***NEW UPDATED INSTALL PICS (7-8-07) ON PAGES 3-5***
Table of Contents:
page 1........vehicle exterior mods
page 2........original audio mods completed 2005
Pages 3-6......new audio mods completed 2007
Welcome to pimpin' a grocery getter part II. The first time around (1990 gmc safari) I completely focused on the sound system and left the vehicle completely stock. The van itself was an eye sore but sounded insane. This time I wanted both good looks and awesome sound, so I decided to complete most of the exterior mods before starting the sound system.
Here's a shot of the van bone stock:
The first thing I did was to get rid of those ugly wheels and tires. They were replaced with 20" ADR wheels and Falken Azenis low pro tires (255/35/20).
Next, the stock grille was replaced with a polished phantom style billet grille from Stull. This required replacing almost the entire front end. I had to use headlights and housings from the pre 95 astro. Parking/signal lights were sourced from an 83' C10 pickup. Here's a before and After:
After getting many comments about the huge spacing in the wheel wells being an eye sore, I decided to lower the van. This was accomplished using 2" dropped spindles in front and a rear flip kit both from DJM suspension. The flip kit allows for a drop of 3 to 5 inches and was originally set to 3" ( more on this later). The stock shocks were also swapped out for KYB monomax shocks for lowered vehicles.
As I got closer to what I had envisioned I started to sweat the details. To get more of a clean look in the front I replaced the LOUD orange corner lenses and reflectors with clears.
Keeping in line with the idea of a nice "clean" look the next logical thing was to get rid of that diving board of a rear bumper. I ordered a fiberglass roll pan that was designed for vans without the stock body kit/trim. I used fiberglass to reshape the piece so that it fit right in with the lines of the stock body kit. I also fiberglassed aluminum L brackets to the inside of the roll pan so that I could use the factory bumper mounts to bolt it into place. This beats the heck out of the supplied hardware (double sided tape and screws). Euro tail lights were installed for just the right amount of bling.
SEE PAGE 2 FOR AUDIO UPGRADES!
