RK's MANi-Van - UP FOR SALE

[RocKrawler]

Ground to dif and ground to sills ... Anything hang low to concern yourself with that can hang up?

Thanks!

I'll measure that out for you in the next day or two.

On a side note I scored a good deal today: a customer came in the store that sold his Astro van and bought a new Tundra. He asked one of the guys at the front counter if he knew anyone that wanted to buy a new in the box rear disk brake conversion for an Astro/Safari from Stainless Steel Brakes - long story short I got the $799 kit for $400. Good times, now I have a cool match for the front 1 ton kit I plan on installing next week!

 

[jeffryscott]

Terry, if you get a chance, can you get a picture of the Sidekick and the Astro side by side. I've owned a Sidekick before so that comparison would give me perspective ...

I love what you have done with it and it is making me reevaluate a few things.

 

[RocKrawler]

Terry, if you get a chance, can you get a picture of the Sidekick and the Astro side by side. I've owned a Sidekick before so that comparison would give me perspective ...

I love what you have done with it and it is making me reevaluate a few things.

T-Low's had the same effect on me and it led to selling my behemoth E350 and downsizing. In retrospect I'm glad I did as its so much more manuverable and less likely to get trail damage.

EDIT: Here is that long overdue pic:

 

[BajaBus]

Hey, I found your thread, Terry. Like I told you when I was at the store the other day, I had an '87 Astro I bought from my father-in-law in '94 when we got married. I raised three kids in that thing in Tennessee then jerked all but the driver seat out, laid down plywood and used it as a cargo van for a few years, driving back 'n forth to downtown LA. All my competitors laughed their *** off at my little van. My little van that was paid for, could carry as much cargo as their Express and had an efficient little 4.3 that sipped gas. Finally sold it to one of my Mexican buddies and now we see that thing all over the place, now as dependable as ever and on it's third life. He even painted the hood and roof. haha

There is hardly a better engine than the 4.3.

 

[ihatemybike]

There is no doubt that I love the SixBC!

 

[RocKrawler]

I'm starting to like the 4.3 more now that I swapped in an Accel coil and power is up and my miss is gone. Hopefully the mileage will improve as well and I'll just settle with 4.56 gears instead of an engine swap, which will make my life easier. It's been a great little van so far, a few more things to do and it will be ready for the trail.

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt.

 

[TroySmith80]

I have no complaints power wise with mine, and it's loaded somewhat heavy. I can't imagine you'll be so dissatisfied with a good-running 4.3 to justify the swap, unless you just WANT the project, which i can understand.

 

[RocKrawler]

Very likely that I'm just over thinking things as usual, when I decide to go a certain route I usually go all the way so I don't have to worry about it later or wish I'd have done it different in the first place. It would make it better for towing, but since I am not likely to tow anything substantial it would be overkill. But overkill isn't always a bad thing, right?

 

[ihatemybike]

Swap the throttle body blade with one from a Cadillac Northstar V8. The Astros have a restictor plate on the stock one, the Cadillac one allows the engine to breath easier.

 

[RocKrawler]

Swap the throttle body blade with one from a Cadillac Northstar V8. The Astros have a restictor plate on the stock one, the Cadillac one allows the engine to breath easier.

Any threads or additional info on this mod with pics?

 

[ihatemybike]

Here's what I'm talking about.

Stock anything under 1/4 throttle one half the throttle body opening is completely closed off and even at full throttle there is blockage. It is possible to cut the plate off, but the plateless Cadillac Northstar blades are a perfect fit and really easy to grab in the scrap yards. Guess that's why I wasn't able to find them for sale on CFM-Tech's website anymore.

 

[RocKrawler]

So you don't replace the whole thing but just the plates? I'm guessing there's a reason behind it... Does it make a noticeable difference? Power or economy mostly?

Sent from my HTC Thunderbolt.

 

[ihatemybike]

The throttle body is a different design on the Cadillac.

I notice more power during low throttle applications and off the line. It doesn't appear to have effected my fuel mileage.

 

[RocKrawler]

The throttle body is a different design on the Cadillac.

I notice more power during low throttle applications and off the line. It doesn't appear to have effected my fuel mileage.

You seem to be getting the highest mileage on the forum, I think this will be a safe mod!

 

[ihatemybike]

Yeah, my last three drivers had this mod and I seem to do better than most on gas. I attribute most of my mileage to having either an UltraGauge or ScanGaugeII plugged in to let me know how much I'm burning and some hypermiling techniques. I drove Grumpy to work last Wednesday while the Yeti was visiting, managed 21.3 mpg to work and 25 mpg back. This was done with Grumpy sporting the stock front bumper without the bumper cover/lower air dam in Chicagoland suburban traffic with a third of my route under construction.


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