95 Chevy Astro Build

[M_a_t_t]

A couple of days ago I installed a 1500W heater. I waited a few days to let the system bleed itself. It finally got all the way up to 200 F (by the gauge) which is usually the max its at. SO I was worried about not having coolant in the heater, and it says "if not filled with coolant than the heating element can burn up in seconds" not sure how true it was so I took off the top hose poured some water in, and coolant came out of the other side so I was pretty confident it was filled.
After tightening up the hose clamp I plugged it in and felt the heater, felt the hose, felt the heater, back and forth. Once the heater got pretty hot I stopped feeling it and just felt the hose. It got HOT!! I also spilled a little water on the heater (before plugging it in) and it went from regular looking water to boiling, to gone in a few seconds. I wasn't going any where so I unplugged it. Will report back on how long it takes to warm up, and also with some pictures.

[M_a_t_t]

So just to start off slowly I plugged it in for 15 minutes before I left. I felt the hoses nearby and it was all still pretty cold. When I started it the gauge didnt have any reading at all. (but it doesn't read anything until it hits 100 F) Also took a screenshot of weather for comparison of mornings.

Tomorrow morning I will do 30 and add 15 minutes until I find a reasonable temp.
Matt

[M_a_t_t]

Today I got my best trip mpg for my trip home from school. 19.55 MPG


And also some pictures of my heater install:


I tapped into the lower radiator hose and into the heater core hose that runs to the intake manifold. I mounted it using the overflow tank/wiper fluid tank attachment points. Its aluminum flat going across (you can see it in the second picture) then a second strip riveted to it vertically. So far it's worked fine. I've only used it once so I haven't seen much of a ROI. Its been unseasonably warm these past few days, but the forecast shows colder temperatures so I'll have some good opportunities to try it out.

[M_a_t_t]

After using my heater for awhile I developed a coolant leak, it looked like it was coming out of my thermostat housing. I changed that and it stopped leaking for a day. I changed the water pump and gaskets a couple of months ago, so it only left my intake gaskets. I changed the intake gaskets and it didn't help . After that I changed the water pump gaskets and finally it still wasn't fixed....

It turns out that the water pump was leaking originally, but I didn't get a good seal when I did the thermostat housing so it also leaked.

I got that all sorted and after much learning from the process it's fixed. I feel like its got more power now (I also changed distributor). I haven't really seen any improved mpg's, but I was on winter break and so I didn't really go anywhere.

[Daox]

Its not easy to see from your pictures, but that heater should be mounted low so there is ample room above for natural convection to occur. Several forum users have had issues with them burning out because they haven't mounted them correctly. A 1500W heater should get you pretty well warmed up in 30 minutes. In 15 you should even notice a good jump in coolant temp. The outlet hose of that thing should be very warm.

[M_a_t_t]

Ok I'm a slightly confused about your post Daox. Just to restate to make sure I understand:
In 15 minutes I should see a jump in temp, but 30 won't really get me very far?

I read about someone else's who had one on their insight and they said that it never got above 60*. My gauge actually only starts at 100* and I don't have a thermometer to check the starting temp. There is probably room to move it down, but if I don't need to then I won't bother with it. It gets to 100* faster, but I can't see the starting point.

Do you (or anyone else) have a rough number as to how much room above it should have? I went out and measured.

[Daox]

Sorry, I mis-typed. You definitely should get a very good preheat in 30 minutes. That hose should be very warm coming out of the heater.

I would imagine that 5" is enough. I bet thats about what I had when I installed a 1000W in my Metro. More is probably better if you can move it down at all though.

[M_a_t_t]

Today I decided to look into alternate routes from my house to school, I tested them today. It turns out there is a more efficient route I can take, which leads me too... My new best commute. 20.78!!


However I was leary of this, because usually I am starting cold, but it was still warm on the trip. I had to confirm this so after my 4 hour night class I took the same route, and.... 20.19!!



I hope with this I can get to 20+ mpg city. I feel very confident that a few mods and I can get this into reality.

[M_a_t_t]

I made 3 wheel covers on the rest of the wheels. I only had enough room for 3 on the piece of coroplast I was using, so I just re used the one pizza pan I already had. They are attached using the same method Pletby used on his civic. I've had these on since february of last year. So far I haven't had to mess with them other than one of the screws started to come loose.





I also got a new best trip from Ivy Tech to my house, however I've since transferred to Purdue Polytech so I have a new route to drive, and my mpguino stopped working. I need to get it fixed since I've started taking it to school more often than my motorcycle or my bicycle

[M_a_t_t]

This thread is really out of date.

The injection spider went bad on me when I was changing the intake manifold gasket. I had been preparing for the v8 swap for awhile. So...

I bought a donor van (94 G30) and pulled the drivetrain out.



It turned out that the engine wasn't in as great of condition as I thought.


After pulling the pan and looking inside the engine I decided to just clean it as best I could and just run it anyway. I installed a bigger cam (nothing crazy just a little upgrade). Here is a little sound clip of it idling down the driveway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zug7XQe9lag

Once the v6 spider went bad I started the swap. V6 coming out.


V8 in. Notice carb intake instead of original TBI that the G30 had.


I don't know if I have any fully assembled pictures. Here is some progress though. Notice how close the air filter is to the top of the engine bay. I have to put the air filter on piece by piece. I can't slide it on all together.


I had to sort a few small issues. It drove. I modified the sensors that the manual said the computer uses for the transmission to try and keep it functioning. It didn't like it though and wouldn't go into anything except 2nd and third manually (I think linkage was too sloppy for 1st).

I towed a truck with a bad engine in it home using the van. Looking back it was an absolutely terrible idea. I had to change the rear wheel bearings afterward because of it.


The subframe however had a bad case of "active weight reduction" so I pulled it back apart to replace it with a new (used, but clean) one. Here is some older pics. The transmission it is mounted to was out of the G30. I didn't end up using it. I now have a TH400 to put in it. I might do some aero mods in the future, but with looks in mind. Now that I have 4 cars, and 4 motorcycles I can really not care about the FE of the van. It will be a fun car that I use for towing and hauling mostly, besides cruising around everyonce in awhile of course.




Between getting the van running and driving with the new engine and pulling the frame I moved as well. It has been sitting exactly as shown basically since ~September of last year. There had always been a small crack in the windshield. It has since spread to cover about half the windshield. Now I get to change the wind shield as well. Exciting...


Now I am working on cleaning up the area around the gas tank and welding in the new captured nuts for the tank straps. The old bolts broke off in the nuts so I cut them out. Once I get it acceptably clean I can put the tank back in. I am so ready to drive the van once again!


You can read a more detailed version here:
https://www.astrosafari.com/viewtopi...f=127&t=130177