Bad Astro II

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Topic author
ksmith
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 5:07 pm

Bad Astro II

Post by ksmith »

I was very excited to find this truck. It is a '96 AWD and only had 64,000 miles on it when I bought it in 2012. I got it from Pennsylvania and there was no rust on it at all.

I searched for 3 months, and this is what I found on Autotrader.com
astro1.jpg
My brother and I made the 17 hour round trip to get it, and I took a photo of the new and the old together.
astro.jpg
First I striped the old man stripes...
astro2.jpg
Then I installed Overland's 2" lift kit and my rims and some new lights...
astro3.jpg
Then we went to Tennessee to visit Gary Wills. Gary taught me how to pinstripe and letter. I started working for him 18 years ago when I was 19 years old. I've never had him stripe a vehicle, so I asked him to stripe the hood on the new van. When I sell this van, I'll pull the hood and dislay it in my shop. I learned SO much from Gary... I'm very honored to have his work on my truck.
astro4.jpg

Topic author
ksmith
I am merely driving my van
I am merely driving my van
Posts: 11
Joined: Thu Oct 17, 2013 5:07 pm

Re: Bad Astro II

Post by ksmith »

This was the work Gary did on the hood. I will never be able to pinstripe as good as him. He passed away one month after our visit.
astro5.jpg
Then I added another 2" of lift to the van (3 1/2" total on the front, and 4" total on the rear) and finished pinstriping it...
IMG_9966.jpg
astro7.jpg
I added this TV for the kiddos...
IMG_9396.jpg
We then took a trip to Silver Lake Sand Dunes in northern Michigan. We had the only van on the dunes...
astro8.jpg
This is the nicest van I've ever had. It rides nice, is very quiet, and can climb giant hills of sand... The only issue... 14 MPG. :)

This is now my wife's van. I was logging way to many miles on it, so I decided to find another Astro for my work truck.
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