the two short upright tubes on the rear - this makes an adjustable perch for the rear portion of the bed and substitutes for the rear engine-lid where the bed comes to rest on a VW.
The base flipped over, and primered. I'm re-using the same holes through the floor that I drilled for the old Conversion-van bench seat, so the passenger side bolts right through the seat's frame (also sleeved), while the driver's side has an extended flange. I did it this way, rather than just making the frame wider, so that I could leave a little room on the driver's side to build out the cabinetry there. You can also see the short length of angle-iron on the forward end of the driver's side of the frame, this is part of what will hold the water tank in place once it's all bolted down.
And here's the the seat bottom. Structure is framed in steel, with tabs to hold the plywood flush with the tubes. The "corner" pieces are short lengths of 1"x3" rectangular tubing. I didn't want to weld the seat pieces to the hinges (for ease of finishing, moving, rebuilding, etc.) and the hinge plates normally just bolt directly to the plywood, so I needed something substantial to bolt to. Using the hinges as templates, I drilled these pieces first, added weld-nuts, and then built the rest of the seat base frame onto them. The seat back (not pictured, yet), is pretty similar, except that the "top" of the frame is a bit more complex because I had to graft in the folded-steel sections that the headrest tubes mate with (more on this later). After the steel is painted, all the plywood will get a coat or two of wipe-on poly, just like the fridge cabinet I built last year.
The Rock-n-Roll bed is nearly complete. All the fit-up, welding, and grinding is done. I'm working on the finishing in pieces because it's hard enough to move the big pieces around and there's moving parts.
Here's the "base" frame. On a VW bus, this would simply be three pieces of plywood bolted together and fastened to the rear firewall. Here's an excellent set of photos of how a Rock-n-Roll bed normally goes together. Obviously I don't have a rear firewall or engine cover to sleep on, so there's a bit more "structure" to my version.
The frame is just over 8" high, so I can still fit my Valterra 12gallon tank under it. The Rock-n-Roll hinges attach to the side pieces, one bolt through the center tube (sleeved), and the other through the plate. Setting the angle of the hinges is pretty critical to getting the "rake" of the seat back correct. The raised front tube (right side) sets the angle of the seat bottom, but also has to be at the right height for the supports to sit on when the bed is deployed. This will be easier to understand later. I've left the rear cross tube open as I plan to use it to chase wiring through. The chunk of angle-iron on the left attaches to the two short upright tubes on the rear - this makes an adjustable perch for the rear portion of the bed and substitutes for the rear engine-lid where the bed comes to rest on a VW.
The base flipped over, and primered. I'm re-using the same holes through the floor that I drilled for the old Conversion-van bench seat, so the passenger side bolts right through the seat's frame (also sleeved), while the driver's side has an extended flange. I did it this way, rather than just making the frame wider, so that I could leave a little room on the driver's side to build out the cabinetry there. You can also see the short length of angle-iron on the forward end of the driver's side of the frame, this is part of what will hold the water tank in place once it's all bolted down.
And here's the the seat bottom. Structure is framed in steel, with tabs to hold the plywood flush with the tubes. The "corner" pieces are short lengths of 1"x3" rectangular tubing. I didn't want to weld the seat pieces to the hinges (for ease of finishing, moving, rebuilding, etc.) and the hinge plates normally just bolt directly to the plywood, so I needed something substantial to bolt to. Using the hinges as templates, I drilled these pieces first, added weld-nuts, and then built the rest of the seat base frame onto them. The seat back (not pictured, yet), is pretty similar, except that the "top" of the frame is a bit more complex because I had to graft in the folded-steel sections that the headrest tubes mate with (more on this later). After the steel is painted, all the plywood will get a coat or two of wipe-on poly, just like the fridge cabinet I built last year.
Last edited:
Herbie
Rendezvous Conspirator
Dammit. Every time I think I have Google Photos figured out. Edited the links and hopefully that fixes it up.
Mat Mobile
Adventurer
Easy peasy Google drive instructions.
Long live the Astros!
Her first morning after sleeping in a van. Her face says it all (many years later she said she was joking for the picture). And it's going to be 16 years so... I guess the creepy 23 y.o. with a van wasn't so bad after all! :wings: