my 2005 Astro AWD conversion

[anm]

A few months ago I bought a 2005 Chevrolet Astro AWD cargo van off Craigslist. I figure it was fate since it was waiting less than 2 miles from me, and had everything that I was looking for, a late model (it was the last year they were made), all wheel drive, A/C, body in good shape, mechanically good, but there were a few problems. It needed a complete set of tires, the A/C didn't work, the switch for disabling the dome lights didn't work, the service engine light was on, and a few other miscellaneous glitches.

At one time I worked as a car mechanic, and then later as an aircraft mechanic in Vietnam (thanks Uncle Sam!), but both of those have given me a good understanding of and ability to get mechanical things working. A few days later I had the A/C working, it needed a vacuum line and the blower motor switch and connector replaced. The service engine light was caused by a dirty MAF sensor, a $7 spray can of cleaner and it was fixed. Then I found a set of tires (also on Craigslist) that were brand new, complete with wheels off a 2014 Jeep CJ. For $250 I had a brand new set of tires plus a set of Jeep wheels to sell! And there were many other little glitches that I took care of.

I have already decided I want to insulate it, cover the floor with plywood and lino, build a bed platform with storage under, put in a table with seating, and put in some other storage for a water container. I also decided to put a roof rack on it and a ladder on one of the back doors.

So this is how I started, first the floor:
I used heavy wrapping paper to make a template, just tape it to the van's floor and carefully go around the periphery with a pencil. You'll have to cut the template in places just so you can form it to fit. Then clamp it to the plywood and trace around it:

Here's the first piece of plywood sitting in place:

This is my baby:

I'll get more posted as I remember where the pictures are...

 

[Bdog1]

Great start to the build! Keep things flexible till you try it out.

 

[anm]

After the plywood floor I built the bed/storage compartments. I have a storage compartment fore and aft of the driver's side rear wheel well, that will support a foam mattress on top. There will be (a) movable plywood piece fitted between the storage compartments that will do double duty as part of the bed, and will also become a dinette table.
Here are a couple more pix:

and

I've got most of my conversion finished but wanted to show how I did it for others...

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Progress Report:

This weekend I put down a layer of foam underlay, laid the plywood floor, and then attached the two storage boxes that make up part of the bed by running bolts and washers through the floor with nuts and washers on the underside. Separating the boxes is a collapsible table that becomes the center part of the bed. Shown on the bed is an air mattress which will be replaced with three foam-filled cushions.

The center part of the bed raises to form a dinette table. I still have to put some sort of catch to hold the table close to the van side, and a hinged leg (where I've got the wooden brace right now).

This weekend I also fixed the dome light override, a wire was cut disabling the push button, that also enabled turning off the DRL system. I also removed the GPS reporter, which wasn't working anyway. I was going to fix the radio since the key does not shut it off, but I forgot. Old-age and forgetfulness can be a problem, but they also have their benefits, I can watch a movie I bought a year ago and it's all new!

 

[anm]

Cool Van! I don't remember seeing one with a goat patch before.

Guy

lol, I live in El Paso and we have a tumble weed problem...

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June 25th (I should have dated each of the prior posts...)
​

I have almost completed the last major piece of Van furniture, a combo water jug holder and storage. The lower shelves can either be used for additional water (or beer) containers, or other storage:

I will be doing the walls and ceiling next, sound deadener, and insulation and possibly paneling...

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July 4th​

I've cut styrofoam to fit in those areas where the outside wall is accessible and have glued them in place and caulked around them. The inner structural members I have painted gray. My plan is to leave the inside like that, though I would like to get some pictures and paste them on the styrofoam panels. Some shots of the Martian surface would be nice...

I'm planning on going to a junque yard and get the rear half of a passenger van headliner and slip it in above the existing cargo van headliner, and I've got a roof vent to install. I'll try and get all that done next week.

Here are my latest pictures of my conversion:

The 'table' is held up by a pair of magnetic latches made from magnets bought at Harbor freight, the 2 4-screw clusters hold flat pieces of steel that the magnets latch onto:

My plan is to cover the floor in sheet vinyl but lack of money has put that on hold so for now so I've just painted the plywood floor with porch and deck paint. I still need to get the foam and make up the three cushions, but I'm liable to put that on hold too and just use an air mattress for now. I'm anxious to take it out somewhere and see how it is. There's a couple of old volcanic cones and the remnants of a lava field near here that I've been wanting to explore, so it will be my first field test.

