The Lunchbox Build... 4x4 chevy shorty van

[Lunchbox2]

So I decided to reach out to another guy I've known since high school, who rebuilds transmissions at a chevrolet dealership over in Clarksville, Tn pretty much daily. He assured me that he could figure out whatever is wrong, and get me on the right track. I decided to locate another case, as this one has a stripped out bolt in the pan that has been pissing me off, and I just want to start fresh.

So I located one off of craigslist up in marion, ky. The guy has a small shop and he bought it to put in a truck he had, but ended up selling it. This one came out of a running/driving truck, and he was going to use it, but because he couldn't guarantee that it's a good trans, he could only sell it as a core. I gave him $50 and loaded it up. It has a GM remanufactured sticker on it, and the front pump looks almost new, so I'm hoping that I can take some parts from this one, and mine, and combine them to make one good one.



All my clutches/bands and everything has less than 500 miles on them, so I'm hoping to reuse most of my good stuff, besides the smoked reverse clutch set. I'll use the corvette servo/governor, but want to run the stock valve body, as those hard shifts aren't doing me ANY favors. I think it's been wreaking havoc on my ujoints and np205 case (gear to gear). So I'm pulling this thing out for the 3rd time tomorrow morning, and going to send it to clarksville with Bill on monday. Hopefully he can get it all figured out over the next week, and have it back to me by the following weekend. I should have used this guy from the start, but completely forgot about him, and trusted that my other buddy could do it. We live and learn I guess..... Fingers crossed!

 

[philos]

"...take the last trans to Clarkesville, and I'll meet you on the creeper..."
Sorry, joke was there.
Sucks you keep having to take it out/in so much.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Lunchbox2]

"...take the last trans to Clarkesville, and I'll meet you on the creeper..."
Sorry, joke was there.
Sucks you keep having to take it out/in so much.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Oh man, it's pissed me off to say the least.... This guy doesn't realize how much of an inconvenience it is for me to do this, this thing is my daily driver. So hopefully this new guy takes his time and gets it right the first time, I really don't want to do this again....ugh

 

[shauniscndn]

Sorry to hear about your trans issues, still an amazing build and a wicked van. I love the work you have done.

I'll leave this here and maybe you can have a mini version as well

Found a lunchbox rc kit

http://www.rpphobby.com/product_p/tam58347.htm

 

[Lunchbox2]

Sorry to hear about your trans issues, still an amazing build and a wicked van. I love the work you have done.

I'll leave this here and maybe you can have a mini version as well

Found a lunchbox rc kit

http://www.rpphobby.com/product_p/tam58347.htm

I definitely plan on getting one of those for my son, I'll paint it up to look like ours and he'll love it. Hopefully this is the last time I have to deal with this transmission, I got high hopes with this new guy....

 

[FjFairlady]

I got the front axle in it's final resting place today. After spending a day on building a mount for my front leaf spring shackle, I realized something.... I bought a shackle flip from DIY4X.com for the rear, but can't use it because of how the van's frame is made. Well, turns out they make a PERFECT shackle mount for the front leaf springs!







I still have to trim the crossmember up but that's not too big of a project, considering what I've done over the past 4 months... lol



Look Ma no jack-stands! I imagine I will have to add a leaf to the front spring pack once the doors, seats, bumpers, winch, etc... are all on the van. I want it to sit right there, I like that height and tire-gap.... I'll go back tomorrow and finish up the welding, doing gussets and 1/4" plate where it needs it....


Sharing your discovery of those DIY4x4 hangers working on the front is GOLD info for those of us who plan on a SAS Chevy van. Thank you.
I used the same DIY4x4 hangers on my 1985 Chevy C30 4x4 swap for the rear;l which is what they were made for.
Sweet build and you got some "Getter done" skills.

 

[Coachgeo]

hmmm. just a .02 to grind between ones teeth.... since forces hit those hanges in more directions than they do the rear... consider some gussets on hanger as well as welding hanger to frame along the verticle edges of the hanger.

 

[Lunchbox2]

hmmm. just a .02 to grind between ones teeth.... since forces hit those hanges in more directions than they do the rear... consider some gussets on hanger as well as welding hanger to frame along the verticle edges of the hanger.

They are welded up the vertical edge, I just snapped this pic before that got done. These pics are from almost a year ago. I ended up running 2x2 tubing between the rear axle's front hanger and these, sort of as a "subframe" connector. It's pretty solid, they're not going anywhere....

