Chevy day vans, what to know?
Discussion
A mate of mine is looking at buying one of these as abut of a novelty minibus for transporting him and friends from airport to his farm (about 5 hours drive)
He is looking at a 1986 year "barn door" (??) with a V8 petrol and LPG conversion.
What are the expensivebitsto break, and what wears out?
Ohh perhaps should mention that this isin Thailand.
He is looking at a 1986 year "barn door" (??) with a V8 petrol and LPG conversion.
What are the expensivebitsto break, and what wears out?
Ohh perhaps should mention that this isin Thailand.
Motown Junk said:
Sorry can't help on anything practical but your friend should be aware that spare wheel covers with a picture of a native American on, cushions with wolves and moons on and dream catchers for the rear view mirror may be harder to come by in Thailand.
Lol, I think he is going for the A Team van captains chairs look, although now that you mention it he did go to university in Iowa......
The catch is that there is only one for sale at the moment, and its a Chevy, so "by a Dodge" is not realy an option at this point!
Although i will advise him that this is preferable!
Edit to add, to be fair this is in Thailand so build quality is largely irrelevant, the Thai's will have done their own re-engineering in their own curious style!
Just wondering mostly if there were specific mechanical things to listen out for, specific rattles, problems with running on LPG, drivetrain worries etc - things that would require specific parts shipped in from USA.
Although i will advise him that this is preferable!
Edit to add, to be fair this is in Thailand so build quality is largely irrelevant, the Thai's will have done their own re-engineering in their own curious style!
Just wondering mostly if there were specific mechanical things to listen out for, specific rattles, problems with running on LPG, drivetrain worries etc - things that would require specific parts shipped in from USA.
Edited by XJSJohn on Thursday 23 August 10:15
Right, I have a Chevy Astro day van... no howling wolves or dream catchers in mine !
The V6 engine is a good one but can suffer inlet manifold gasket leaks, coolant can weep from the waterways via the old/split gasket and into the inlet, this manifests as coolant loss, steam from exhausts and in some cases hydraulic locking of the engine if it is bad enough, it also suffers from freeze plug rust if the coolant has been plain water for a long time.
The 4L60E gearbox is semi electronic, it is strong enough but can give trouble. heat is the big killer of this trans and it is common to fit an additional cooler to it to help out the one in the radiator.
The front suspension is made of cheese, well, the bushes are, the thing will flop and roll if its done more than 70000 miles, ALL my bushes and ball joints were worn out, I replaced them all and its tight as a drum again.
The vans themselves don't seem to rust much, mine is a 95 and has zero rust, I am not exaggerating, none, I have rebuilt almost everything else (see first three notes) but the body is perfect.
Mine does 20 to 24 mpg on a good day witha tailwind, its a comfy big barge though and has A/C and cruise control, I set it to 50mph and just sit there happy in my cosy big mobile sofa.
The V6 engine is a good one but can suffer inlet manifold gasket leaks, coolant can weep from the waterways via the old/split gasket and into the inlet, this manifests as coolant loss, steam from exhausts and in some cases hydraulic locking of the engine if it is bad enough, it also suffers from freeze plug rust if the coolant has been plain water for a long time.
The 4L60E gearbox is semi electronic, it is strong enough but can give trouble. heat is the big killer of this trans and it is common to fit an additional cooler to it to help out the one in the radiator.
The front suspension is made of cheese, well, the bushes are, the thing will flop and roll if its done more than 70000 miles, ALL my bushes and ball joints were worn out, I replaced them all and its tight as a drum again.
The vans themselves don't seem to rust much, mine is a 95 and has zero rust, I am not exaggerating, none, I have rebuilt almost everything else (see first three notes) but the body is perfect.
Mine does 20 to 24 mpg on a good day witha tailwind, its a comfy big barge though and has A/C and cruise control, I set it to 50mph and just sit there happy in my cosy big mobile sofa.
cheers!!Getragdogleg said:
Right, I have a Chevy Astro day van... no howling wolves or dream catchers in mine !
The V6 engine is a good one but can suffer inlet manifold gasket leaks, coolant can weep from the waterways via the old/split gasket and into the inlet, this manifests as coolant loss, steam from exhausts and in some cases hydraulic locking of the engine if it is bad enough, it also suffers from freeze plug rust if the coolant has been plain water for a long time.