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July 9th​

My latest change has been the addition of a roof vent. I opted for one of the 9" vents on eBay since it would allow minimal cutting of the roof's reinforcing members. The back reinforcing piece I didn't alter at all, the vent occupies some of the space formerly taken up by the foam rubber between it and the roof. I narrowed the front reinforcing piece a little by cutting off a flange. Hindsight being what it is, I think I could have just made the small cross-wise cuts and then bent the flange flat against itself with a pair of pliers and it would have given me all the clearance I needed.

Anyway, here's some pix:

Here is the only reinforcing piece I cut, I removed about a 9.5" long piece of it, but I could have just made the cuts at the end and then bent the flange flat against the piece you see here:

I drilled .5" holes at the corners and then used metal snips to cut out the square piece:

After drilling all the holes:

I chose to pop-rivet it in, but if that proves problematic, I will replace the pop-rivets with #10 stainless screws and nuts:

And there it is, looking like it belongs there:

These are the shears I used, made by Wiss and called Pipe and Duct Cutting Snips, $20 from Home Depot, and well worth it. They make 2 parallel cuts and don't distort the metal (not much anyway) (they won't cut a curve though, just straight lines):

 

[akrvbob]

What wonderful, creative work!! I love seeing posts with ideas I'd never considered before and you have several!!

The dinette is the most intriguing me but I can't quite picture how it works. Is it three pieces hinged together and the one is hinged to the bed? I don't understand the magnets? Can I ask you for a big favor and take some close ups of different parts of the mechanism that turns it into a dinette. Also, if possible could you take some photos of it in-between opened into a table and closed as a bed?

I have storage under my bed with a hinged plywood top also but once I have my foam pad and blankets on I find it a pain to get it open. You may want to consider putting some openings into the two boxes so you can just reach under. Just a thought.

Great work!!!!
Bob

 

[Bdog1]

Cleaver set-up on the table.

Not sure of your budget or the flooring cost. I've been happy with weight mat on the floor. Very durable and easy on the knees, insulates and dampens sound too. Comes in 24" squares, super easy install.
Here's an old pic

 

[anm]

Cleaver set-up on the table.

Not sure of your budget or the flooring cost. I've been happy with weight mat on the floor. Very durable and easy on the knees, insulates and dampens sound too. Comes in 24" squares, super easy install.
...

I was at Academy this past weekend and was considering that very same stuff, right now it's fairly high on my list...

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What wonderful, creative work!! I love seeing posts with ideas I'd never considered before and you have several!!

The dinette is the most intriguing me but I can't quite picture how it works. Is it three pieces hinged together and the one is hinged to the bed? I don't understand the magnets? Can I ask you for a big favor and take some close ups of different parts of the mechanism that turns it into a dinette. Also, if possible could you take some photos of it in-between opened into a table and closed as a bed?

I have storage under my bed with a hinged plywood top also but once I have my foam pad and blankets on I find it a pain to get it open. You may want to consider putting some openings into the two boxes so you can just reach under. Just a thought.

Great work!!!!
Bob

Thanks Bob!

Here is a picture with it in bed-mode:

You can see the 2 magnetic catches affixed to the side of the van:

Here's a closeup of one, the actual magnet can move around so it can adhere flat onto the steel bit on the bed/table:

Here are the steel bits:

And a closeup:

And this is how it folds. The diagonal piece is a free-hanging leg, it is hinged to the underside of the table and supports it:

The 2 magnets line up with the 2 steel plates, keeping it in table-mode, but not preventing it being transformed into the bed:

This is the underside of the table showing the home made hinges and the central leg:

And this is the 'socket' on the floor that the leg fits into. It prevents someone from inadvertently (or advertently (is that a word?)) kicking the leg out from under it:

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My plan is to have three separate cushions make up the mattress (possible with a thin topper). 2 of the cushions will also be used for seating, and the one on the table top will be removed when in table-mode.

