chiliVANilli
Adventurer
Funny, I'm the opposite, I'd much rather fab!
Lucinda Build
- Thread starter chiliVANilli
- Start date
Oh I've enjoyed the hell out of it, I just underestimated how much work it was ACTUALLY going to be.... lol
chiliVANilli
Adventurer
Same here. I think we will both reap the rewards of the suffering.
Oh hellllll ya.... I'm really jealous of your van though, I was trying to find one of those to do but couldn't find one that wasn't completely taken-over with rust.
I really wanted to do this
chiliVANilli
Adventurer
Oh hellllll ya.... I'm really jealous of your van though, I was trying to find one of those to do but couldn't find one that wasn't completely taken-over with rust.
I really wanted to do this
Yeah, I really like that one, too. Except for the exhaust. Good color.
bkbroiler00
Observer
love that you're taking on this project! when i first started looking at 4x4 vans, i saw this gem on craigslist and immediately was scheming how to get it and make it work. was too much of a project for me at the time, and so glad to see someone giving it the proper treatment. looking forward to seeing how it goes. :bowdown:
chiliVANilli
Adventurer
I looked into a lot of options for power steering and nothing was really going to fit. Anything that might have, would have required a bunch of u-joints and who knows what else. Google sent me in a direction I never new existed, electric power assist steering. The motor is about as big as a starter motor, and there were a couple of different kids out there that use the motor from a Saturn VUE/ Equinox. I used the kit from EPAS.com which makes them for sandrails mainly. It is little module that fools the computer and has a small dial so you can turn it off or adjust the amount of assist from one finger to steer all the way back to no assist. It also allows you to be able move the computer which is attached to the motor. I used the steering column out of the Suburban so it would work with the wiring harness and computer. I had to cut 8" of the column to make it fit. It was pretty tricky to make the automatic shifter still work smoothly in the column. I made a brackets to attach the column to the original column mounts. I also had to cut the shaft from the steering box and make a coupler to attach the EPAS.
chiliVANilli
Adventurer
I moved the computer under the dash. The little block box hooked to it is the module and the little knob with the white line is the adjuster.
I still have to make some kind of cover around the column to hide the wires and neutral start switch. The defrost knob, heater control, and fresh air control are the three knobs, and I cleaned up and painted the original "plate". Pretty high tech back then, they weren't even on the dash.
Corneilius
Adventurer
Huh, who woulda guessed the answer was in a Saturn Vue. Thats hot-rodding at its finest if you ask me. Good work
chiliVANilli
Adventurer
The steering box had the 3 spd shift mechanism arm dealie attached to it and the original linkage back to pretty much where the shift lever is on the transmission. So I figured I start there to see if I could tie that to the arm on the steering column. I was able to use the shifter shaft that was on the original column and cut that. I used some 1"x1" square tube and PVC,( can't remember what it's actually called, but the stuff cutting boards are made of), to give make a bearing of sorts, and to keep it aligned. I attached an arm to that and messed around with a couple of lenghts of linkage until I got it right to make it shift smoothly after using teflon washers between the arms and linkage, surprisingly. I couldn't find johnny joints small enough, but if I can I'll switch it up to those.
The tranny parts I put in my 700r4 allows full manual shifting, so I wanted to be able to hit every gear. I need another shifter poking through the floor like I need another hole in my head, so I had to make the column shifter work. Cut, weld, then grind back off and re-position, and weld again. Throw in a little heating and bending. Then repeat. I finally got it right after 3 friggin days! LOL
chiliVANilli
Adventurer
Yep, there was a lot of that with mine, too. I was so sore after being hunched under the steering column and laying across the floor of the van.
Silverhorse
Adventurer
very cool! nice work! I love older rigs...