Yeti and the Marshmallow

[Basement Yeti]

As promised, here is my build thread. It will be very slow going until I get the mechanical kinks in Ms. Marshmallow worked out. She is idling a bit rough, so much so the passenger side mirror that was damaged in shipping fell off! Also her back door won't open, the latch is jammed.

I am bringing her to my sister and brother in laws very trusted mechanic who will go through her like a tornado and diagnose any potential issues and let me decide what I want to fix and what I want them to fix, namely the back door issue I don't think I can tackle myself, I already tried. They really are an awesome bunch of guys. The way I see it I can have the van brought to full capacity and then learn a little bit at a time how to work on her. Right now I need her in reliable working order, I'm too overwhelmed.

So, I've purchased some replacement glass on line which will be here in a few days, the dealership is going to cover it. Once I get the vehicles history mailed to me I will bring her down to the mechanic. After she is up to speed I need to get a back up camera and then I can disconnect the stupid backup siren. Then I need to work on new wheels/tires and fixing up some rust spots and dings. Sell the interior bulkhead and racks, and pull out the nasty rubber floor mat.

After all this I can begin to covert the interior into a livable space.

9 AM. I am having my morning coffee when Missouri Dale the truck shipper calls me. My van is here! It was beautiful this morning so I drank my coffee on the overlook while waiting for him.


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A big squawking raven joins me to wait and chatters away like I can understand a damn thing he's saying.


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Finally I spot Dale creeping up the hill.


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Here you can see the gas tore ripped open and broke in transit. Dale had to take all the cars off and turn her around so the fuel door didn't rip off.


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Dale works to unload Marshmallow while I gum in his ear.


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Here she goes.


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Almost off.


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Dale wouldn't let me take a photo with him, so I took Marshmallow for a spin around the block. Then found a spot to stash her.



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More updates will follow.

 

[MrBeast]

It has begun

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-ZYFs2lF8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-ZYFs2lF8[/ame]
When I saw the thread it was the first thing that came to mind, kind of unrelated I know.

Glad to see you can get started man, going to be an adventure and a life changing experince. :smiley_drive:

 

[Basement Yeti]

Hm, that flash video isn't working. Direct link?

You know that slime that comes on used/new cars? I hate it. I can't figure out how to clean it out of the van. I tried soap and water, Windex, some other glass cleaner, it won't come off. :/ I guess I'll try again when I remove the bulkhead and rip out the nasty rubber mat, because the rear of the van needs a serious scrubbing any who, under that rubber mat...

'The horror....the horror....the horror."

 

[Storz]

You live in a beautiful area!

 

[T.Low]

I heart the Astro cargos!

Everything you need to know about it is right here:
http://astrosafarivans.org/bb2/search.php?search_id=active_topics

Best of luck with it.:smiley_drive:

 

[MrBeast]

It has begun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-ZYFs2lF8
When I saw the thread it was the first thing that came to mind, kind of unrelated I know.

Glad to see you can get started man, going to be an adventure and a life changing experince. :smiley_drive:

Hm, that flash video isn't working. Direct link?

You know that slime that comes on used/new cars? I hate it. I can't figure out how to clean it out of the van. I tried soap and water, Windex, some other glass cleaner, it won't come off. :/ I guess I'll try again when I remove the bulkhead and rip out the nasty rubber mat, because the rear of the van needs a serious scrubbing any who, under that rubber mat...

'The horror....the horror....the horror."

Fixed it

 

[Basement Yeti]

Haha, that made me laugh. Thanks T-Low, I am on the new Astro Safari site, but I am swamped with information overload! I have a massive list of little things on the van I want to do.

