1 Ton 94 Astro. 6.5L, 4l80e, 14 bolt swap project complete.

[Coyote X]

The G30 is sitting in a huge pile of snow right now Just from looking at the spindles they seem very similar and the control arms seem to be similar other than the mounting points on the frame. They both look like the same height and shape. The upper ball joint just from looking at the two of them looks like at most I would just have to get a G30 joint and bolt to the Astro arm. The lower ball joint on the G is significantly bigger than the Astro and that is really the only thing that looks like it is going to be a problem.

If the weather gets a bit better I will probably try and get the suspension out from under the G. I really probably won't try actually fitting the suspension to the Astro until spring. Winter used to be ok to work on stuff around here but now it is pretty much always below freezing and hard to do much in an unheated garage.

[Coyote X]

1500 miles on it so far. I am averaging around 22mpg. That isn't bad considering it has been a terrible winter and I can never get it to fully warm up. So I did what most diesels do when it is cold and made a grille cover.



Now with just a quick 20 mile drive to test it. It actually got up to temperature and I could run the heater on high without making the motor go all the way back to cold I should get a few mpg better so 25mpg winter seems likely.

So far my only issue is I poked a hole in the radiator somehow and had to take it off and solder it back up. And I also had to replace the vacuum pump since the first one never did work. Everything in it works great and has been no trouble at all. I put some sound deadening material on the air filter lid and it is pretty quiet now.

If my grille cover works good then I will probably make a better one that wraps around the plastic grille and is held on with velcro on the sides so it doesn't look quite as bad.

[mdmead]

[MountainManJoe]

How cold is it there?

[Coyote X]

mornings are usually around 10-20 and day it usually gets near freezing. Next couple of days it will be like a heat wave and get near 35

I never have needed to plug it in yet. Those old 6.5 engines are pretty good it seems at starting in cold weather. If it gets lower than 10 I will probably plug it in since it is a bit shaky when it is started that cold.

I cant wait for summer. I still have to get the G30 suspension moved over and it has been so cold and snowing all the time, I really haven't been able to do much.

[Coyote X]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVGTu2spic

Latest upgrade to the van. It doesn't really do much for making it pull better but it is way more fun now

[mdmead]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rXVGTu2spic

Latest upgrade to the van. It doesn't really do much for making it pull better but it is way more fun now

70s retro......

[Cobra]

omg i'm showing that to my co-workers on monday

[doyoulikeithere]

Shaggin Waggin !!

[peter]

Awesome swap, Coyote! Matt & his wife sure could use some tips from you!

Is the interior noise really low enuf that it isn't an issue? As far as the rear goes, my stocker put up with lots of abuse from over 560 lbs-ft of torque before finally screaming "ENUF ALREADY!" Unless you're gonna be pulling stumps with it or dropping the pedal regularly, you should be ok for awhile.

Again, great swap and in record time. I'm embarrassed....

[crash]

great to see you petey..

and i love the lighting!! .. all you need now is a brass pole .. i'll leave it at that and let the comments fly

[mdmead]

Matt & his wife sure could use some tips from you!

Like a fine wine, some projects just take more time...

[loopie]

Hadn't gone thru the thread before...Nice!

Seriously pimpin' interior/audio setup.

Does your area switch between winter and summer diesel? The winter diesel doesn't get the same mileage(lower)

[Coyote X]

I am running winter diesel. They change over in March/April so I will get to know soon how good the mileage can be in it.

I am still driving it all the time. I think I am around 2500-3000 miles on it now but I haven't looked lately to see. I have the air filter housing covered with sound deadening material to make it quiet. I need to make a steel or thick plastic intake duct to get the last of the intake noise out of it but it is not bad up to around 65mph. At 55mph it is quiet inside and if the radio is on you can't hear it. Around 75mph or so is when it gets loud enough you have to talk pretty loud to hear anyone. It is all just intake noise and that will all go away once I get a heavier made duct and the stock G30 intake muffler put on it, or a turbo

I just hope the weather stays decent for a little while so I can get started on the suspension. It really needs those bigger brakes.

[Mr_Roboto]

The brakes are what I'm curious about. Have you even started pulling yet? I am wondering if the spindles/A-Arms will be a bolt in proposition. I've been researching a lot of this, I just can't find any dimensional info on the spindles or A-arms easily on the net right now. That is where I think this deal will get interesting at honestly. I'm really curious to see if it's going to be possible to do this without a huge amount of welding using stock mounting points. If so I will be going to a very different setup soon using 8 lug wheels, D61 and those front brakes. I'd be able to go back to a common lug pattern, upgrade brakes and get a Dana 61 axle (I am thinking that I would prefer what it offers to my 9")