1996 Chevy Lumina APV GTP - $2016 Soccer Mom Challenge

Opti wrote: Could you mate that manual to an S/C 3.8? seems like selling the 3.9 to fund a L67 is the cheapest way to HP, with just a pulley and basic mods.

It's possible. Something about a combination of an F-body clutch with the stock flywheel can do it. The problem is that this transmission isn't rated for all of the torque that an L67 (especially a tuned L67) can put out. I seem to remember it being a 245 lb/ft torque limit. Of course ZZPerformance has parts to beef up the transmission to handle more power. I'll have to look into that some more.

In reply to ShawneeCreek:

We will be checking with local SCCA on rules for minivans. We discussed in our meeting yesterday and there is a calculation for height and center of gravity that will determine eligibility.

In reply to Rick Goolsby:

Ok. Thank you for the head's up. I look forward to hearing the final ruling.

While we are waiting to hear back we have gone ahead with repairing the suspension on the G6. Over the past month we have been to the local LKQ junkyard where we got a used knuckle for $16 and a new steering rack for $45. Yesterday, Mrs. ShawneeCreek helped me finish mounting the replacement knuckle.

Then, this evening I finished pulling the steering rack to replace the very bent tie rod and give it a good looking over.

We're waiting for a replacement front passenger CV axle. Then we can finish re-assembling the suspension. Until next time -Sean

i might have rear air shocks from an air lift assist APV.

patgizz wrote: i might have rear air shocks from an air lift assist APV.

I'll keep that in mind. Thanks. Our van did come with the air lift assist, but I don't know if those shocks are still in the back. With 200+ thousand miles, I doubt it.

Progress! I finished reassembling the steering rack and got it installed along with the new axle. 

Unfortunately, when I bolted the wheel on I discovered that the passenger wheel was shoved about an inch or more back during the accident. So the subframe, control arm, frame horn, or a combination thereof must be tweaked. I'll do some investigating after lunch. Anyways, it moves under it's own power again. 

I feel like with that much caster loss and with that much damage to the tie rod it's gotta be the control arm. Those things are usually built pretty flimsy to take the brunt of the impact to protect more expensive parts.

Don't rule out the strut either, I've seen some hilariously warped struts on Subarus from Ken Blocking a curb. The clevis tab can also get warped and push the spindle back. But I'd say more likely the control arm.

Some of these measurements are a little rough as it's just me working on it today. At a glance though, it looks possible, but I've got a heap of measuring and thinking and calculating left to do.

ssswitch wrote: I feel like with that much caster loss and with that much damage to the tie rod it's gotta be the control arm. Those things are usually built pretty flimsy to take the brunt of the impact to protect more expensive parts. Don't rule out the strut either, I've seen some hilariously warped struts on Subarus from Ken Blocking a curb. The clevis tab can also get warped and push the spindle back. But I'd say more likely the control arm.

Good call on the control arm. Thanks. It was bent more than an inch back. I just picked up a replacement for $12 (40% off at the junkyard this weekend). It is impressively shiny and new looking for a junkyard part.

Despite the lack of updates we have been making some progress. I got the replacement control arm put in the GTP.

Then I bolted everything back together and put the car back on its wheels. Backed it out of the garage, swept the floor, and spun the car around and backed it back into the garage. I grabbed the good battery out of the DD and dropped it into the van so I could spin it around too. I'm still amazed that this $275 van runs and drives.

Disassembly time. I pulled the hood off of the van and took off the air intake. I want to get the engine and transmission pulled out soon. I'm guessing that the engine needs dropped out of the bottom. But I'm going to wait until the service manual I bought arrives to be sure.

Then tonight I started pulling out the interior of the GTP. I managed to get the front and rear seats, side panels, and rear carpet out. Thankfully everything looks to be rust free and in good shape.

I think I just moved the mess around though. I need to come up with a place to store the pieces that I might use later.

Until next time...

Yay! It's back!

Good progress!

Nice, lmk if you need a hand.

chandlerGTi wrote: Nice, lmk if you need a hand.

Will do. Thanks. Disassembly of both the G6 and the APV continues. I've got most of the back of G6 torn down to the metal.

Also, my repair manual for the van came today. It confirms what I thought; the engine transmission, and front subframe all drop out of the bottom together. That's going to be interesting. Until next time...

High five for the space shuttle van build.

The G6-needs to be torn down to a "vette-kart" level and converted to V8 and RWD

Well, there's no going back now. Better update later, I need food.

This project has evolved from a engine and transmission swap to more of a body swap. That way we can keep the independent rear suspension, ABS, traction control, and stability control that came with the G6.

Since the last update I managed to remove both doors and pull wiring harness out of the back up to the center of the car. Yesterday after church we got out to the garage and pulled the windshield.

I broke out the reciprocating saw and introduced Mrs. ShawneeCreek to it. She cut through the back of the trunk and both A-pillars. She did pretty good.

Then I took over cutting apart the B- and C-pillars and fenders. The whole time I'm thinking "I can't believe in doing this. I'm cutting the roof off of a car." I finished cutting and we rolled the car into the driveway so that we would have some room to lift off the roof. And that's how we got here:

We left the back and side windows in the section that was cut off. Mrs. ShawneeCreek and I were laughing so much. We couldn't believe that we had just cut the roof off of the car.

We put the roof around back. We may use pieces of the structure later when we are splicing the car and van together. Anybody need some windows or a sunroof for a G6 coupe?

We pushed the car (or rather, what remains of the car) back into the garage. I'll go back later and make more precise cuts with a cutoff wheel to get it down to just what we need.

Until next time...

Please tell me you have or will take the G6 for a drive like that... You have to. Do it for us.

keeping the g6 seats? they look nice.

Spectacular!
Where else in the world does this make perfect sense?

Include me in if there becomes a need for a "van body lifting party".
Can 6 guys lift a van body into place on a G6 platform?
Enquiring minds want to know!

Yes, the G6 seats are nice. Two-tone leather (black and grey) with heat and the GTP logo embroidered into the back. The current plan is to keep front (lower) interior of the car to use in the van. Basically everything from the back of the front seats to the firewall. The dashboards of the car and van will require some integration, but doing it this way means that I won't be messing up the carefully engineered relationship between the pedals, steering wheel, shifter, and seat. It also means that I can use those G6 seats with actual side bolsters (vs. the van's lazy boy like flatness).

I'd also like to reupholster the back seats of the van (there are only two) with the material from the back seats of the G6. Matching leather all around and that GTP logo again. But first I need to get these two vehicles cut apart and stuck back together again.

I like the plot twist. Can't wait to see how it all ends up.

Good thing you're getting practice before you move onto the APV. Sawing the roof off is definitely one way to get around the width:height rollover rules.

BlueInGreen44 wrote: I like the plot twist. Can't wait to see how it all ends up.

My tought exaxtly.