 

[Lunchbox2]

Sharing your discovery of those DIY4x4 hangers working on the front is GOLD info for those of us who plan on a SAS Chevy van. Thank you.
I used the same DIY4x4 hangers on my 1985 Chevy C30 4x4 swap for the rear;l which is what they were made for.
Sweet build and you got some "Getter done" skills.

I bought them for the rear originally, but then realized that the rear leaf springs mount right under the "frame" so I thought they were going to be useless. But when I started on the front axle, I realized that they were going to be PERFECT for that rear hanger, it was a total accident....:victory: I sent kurt at diy4x a message with a pic and he laughed..."never thought of them being used for that!" he says...LOL

Remember though that I'm using much longer springs than anybody usually does (52" eyelet to eyelet), so they won't work as well with say a 42"-44" spring that the 4x4 trucks or pathfinder/quigley vans use. The shorter springs don't go that far back on the frame, so it's much easier to build a hanger for those shorter springs. They land right on the bottom of the "framerail", before the frame Z's

 

[FjFairlady]

I bought them for the rear originally, but then realized that the rear leaf springs mount right under the "frame" so I thought they were going to be useless. But when I started on the front axle, I realized that they were going to be PERFECT for that rear hanger, it was a total accident....:victory: I sent kurt at diy4x a message with a pic and he laughed..."never thought of them being used for that!" he says...LOL

Remember though that I'm using much longer springs than anybody usually does (52" eyelet to eyelet), so they won't work as well with say a 42"-44" spring that the 4x4 trucks or pathfinder/quigley vans use. The shorter springs don't go that far back on the frame, so it's much easier to build a hanger for those shorter springs. They land right on the bottom of the "framerail", before the frame Z's

Gotcha....I'm using the B52 front hangers and 52" springs on my C30 SAS. But thanks for explaining that you gotta run 52" for that DIY hanger to work on a van SAS.. Did you position your axle and leafs then weld the hangers or did you redrill the spring pack to center your tires in the arch? It looks perfect.

 

[Lunchbox2]

Gotcha....I'm using the B52 front hangers and 52" springs on my C30 SAS. But thanks for explaining that you gotta run 52" for that DIY hanger to work on a van SAS.. Did you position your axle and leafs then weld the hangers or did you redrill the spring pack to center your tires in the arch? It looks perfect.

His B52 hanger makes it easy man, you'll love the soft ride and crazy flex you get out of the 52's as well. Don't use the shackle sides though, buy his shackle that's reinforced with the bar welded across. I tried using the shackle sides, and ended up having to weld a bar in-between them anyway to make them work right, they wanted to sway around too much.

I assembled the springs and axle combo, using the stock center-pin location, then wheeled it into position and welded the hanger bracket in. I needed to be able to stuff that 35" tire under full flex, without any rubbing. I had to extend the front framerails by over 6" to get them into the right spot, but there's no way around it on these vans. I ended up pushing the front axle about 3" forward from where the 2wd position was, and the rear axle went about 3" rearward, bringing my wheelbase to 116" compared to the stock 2wd wheelbase of 110".

Good luck with your C30, and post up some pics when you get it up on it's feet!

 

[Lunchbox2]

Well.... I pulled the trans out of the van a couple weeks ago and dropped it off at my buddy Bill's place, along with the "new" case, and a stock rebuild kit to scavenge parts from. He found that the reverse clutch set really wasn't all that bad, but when he tried to blow air through the valve, it wouldn't even engage, he couldn't believe it pulled at all in reverse. What it boils down to is, the last guy tried to take too many shortcuts, and just didn't do a very good job with the rebuild.



On the upside, Bill was able to salvage almost everything out of the old trans, all the good stuff anyway (kevlar clutches/band, BEAST sunshell, corvette servo and governor), but I had him use the stock valve body this time. I think those neck-snapping, tire-chirping shifts were wreaking havoc on my transfer case, mounts, and u-joints, so I wanted to soften things up.

He called me a week later and said she was all ready to go, and to come and pick em' up. We stood around and talked for a bit, while I admired his LS swapped notchback. Then I paid the man $300, loaded everything up and headed back to the house!



I met Bill 18-19 years ago, and he was running around in a quick little fox body. He's still running a foxbody all these years later, but his newest notch runs a chevy motor, and it's the fastest one yet. He's knocking on the 5-second door in the 1/8 mile, with a naturally aspirated LS2 (6.2 liter) and an automatic, so she scoots...



