Pathfinder Parts Catalogs

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The following unedited editorial was written by Mr. Dave Engel and sent to Pathfinder 4wd Van Accessories on 01/08.

Dave has detailed the steps he took while converting his G30 Chevrolet van and was kind enough to share this information as to assist others thinking of converting their own vans. There are many different ways to convert a van, so keep in mind that should you become inspired to convert your van after reading this editorial, this is one example. Enjoy reading the story! 

To God be  the glory. I attribute the success

and safety  during this project to the grace of my Lord Jesus.
 

1976 Chevy G30

350 Motor, 350THM  Transmission, 205 Transfer Case

GM 10 Bolt Front  Axle, GM 14 Bolt Rear, 3.73 Ratio

Converted in  2004/2005 

Costs

Used front axle, 1979 Chevy  K20 -$200

New ball joints -$100

Used flat top knuckles(Venture  Truck Parts) - $160

Motor Mount (Pathfinder Parts)-$220

Steering Arm (Pathfinder  Parts)-$100

Leaf Springs (Pathfinder Parts)- $605

Front support steel tube 1.5x2.5-$30 

Front U-bolts-$50

Rear U-bolts-$50

Drive Shafts modified-$306

Drag Link and Tie Rod(Bullet  Proof Steering)-$501

Brake and gas lines-$30

Weld Supplies-$30

Transfer Case-$150

Misc.  Parts, Steel, Paint, Bolts-$100

Total- $2632

Other Costs

Motor re-bore and rebuild -$1100

Radiator -$120 

Brakes- $80

Conversion Process

Find a place where you have  a lot of room and can leave the van for a time while you search for  parts and do your legwork. This is not a fast project. It took me 9  months with an engine rebuild in the middle.

Support the van by the frame  well behind the front wheels. Raise it at least 6 inches higher than  the van sits normally. You will be raising the running height of the  van at least 5 inches. You will also need room to remove the engine  if you drop it down to floor level like I did in the picture above.

Remove almost everything that  you can. Drive shafts, exhaust, radiator, pumps, front brakes lines,  etc. In most cases you will want to remove the motor and transmission  because of the work you will be doing on the transmission. You will  either be getting a different transmission or putting a different output  shaft into the transmission you have. Removing as much as possible from  the front of the van will aid in removing the motor and the fitting  of the front axle.
 

Support the motor and transmission  from inside the van. I used a 4 foot piece of channelmounted just in front of the  seats and a small screw jack under each end. I supported the motor with  light chain around the exhaust manifolds. Remove the bolts from the  motor mounts and raise the motor slightly. You can put another support  under the transmission for safety at this point. 

Remove the front wheels and  brake calipers. Support the front suspension with two jacks while you  remove the numerous bolts that connect it to the frame. The front suspension  comes out in one piece. The motor mounts, the coil springs etc. will  remain connected. None of these parts will be reused. When all the bolts  are removed slowly lower the suspension down, keeping it level so it  will not bind on the frame. Be careful since the assembly does not balance  well with jacks under it. Mine fell off the jacks when it cleared the  frame but none of these parts will be reused.

Lower the motor and transmission  assembly to the floor using the screw jacks from inside the van this  takes some time since you have to lower the motor 36 inches and most  jacks only have 12 inches of travel. If you have an appropriate jack  that will do it from below, go ahead and use it. Slid the motor and  transmission out from under the van. 

You now have a bare frame to  work with. Next you will need to find and assemble the front axle and  leaf springs you will be putting in the van. Do any rebuild on the axle  at this point. You will need an axle with a flat top knuckle on the  passenger side and a steering arm attached to it. Several web sites show  how to do the machining and where to get the steering arms.

I recommend getting the Chevy  Pathfinder Manual from Pathfinder Parts. This shows the dimensions and  location of the axle mounts and gives you a reference point for positioning  your axle. 

Loosely bolt the leaf springs  to the axle. I used ¼ inch threaded rod and plywood, since I had not  purchased the Ubolts yet. Make a wood replica of the chin support you  will be welding to the frame. I cut the lower radiator mounts out at  this point since they were in the way, and welded them back in after  the chin support was in place. 

Clamp the wood replica of the  chin support in place. Raise the axle and spring assembly up into the  van and make a few measurements. The leaf springs will be angled with  the dimension between the brackets being shorter at the front than at  the rear. After taking some measurements I concluded that I had to move  the spring perches on the axle. The goal is to have the axle hanger  on the driver side under the frame horn and the rear shackle block on  the frame. This generates a certain angle between the leaf spring and  the frame. You would like to duplicate this angle with the passenger  side spring as well. The location of the front spring hanger is not  as critical on the passenger side since it will be welded to the chin  support which runs between the two frame horns. I had to move the spring  perches out 1.25 on each side. I duplicated the dimensions found in  the Pathfinder manual within a ½ inch. The important thing is to get  driver side hanger on the frame and the rear shackle block on the frame  with enough contact so you can weld these parts securely to the frame.

