Minivan time...a Shill-O-Ette?

[occupant]

That's what they called it in the CL ad I bought it from. Shilloette. Heh!

So I've got some basic ideas. Probably not putting a vacuum gauge in this one, it's got the instantaneous mpg readout in the overhead console (which I have to whack a few times to get the display going on cold mornings). Do want to get the back tires replaced so I can air them up to 36psi or whatever the sidewall says. Do want to put some mesh behind the grill and bumper air holes but that's more to keep the radiator and condenser clean. Do want to remove the roof rack rails since I'm not putting anything up on the roof. Do want to smooth out the mirrors since they seem to take up a lot of horizontal real estate. Do want to drive pretty gentle and coast a lot. Do want to consider some other things but not sure where else to start. Would any intake modifications do much for the 3400 V6?

[Jay2TheRescue]

Is it the older model that the front bumper comes to a point? If it is, should be a pretty good aero design, so coasting should be great.

[IndyFetch]

Nope. Looking at his garage, it's the newer version (1998 was the first year for the 2nd gen model). I think the older vans ran a 3.8L motor instead of the aforementioned 3.4L.

I know they looked a little odd when they came out, but I kind of miss the GM dustbuster vans. If i had one, I would be tempted to add a handle to the roof rack.

[Jay2TheRescue]

My dad had a Chevy Lumina van issued to him by his company the first year they were released (1991?) He hated it. He complained he could never see where the nose was, you just had to gain a "sense" of where it was after driving it a while. Fuel economy didn't matter to him, since he wasn't paying the fuel bill. He enjoyed the Chrysler vans the best. Personally I felt that the van felt really spacious because the windshield was so far in front of you.

[theholycow]

Originally Posted by Jay2TheRescue

He complained he could never see where the nose was, you just had to gain a "sense" of where it was after driving it a while.

...and a scant few years later, most cars were just like that.

[VetteOwner]

^^^ exactly, i like being able to see the end of the hood cuz go about another 8" and your at the front haha.

i think GM was tryign to compete with the ford trapezoid i mean aerostar...

i remember riding in a few of these vans with thier dashboard you could play a game of ping pong off of. They did have a suspicious ammount of room inside for as weird as they looked...

[IndyFetch]

Originally Posted by VetteOwner

^^^ exactly, i like being able to see the end of the hood cuz go about another 8" and your at the front haha.

i think GM was tryign to compete with the ford trapezoid i mean aerostar...

i remember riding in a few of these vans with thier dashboard you could play a game of ping pong off of. They did have a suspicious ammount of room inside for as weird as they looked...

The Astro was the main competition for the Aerostar. They're both the truck-based workhorses. GM was trying to compete with Chrysler. At the time, Ford didn't have the Mercury Villager (Nissan Quest clone), and the Windstar was still 3 years away. It's kind of funny, but even after 7 years in production, Chrysler was still the only FWD mainstream minivan in town until the Dustbusters showed up.

I say mainstream because there were other oddities: Toyota Van, VW Eurovan, and a few others.... but they're all mostly forgotten now.

[IndyFetch]

Originally Posted by theholycow

...and a scant few years later, most cars were just like that.

I couldn't see the hood of my '95 del Sol, '05 Civic, '08 Civic, or '10 Fit. The only CAR I've owned that I can see the hood on was the '99 Civic, and I could only see the back half. I could only see the front of my old '88 Accord when the headlights were up. I couldn't see the hood of my Ford Tempo, but that was probably because I was really short when I owned it.

[Jay2TheRescue]

Remember this?

[yt]MHPD2WWqIS0[/yt]

And since the space theme worked so well for Ford in 1984, Chevy decided to do the same in 1985:

[yt]GsFg0wAg28g[/yt]

[VetteOwner]

LOL it was the 80's!!! space fit every theme!

yea we still own a 96 aerostar, best it ever got was 23mpg...usually around 18-19 haha

it does do everything as its a van body on a ranger frame/engine/trans/rearend/etc