 

[anm]

And this is it in table-mode:

 

[anm]

Here is a couple of other pictures of my baby.

This shows a sliding shelf I added below the water container. The shelf has a hole cut into it and inserted into it, a stainless steel bowl (don't tell the dogs!) for washing. A magnetic cupboard door catch stops it from sliding out while driving:

Here's a shot of my baby in the Chihuahuan desert, at my favorite picnic area outside El Paso. In this picture you can see my 3 external addons, the roof ventilator, the roof rack, and the ladder. The roof rack and the ladder came from my favorite junque yard, $17 for the roof rack and I think about $7 for the ladder. I had to pay full price for the ventilator on eBay:

 

[dvdchris]

What a clean looking install!
I would closely watch that blue water tank; there are a lot of reports of the seam failing on it. I probably would not be installing anything electrical on the shelves underneath...

 

[akrvbob]

That's one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen. I've seen a few people try to install dinettes but I always thought they were too slow and cumbersome, but this one is nearly instant and super easy. I'm very impressed!

I assume when you get a foam pad you will cut it in three sections to make opening it up easier?

Thanks for the extra pictures, they made it very easy to understand.
Bob

 

[anm]

That's one of the most brilliant things I've ever seen. I've seen a few people try to install dinettes but I always thought they were too slow and cumbersome, but this one is nearly instant and super easy. I'm very impressed!

I assume when you get a foam pad you will cut it in three sections to make opening it up easier?

Thanks for the extra pictures, they made it very easy to understand.
Bob

Thanks Bob, yes the foam will be in three pieces, but I'm not sure how to do it. My initial thought was to get three cushions made up, covered in the white, felt-type stuff first and then canvas. The 2 pieces on the box lids could be held in place with velcro, is that reasonable? The table piece would be free with nothing locating it other than the other 2 cushions, and the sheet. In bed-mode a fitted sheet might go around the entire plywood top, holding everything together.

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What a clean looking install!
I would closely watch that blue water tank; there are a lot of reports of the seam failing on it. I probably would not be installing anything electrical on the shelves underneath...

Wow that sounds like a major defect, especially since their 5 gallon gasoline tanks look like exactly like the same construction but in red plastic instead of blue. The thought of 5 gallons of gasoline spilling in a van does not leave me with a warm and fuzzy feeling...

I will keep an eye on it.

 

[dvdchris]

They used to be great containers, but at some point they really started to cheapen the build on them. The spigot is a major point of failure, and the corners. Some people even report the seams failing.
I started looking at the reviews after it was mentioned on The Survival Podcast.
It's crazy, but becoming the norm with camping equipment. Coleman used to be a great brand but almost all their stuff is cheaply made Chinese crap now.

 

[anm]

They used to be great containers, but at some point they really started to cheapen the build on them. The spigot is a major point of failure, and the corners. Some people even report the seams failing.
I started looking at the reviews after it was mentioned on The Survival Podcast.
It's crazy, but becoming the norm with camping equipment. Coleman used to be a great brand but almost all their stuff is cheaply made Chinese crap now.

I was planning to transport the water container upright (spigot up), and consequently made the shelf high enough so it will fit in that orientation. At least that should avoid a spigot disaster. I'll report any problems is encounter.

 

[akrvbob]

I have a friend who did something like you with her bed, just not as good. Why she did with her foam was to buy a single piece and cut it to the fit the bed. Then she cut that down to each size. She put a thin piece of plywood under each piece and glued the foam to it. Then she got the fabric she was going to use and cut it large like a sheet of gift wrap. Finally she wrapped the foam like a present but didn't fully cover the bottom and stapled the fabric to the plywood.

It's crude but she was able to do it all herself and make it look pretty good.
Bob

 

[anm]

I have a friend who did something like you with her bed, just not as good. Why she did with her foam was to buy a single piece and cut it to the fit the bed. Then she cut that down to each size. She put a thin piece of plywood under each piece and glued the foam to it. Then she got the fabric she was going to use and cut it large like a sheet of gift wrap. Finally she wrapped the foam like a present but didn't fully cover the bottom and stapled the fabric to the plywood.