-Touch up some exterior metal dings with white anti rust paint
-Clean the interior and touch up scuffs and gouges with anti rust paint
-Paint the grill black or replace it
-Touch up a few scuffs on the black plastic parts
-Paint the wheel wells with an anti rust paint
-Have the under body painted with anti rust paint
-Ditch the bulkhead until I can get one with a door
-Gut the headliner, dome lights
-Ditch the nasty cargo rubber mat
-Rip out the license plate holder in the door and have it covered
-Crank up the front torsion bars for 2" of front lift
-Stuff some 29" all terrain tires onto the stock rims
-Paint stock rims black
-Get locking lugnuts
-Cover up inset headlights with Plexiglas to reduce drag
-Cover the hood with a hood wrap
-Get a locking fuel door or fuel cap
-Install a back up camera, and rear view mirror mounted LCD/TFT backlit screen activated by reverse shift
-Ditch the backup siren
-Add a fuel pump shut off
-Install overhead console
-Swap side mirrors with heated electric mirrors
-Replace door latch hardware
-Add electronic door locks
-Add alarm

probably more I forgot. I have a lot to do before I can even think of living in it!

 

[ihatemybike]

Do you have my pdf gift to Astro/Safari owners already?

 

[Basement Yeti]

Uhm, nope, can't say I do.

 

[MrBeast]

Haha, that made me laugh. Thanks T-Low, I am on the new Astro Safari site, but I am swamped with information overload! I have a massive list of little things on the van I want to do.

-Touch up some exterior metal dings with white anti rust paint
-Clean the interior and touch up scuffs and gouges with anti rust paint
-Paint the grill black or replace it
-Touch up a few scuffs on the black plastic parts
-Paint the wheel wells with an anti rust paint
-Have the under body painted with anti rust paint
-Ditch the bulkhead until I can get one with a door
-Gut the headliner, dome lights
-Ditch the nasty cargo rubber mat
-Rip out the license plate holder in the door and have it covered
-Crank up the front torsion bars for 2" of front lift
-Stuff some 29" all terrain tires onto the stock rims
-Paint stock rims black
-Get locking lugnuts
-Cover up inset headlights with Plexiglas to reduce drag
-Cover the hood with a hood wrap
-Get a locking fuel door or fuel cap
-Install a back up camera, and rear view mirror mounted LCD/TFT backlit screen activated by reverse shift
-Ditch the backup siren
-Add a fuel pump shut off
-Install overhead console
-Swap side mirrors with heated electric mirrors
-Replace door latch hardware
-Add electronic door locks
-Add alarm

probably more I forgot. I have a lot to do before I can even think of living in it!

Good list of ideas, Id strongly sugjest you skip the hood wrap, those things beat the paint off and it will rust through.

I like the idea of painting the wheels black, also will match the look if you tint the back windows with limo tint.

The other thing I can see is the locking lugnuts, unless you have expensive rims, dont even bother, if you lose the key, and you are out in the sticks, this can stop you from being able to change a tire.

No one is going to steal stock astro van wheels, too much labor and they wouldnt be able to get hardly anything for them.

If some one is going to jack someones wheels, they are going to go after some one with some bling bling wheels.

The grille will be easy to paint. It might look good flat black or charcol.

Will be looking forward to pictures tomorrow.

 

[Basement Yeti]

Good point, guess I will get some kinda of heavy duty paint for the hood and wheels. I also plan to, at some point, degrease the undercarriage and wheel well and use some kind of under body coat on them.

My current dilemma is trying to find a backup camera/monitor. My van came with no rear view mirror, and I want my back up camera mounted up there. All of the products I am finding clip onto your existing mirror.

I think I am going to buy a mirror off eBay, and the rear view mirror monitor, and the camera and do it like that.

 

[MrBeast]

Is the paint on the hood messed up?

For the wheels id just use rustoleum so you can touch em up with a rattle can. I painted the bed on my wrecker with it, looks great, and when it gets scratched I just fix it.

 

[Basement Yeti]

The hood has a few dings, I think I'll need to bondo them or something first.

 

[TroySmith80]

The "Slime" if i'm thinking of the same thing as you, is usually a silicone spray. It's used to make everything look shiny and new, and is often applied way, WAY too heavily. It'll go away after a little time.

 

[Basement Yeti]

You're telling me brother. I pulled out the ash tray and it was smothered on there.

Well, it's silicone, I guess that's why my soapy mixture didn't do squat!

Oh yeah, it also looks like I have 3 12V outlets in my van, which is weird...