Winter Beater -- in August

[Ghost]

ya, the suspension. and i want to see how mine is stock then after. and...no one completely knows my plans. jus have to wait and see.

[codybirchem]

haha yeah no kidding. Yeah that's the plan, currently. I'm looking at just doing the regular rear axle for if the van were to have AWD, which is already IRS, but that's got 3.69 gearing not sure if that'd be any good..? May end up going with a rear end off an S-10.. something that'd be a little cheaper, also may just find a cheap rear end to get bolted/ weled up, figure it out. All I know is that the easiest way to go would be to buy a rear axle out of an AWD SV6 or uplander and do the job, but idk.

[Ghost]

oh. hey, buy the two turbos i found.

[codybirchem]

I think the turbos would be good if I stayed with a six, but going to an 8... I like the sound of naturally aspirated, maybe someday a big ass supercharger coming out the hood with a blower.. haha yeah right! But the 8, it'll sound good with 3" headers and some magnaflow out the ass end haha

some magnaflow out the ass end haha

sounds like anal seapage... gross. haha!!

[Ghost]

kids. jk. well thats cool. i cant wait to see finished.

[codybirchem]

I've been doing some shopping.. rear end alone will run me around $1k-1500. Engine will probably run me another 1750-2500 used. Going to be a big project.. hope they raise my credit limits by that time, or I might have to take out some student loans.. haha. Yeah, I'll post some ideas in the right forums when they come up, drawings/pictures/diagrams become available. I think you'll all love it. Considering I'll be doing the work myself, I'll save thousands in labor, and will be able to claim it as my own design

[01GPGT]

little warning the rears from the U-bodies are weaker then that of a GTO

the rears where only designed to handled 30% of the 3400 185 rated power and 225 rated tourqe

they also only come in 3.29 gears no aftermarket. i would just stick in a solid rear axle from an exploder they can handle power and have parts available

[[ChaosweaveR]]

Solid rear axle on a U-body? O.o sounds good on paper, but that'll need quite a bit of fab work, and the bolt pattern IIRC is different than what the SV9's is.

I know these vans came AWD, you might be better off doing a swap from an existing van.

As for the V8 swap, don't. You'll regret trying to shoehorn a V8 in RWD format on the chassis. It just wasn't designed for that, I could see excessive torque (+390) twisting the frame on these U-body vans.

IMO, stick with an LX9 build up, there's plenty of parts through WOT-Tech, and 60degreeV6 is a great source for performance too.

[codybirchem]

Yeah and that's not a bad idea either, the LX9 is great for aftermarket and I'd pretty much just have to check anything aftermarket that would've fit in a late 80's early 90's Camaro, they stuck the LX9 in that plenty and I'd just have to get the 4L60-e ($500 bucks including rebuild and shift kit) and then the rear end... maybe Explorer back end? but not sure, we'll have to see. In the end this thing will probably be as close to "maxxed out" as it can get. The build ACTUALLY won't cost much of anything if I stick to the LX9 and do the work myself.. it'll just consist of Headers, probably gasket matching the intake just for sh!7s and giggles, and I'll have an electronic cut out for my exhaust like that Cavalier I posted a vid of. I know you all thought it sounded a bit raspy but I liked that, and that's what counts!! haha.

In knowing they swapped this engine into Camaros for more power, I know I got lucky . As said, it'll be a work in progress *probably* next winter. I've got 3+ years left on the loan but I'll have it paid off in July. After that I basically take my "payment" money and put the $200+ into an "overhaulin" fund. By December between that and any additional savings I should have like $5-6k an be ready to start the investing!!

[01GPGT]

my 2003 olds U-body has a solid raer axle from the factory.... it does not transfer power but it is a solid rear

[codybirchem]

This is how the truck looks now, much better!! haha

only 1 problem: the clutch is bad, so it's going up for sale and I'm getting it off my hands. Soon to buy another truck, just not sure what kind yet.......