[hat_man]

Forgive me if this has already been mentioned.

**Disclaimer** I am not very mechanically inclined and maybe this isn't a possibility anyhow.

I saw in an earlier post that the G20 was offered with a 2.41 and the Astro may have been offered with both a 2.29 and 2.14 although possibly offset. If the axle shafts are the same diameter between the G20 and the Astro could you have a custom rear made using the shafts from your van and the "pumpkin from an Astro? It would give the taller gearing you want and the dimensions/spacing/etc of the stock set-up. Again I'm not all that mechanical so I have no clue how this may affect the driveshaft arrangement or the load capacity.

I don't know much about the GM transmissions (and it may have been mentioned before) but why the automatic? A manual would be lighter and give you control over the gearing and shift points. I have always had better mileage with a manual trans as opposed to an automatic. It would also give you the opportunity to coast at idle rpms in neutral (not good for the automatic) and with a heavy flywheel it would probably coast farther than with a stock weighted one if left in gear. A Tremec TR-6070 could get you all the way down to a 0.45 top gear and save about 100 lbs.