The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop Chevy AstroVan AWD

I've just recently bought my second 1952 chevy pickup, my first one I had back in highschool and had to part with but found a rather complete one for 400bucks. My question is I've decided to modify it with newer suspension and have seen some people use s-10 parts on their classic chevy's and was wondering if its possible to make work the chevy astrovan with it's awd gear onto the stock frame or do I use the frame from the van, any insight would be welcome....just going thru idea's

Think your astro van doesn't even have a frame and it is way to wide. A S-10 would be a better fit.

That is correct, the Astro is unit-body, no separate chassis. There would also be issues with is using the suspension and driveline components, besides the width issue, there is also an issue with the steering setup as well as the engine/rear axle being offset to the right by about 4".
If you're looking a going 4x4, the S10 would be a good start, and if you want AWD, the parts from the Bravada swap right in.

The S-10 4x4 frame and front and rear suspension coupled with the Astro or Bravado type transfer case would be the way to go.

I've contemplated the same approach on the one I'm building. I have the S-10 4x4 but not one of the AWD transfer cases. Since I currently plan to run a 454 in this truck I may stick with a tougher transfer case and a shifter, which I do have today.

It may not matter that much for reasons of size, but I am pretty sure the Astro has a separate chassis, a feature that makes it a more rugged and a better tow vehicle than "regular" unibody car-based minivans

Better crawl under one and look. You may not like what you find. Starting at some point before 1978 even the full size vans are unibody.

But, then you'de have an astro van.

No, the Astro/Safari is unitbody. Worked on enough of them to know. In fact, just had one in the shop today.

Thanks for the input....for some reason i thought they had a frame..oh well just spit balling ideas right now as it'll be a yr or so before I start tearing it down to modify it. I didn't think of a bravada, might be a good alternate..

Lots of really neat parts swapping that can be done with the S10 chassis. Besides the AWD T-case and front axle from the Bravada, there's als an Auto-Trak version from the later Blazer/Jimmy which would give a 2wd, 4x4 full time, 4x4 locked, and 4x4 low range. That one is pushbutton, which would eliminate the need for an extra lever. Then there's the brake swaps. Later 4x4 Blazers ('98-'04) w/4door came with larger front brakes as well as rear disks as standard equipment. Some 2 door Blazers (ZR2 package) and a few S10 4x4 trucks also used them. They are a direct bolt on to the earlier chassis. You'll need the entire knuckle pair to do the front.

Only the front sub-frame on the Astro is separate. It is a uni-body vehicle (think early Camaro/Firebird).

The Astro AWD Tcase and the engine is the same as that of the Bravada - full time 4x4. So, the engine and trans can be a donor. The down side is that it can not be converted to part-time 4x4 without a standard S-10 part-time T-case

I myself would use the Astro Engine and trans if you have it, then swap solid axles under the 52 and build a 4x4 using the stock frame (like the NAPCO's) vs dealing with an S-10 frame swap.

The ZR2 S-10's did have a 9" 10-bolt from the larger vehicles (hence the wider track width).

If your intent on a frame swap, the Dakota frame has the right track width and the steering doesnt interfere with the radiator.