It's crude but she was able to do it all herself and make it look pretty good.
Bob

I thought I had replied to this message already but I guess not, isn't getting old wonderful?

Re how your friend did it:
That's a good idea. I think that's what I'm going to do. I can buy some foam and fabric off eBay and do it myself.

But I think I'll live with just an air mattress for a while to make sure there are no problems in my design. I'm going to look for a sewing shop and see if I can get some heavy Terry cloth to make a bag for the air mattress. That would keep it all together, as well as providing something between me and the plastic surface of the mattress. The mattress is just 26" wide so I will be losing a fair bit of the width of the bed... thinking about it that way maybe I should just bite the bullet and get the foam...

 

[anm]

I just got back from my trial run in my conversion.

What I did was go to Alamo mountain in New Mexico. Alamo mountain is only accessible by 25-30 miles of travel on dirt/gravel roads. I thought it would be a good test of the van, me, and my van conversion. The roads started out not too bad, but after 20 miles or so deteriorated pretty badly. At one point I decided I was unable to continue, the road was so bad, and I almost got stuck turning around, but I have to say the Astro with its AWD is very capable and got me out of trouble. Taking another route, a little later I came to a sign Alamo Mountain Access, and there was even a small parking area where I could stay overnight.

I was also going to visit Wind mountain, but there was a padlocked gate across the road! The map says it's county road F010, but someone thinks it belongs to them. That was going to make it very difficult to visit any of the other Cornudas Mountains.

Overall the van performed well, but, there are a few things I need to do:
1. Set up the seat cushions/mattress the way I initially wanted to. For the trial run I used an air mattress and although it's comfortable it's just not acceptable. It makes it too difficult setting up the table, I have to put the mattress and bedding somewhere, usually outside.
2. I didn't bring any tarp for use as a sun-shelter/shade over the van. I need to.
3. Add a ventilation fan below the ceiling vent. It would result in a significant temperature drop.
4. Install styrofoam as the rear part of the headliner.

Here are some pics of Alamo Mountain:

I found these petroglyphs without even looking for them:

This is as close as I got, it was difficult making my way over the jagged rocks, and I really had no idea where I was going:

This is looking back toward my van:

A horned toad:

Flowering cactus:

And the better part of the road:

 

[Vic.]

Great photos.

Were the roads reduced to deep ruts, or just generally full of holes?

 

[anm]

Great photos.

Were the roads reduced to deep ruts, or just generally full of holes?

There were ruts in a very few places, but they could generally be safely negotiated, though high ground clearance would be recommended.

The worst problem I ran into was where flowing water crossing the gravel/dirt road eroded it, in some places a foot or two below the road level (there was no actively flowing water, surface water disappears very quickly). These roads are VERY lightly traveled, some of the roads I was on I never saw anyone else on them, and they looked like they were a month or two untraveled, maybe more.

Even though it doesn't look like it, it does rain here, the moisture builds up in the air from the hot sun beating down, and there is often a late afternoon or evening thunder storm bringing a deluge. The water runs off, eroding the landscape, before it gets a chance to sink in. That was where I had to turn back and find another way.

The roads, given the materials they were made of, were fairly good overall, though rough. The suspension got a real workout.

My GPS is crap. I used my GPS to get out there, but once there it would not give me a route back the way I had come, it insisted that I go down this one particular road that had a padlocked gate across it. In another situation my GPS had gotten me to my destination, but then I wanted to go to another destination just 10 map miles away. My GPS insisted I drive a round about circuit of 150 miles, instead of driving the 10 map miles... go figure... it's a TomTom by the way.

My suggestion to anyone doing this type of travel is:
1. have a high ground clearance vehicle (mine is an Astro)
2. have four wheel drive
3. carry an axe
4. carry a shovel (which I didn't have)
5. and preferably have a winch (not sure what you're going to hook it onto since there are very few trees)
6. and have good, detailed, printed maps

 

[akrvbob]

I ave a friend who lives full-time in a Astro AWD and wanted to be able to go wherever he wanted. So he put a 6 inch body lift on it and 35 inch mud tires. H goes wherever he wants!!

He also has 280 watts of solar and a motorcycle. He's married and they both fulltime in it so they set up a very elaborate camp and basically just sleep in the van.