I got faith in the man's work, and I have high hopes for this new trans.... So does Liam! haha

 

[Lunchbox2]

I threaded my hardened studs into the new trans, slid the spacer on, and bolted the transfer case up. I've come up with a pretty good system for pulling this thing out and re-installing by myself. I can use a 2x4 on the head of the jack, and place it under the pan of the trans. Then I use another 2x4 across the base of the jack, and I mount a scissor jack there, and lift up on the transfer case mount.





It's a bit of a dance, but I can slowly raise it up a little at a time and eventually get it high enough to set it on my 2x6 support, so I can put a couple blocks under the head of the jack to lift it up that extra little bit. The 2x6 support would catch it in case anything failed, so I wouldn't get CRUSHED.... It's not the ideal method, but you have to get a little creative when you're working by yourself, and it actually works pretty darn well...LOL





I inch it up and forward until I can get it close enough to run in the bellhousing bolts, then I set the tailshaft on a jackstand, remove the jack(s), and install the trans crossmember





Just like PREGO...It's in there! Time to button this thing up... driveshafts, shifters, torque converter bolts & cover, exhaust, lines, TV cable, and fill this pig up with fluid...After a few laps around the neighborhood, everything works like it should. What better way to test it than an impromptu camping/wheeling trip to the great LBL! Time to grab the sleeping bags, pack the cooler, and rollllll out...

 

[KeyserSoSay]

Hope it's finally as it should be. I sure hope I don't end up as intimately familiar with pulling my power-train as you are.

 

[Lunchbox2]

I really wanted to spend some time on the trail with it, so we set out to an area that we haven't explored yet, way down on the north end. One thing I noticed is how many noises AREN'T there anymore.... There used to be a big clank when I first pulled it into gear, that I used to blame on the rear locker, but it's nonexistent with this new trans. The other one had some funny noises coming from the front pump, and this one's quiet as can be. I used to dread hitting 2nd gear every time it shifted, but this one just makes a nice firm shift, and DOESN'T snap your neck, it's verrrry niiiiice (in my best borat voice). All the other gears happen almost seamlessly, it's soooo much better than all of the banging around that that last trans did.



Stopped about halfway to our destination for a sammich.... My son never misses out on an opportunity for a photo op...



We came upon the creek crossing we discovered last time, so of course we had to stop and play in the water. After an hour of chasing his boat downstream, the sun was starting to go down, so I had to wrangle him back in the van so we could go find a place to camp.





The sun was going down quick, but it resulted in some amazing colors in the sky. So I had to try and snap a few pics...







We ended up finding an awesome spot to set up camp, right down on the water. The wind was blowing pretty good, but it was in the mid 50's, so I just parked the van to block most of the wind and started a fire. We couldn't ask for better weather for a last minute camping trip. Normally it's pitch black out there, you can't see ANYTHING and it's very creepy. But it was a full moon that night, and it lit up the area like a street light. It was so cool being able to see 100' INTO the trees, normally you can't see 20' past the fire. So we cooked some burritos in the dutch oven, popped some popcorn over the fire, and watched movies. I drank a few adult beverages, liam played with sticks in the fire and explored the area, and we proceeded to have an absolutely great night of camping. The trans didn't leak one drop, and performed flawlessly all day, I think we may have a winner!







We woke up the next morning, I cooked some sausage biscuits and made coffee, then we started to make our way back towards the house. Again, I wanted to get in as many miles as we could, so we took the long way back and hit trails all the way back to the main highway.



Again, never a miss photo opportunity....LOL Me and all my crazy buddies used to climb this tower back in high school and partake in illegal activities at the top, haha. I spent many nights/days up there, so it's always a flood of memories every time I see this thing.







I also cut off the flowmaster, and put this raptor turbo muffler on it with a tailpipe running all the way out the back. Holy crap what a difference that makes! No more drone on the highway, no more smelling like exhaust fumes, and no more ears ringing when you get out. Between the new trans and the full exhaust, I'm in heaven! LOL







I love my van again! We are meeting up with a group of jeeps on saturday morning, for a long day of wheeling the 300 roads of LBL. The 300 series are all the crazy roads, that they deem "sometimes impassable", and they can get quite gnarly. So I'm looking forward to riding with a group, and putting this trans to the test. Let's hope it holds!