The chin support was one of  the hardest things to figure out since the two sides of the frame are  at different angles and elevations. I used 1.5x2.5 rectangular tubing.  The driver side was welded to the side of the frame and on the passenger  side I cut a steel wedge that went between the frame and the 1.5x2.5  tubing to compensate for the difference in angles. The goal is to have  a flat surface on the driver side to weld the hanger to. On the passenger  side you want to have enough contact surface between the frame and the  tubing. I also welded a plate over the end of the tube as shown in the  Pathfinder manual. 

When the chin support is in  place you can then bolt the springs, hangers and axle together for tack  welding into place. Make the final measurements so you know the axle  is centered and tack the hangers and brackets in place. Remove the springs  and axle and fully weld the brackets to the frame. I chose to assemble  the axle springs and wheels and put weight on them to make sure the  brackets were in the correct location. The motor is not in yet but this  gives you an idea of the height of the van.

Remove the axle and springs  in preparation for the motor and transmission. 

Several months earlier I had  decided to use the transmission that was in the van. The output shaft  on a 2 wheel drive transmission is different from the 4 wheel drive  shaft. I purchased a used output shaft and installed it in the transmission.  This requires complete disassembly of the transmission since the output  shaft must be put in from the front of the transmission. I changed the  seals and filter also. 

I chose to raise the motor,  transmission and transfer case up into the van rather than dropping  the motor in from the top. If you have all the lifts you can do it the  conventional way but doing it from the bottom turned out to be very  easy. With the same piece of channel and screw jacks used before I raised  the motor, trans, TC assembly into place and supported it from the floor  for safety. Bolt the motor support to the frame. Check the bolt hole  alignment ahead of time and make adjustments as needed. Lower the motor  on the motor mounts and install the bolts. 
 

You can now assemble the springs  and axle for the last time. 

You must keep a support under  the transmission since there is no support there yet. That is the next  step is to weld a support. This can be done many ways. I chose to use  the bolt holes from the 2wd transmission support and the rubber mount  from the 2wd transmission. It consists of 4 pieces of angle and  one piece of channel.  

To support the transfer case  I used the bracket that came on the TC. I then purchased some rubber  bushing and welded another bracket to the transmission support. Large  threaded rod supports the TC from the transmission bracket. 

The van now has the full weight  on it and you can tell the rear has to be raised. Disconnect the rear  brake lines so the axle can be lowered freely. Support the van from  the frame in the rear. Remove the rear Ubolts and lower the axle. I  welded up 4 lift blocks from plate with a slight ¼ inch taper.  Bolt the axle back in with longer Ubolts. 

Measure the length of drive  shafts you will need. Modify or purchase the drive shafts needed. Measure  for the drag link and tie rod. The parts from Bullet Proof steering  look great and are easy to install. The rod and link from Bullet Proof  require drilling out the tapered holes to ¾ inch straight holes. This  allows the tie rod to be mounted from under the knuckle arm, which gives  good clearance between it and the springs.

Make sure you center the steering  wheel before measuring for the link.

Several things have to be modified  from the original design. The shock absorber mounts, the brake lines,  exhaust system and speedometer cable.

I chose to reuse the original  shocks and relocate the front and rear mounts. This takes some time  but worked well. The brake line mounts in the front where welded in  a new location and brake line supports were added to keep the flex lines  from contacting the axle. The rear mount was extended up to give the  flexible brake line enough travel. The emergency brake line mount was  moved also. The exhaust pipe on the passenger side was moved up to pass  through the transmission support. The van had dual exhaust to start.  The speedometer cable was rerouted to get more usable length. 
 

I did not want a shift lever  in the mild of the van floor so I chose to put a lever under the  van for shifting into 4WD. I welded a short piece of bar to a bracket  that is connected in much the same way it is in the 4WD trucks. It creates  a shift lever that points backwards instead of up.

Part Sourcing

This can be tough to do. The  front axle must be the same ratio as the rear unless you get it for  free. Changing a ratio is not cheap or easy. Wheel ends come in many  varieties and changed from year to year. The WEB is a great resource  for interchangeability of parts. The easiest axle to find will be a  GM 10 bolt. You will have to put flat top knuckles on this axle but  knuckles are easy to find.  What you want to find is an axle with  the right ratio and wheel ends and change the knuckles if needed.  

I recommend building the van  with part time 4WD in mind, since the added power needed for full time  is significant. The 205 Transfer case is the way to go. They can be  found easily and there is little that can go wrong with them. The one  problem is finding the right transmission adapter and input shaft. Each  TC has a different adapter and shaft depending on the transmission it  bolted to. The 350, 400 automatics and 4 and 3 speed manuals are all  different. A 208 TC can be considered but it must be in good shape or  rebuilt.

Questions on parts or need to place an order? Call Gordon @ 801-915-1402 anytime from 7:00 AM to 10:00 PM mountain time. Monday-Saturday

(Sunday is OK if you have no other time to call )