The 4L60E gearbox is semi electronic, it is strong enough but can give trouble. heat is the big killer of this trans and it is common to fit an additional cooler to it to help out the one in the radiator.
The front suspension is made of cheese, well, the bushes are, the thing will flop and roll if its done more than 70000 miles, ALL my bushes and ball joints were worn out, I replaced them all and its tight as a drum again.
The vans themselves don't seem to rust much, mine is a 95 and has zero rust, I am not exaggerating, none, I have rebuilt almost everything else (see first three notes) but the body is perfect.
Mine does 20 to 24 mpg on a good day witha tailwind, its a comfy big barge though and has A/C and cruise control, I set it to 50mph and just sit there happy in my cosy big mobile sofa.
I assume that the 86 Barn door is a full size van and not an Astro?The V6 engine is a good one but can suffer inlet manifold gasket leaks, coolant can weep from the waterways via the old/split gasket and into the inlet, this manifests as coolant loss, steam from exhausts and in some cases hydraulic locking of the engine if it is bad enough, it also suffers from freeze plug rust if the coolant has been plain water for a long time.
The 4L60E gearbox is semi electronic, it is strong enough but can give trouble. heat is the big killer of this trans and it is common to fit an additional cooler to it to help out the one in the radiator.
The front suspension is made of cheese, well, the bushes are, the thing will flop and roll if its done more than 70000 miles, ALL my bushes and ball joints were worn out, I replaced them all and its tight as a drum again.
The vans themselves don't seem to rust much, mine is a 95 and has zero rust, I am not exaggerating, none, I have rebuilt almost everything else (see first three notes) but the body is perfect.
Mine does 20 to 24 mpg on a good day witha tailwind, its a comfy big barge though and has A/C and cruise control, I set it to 50mph and just sit there happy in my cosy big mobile sofa.
I also have a ford focus that I can tell you about ??
The Full size chevy is a totally different van to an astro?
Mechanically they are all simple and easy to get bits for.
Chevys rust so check all door bottoms, sills, front arches rear flanks, roof channels to body sides etc etc.
N
The simlarities between the astro (and indeed most other Chevy products of the era) mean that broadly speaking the faults and strengths are pretty much the same.
Suspension, Engines and Transmissions are very similar, in fact I would go as far as to say share components, the trans especially and the V6 engine is merely a V8 missing a couple of pots.
As for the rust I have had several Astros and none have had any rust, the one I scrapped was due to the engine failing, I parted it out and I even cut sections of the Shell up and sent them to a guy who needed panels to repair accident damage, I kept the doors and wings as spares in case anyone drives into mine, all are rust free.
That aside, my 67 Camaro is very rusty, a Monte Carlo I worked on was also poor, so I guess I might be lucky with the Astros.
The title is "Chevy Day vans, What to Know" I own a "Chevy day van", the OP was previously offered advice on Dodge vans, At least I managed to keep within the titles remit and discuss a "chevy Day van" .
PS; The Dodge van above is very nice even if it is wearing the wrong badge for me !
Suspension, Engines and Transmissions are very similar, in fact I would go as far as to say share components, the trans especially and the V6 engine is merely a V8 missing a couple of pots.
As for the rust I have had several Astros and none have had any rust, the one I scrapped was due to the engine failing, I parted it out and I even cut sections of the Shell up and sent them to a guy who needed panels to repair accident damage, I kept the doors and wings as spares in case anyone drives into mine, all are rust free.
That aside, my 67 Camaro is very rusty, a Monte Carlo I worked on was also poor, so I guess I might be lucky with the Astros.
The title is "Chevy Day vans, What to Know" I own a "Chevy day van", the OP was previously offered advice on Dodge vans, At least I managed to keep within the titles remit and discuss a "chevy Day van" .
Edited by Getragdogleg on Sunday 26th August 15:48
PS; The Dodge van above is very nice even if it is wearing the wrong badge for me !
Edited by Getragdogleg on Sunday 26th August 15:54
Edited by Getragdogleg on Sunday 26th August 15:54
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