Turbo 616 powered Astro Van build

JB3

Superturbo

1,795

02-14-2013, 05:49 PM #105

some updates-

Received my new control arms, and ive reassembled the entire suspension with a lot of new parts.

I got the upper control arms from mevotech, and the ball joints were questionable, so I swapped them with moog, and lower control arms from dorman, which looked pretty good.

some pics of assembly-

new control arms-

[Image: 002_zpsef9dfa66.jpg]

using a ratchet strap and spring compressor to bring the control arms together to bolt in the knuckle-

[Image: 0032_zps538b8301.jpg]

assembled with steering and sway bar-

[Image: 010_zps2f7f6606.jpg]

close up of steering in relation to the cutout on the subframe-

[Image: 008_zpsb25d7f51.jpg]

so now using that metal bar in the above pic to establish a centerline, ive got some numbers to work with.
This is the principle issue. The 616 is a grand total of 27 inches tall, oil pan to valve cover and the valve cover itself is a whopping 6 inches tall. Playing with it, Im going with 6 inches above as a minimum clearance, that way I can lift the entire thing straight up to do valve adjustments.

[Image: 009_zps24657e12.jpg]

Measuring up, I have a ballpark measurement of about 24 inches from the subframe up to the top of the engine compartment, including about 1 inch of stock bushing. Below the centerline, I have about 5 inches of space before interfering with the stock steering apparatus.

So basically using the 5 inches as a locked in point to use the stock steering linkage, if I installed the engine with the stock subframe bushings and no body lift, im looking at a total space allowance of 29 inches, and only 2 inches of clearance above, which would never work. The engine would fit, but I wouldn't be able to service it.
with a 2 inch lift, total space would be 31 inches, and 4 inches of clearance
3 inch lift, total space 32 inches and 5 inch clearance
4 inch lift, total space is 33 inches, and would give me the 6 inches above clearance.

So my plan now is to go with huge 4 inch subframe spacers, and compensate on the super elevated ride height by cutting down the springs by 2-3 inches or so to drop the van back down to close to normal. This way I get a little bit of lift overall from the outside, but the larger dimension I need inside the engine compartment. what do you all think? It will be kind of weird, as ill be lowering the van at the same time as raising it, but theoretically, it should work. This leaves me with extending the steering shaft in some way as my principle remaining steering issue.

1974 240D 617 turbo swap, W201 5-speed, in the works project
1983 240D 616 stock, DD
1989 Chevy Astro, 617 turbo swap, T5 5-speed, 4.56 diff, work van