It's not up to Project Binky standards, but I think it'll work for my needs.

"Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo" (rustyvandura)
07/18/2020 at 19:52 • Filed to: None

The new power lead comes out of the dashboard. Obviously, 50 amps is more than I need to charge a tablet of a cell phone, but I made it juicy enough so that I could run an inverter or other accessory. I checked the ampacity charts and 10 ga. wire would carry 50 amps 10 feet and this is only maybe 6 feet max.

DISCUSSION (11)

jminer > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/18/2020 at 21:04

I love the overkill setup - it’s awesome.

Do I see the engine bay of an Astro Van there?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > jminer
07/18/2020 at 21:12

Safari, to be precise, but yes. 1997.

There’s a second circuit breaker there, but self-resetting and I think I am going to make a new bracket for it much more like the one I installed today, and possibly bump the capacity of it from 100 to 120 amps; I’ll have another look at what the big inverter is rated at.

I learnt that there are two types of inverters, one more sophisticated than the other, and that my battery charger requires the more sophisticated one. I just don’t remember what it’s rated at.

jminer > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/18/2020 at 21:18

I had a 98 safari for a couple years. It was my mothers and she bought a new car after putting 200k on it so I used it as a beater for a bit, it was the AWD model. It worked pretty well but the transmission was a bit iffy and then when the intake sprung a coolant leak I scrapped it.

Funnily enough I’m looking for a van again and kind of wish I had fixed and kept the safari.

66P1800inpieces > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/18/2020 at 23:11

Is that 10ft including the return ground. So 10 ft, if a nearby body ground?

Merkin Muffley > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/18/2020 at 23:15

Im thinking the wire's gonna fuse first to protect that fancy breaker... 50 A is pretty substantial

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > jminer
07/18/2020 at 23:32

You can somewhat readily put a 350 V8 in one of those, I’ve been told. It’s getting less easy to find parts. What’s your van budget?

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > 66P1800inpieces
07/18/2020 at 23:36

It never occurred to me to count the ground in the measurement, but yes, I think so. If not, it’s not over by much. It’s not like we’d be talking 20 feet instead of 10 though. Thank you for that tip.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > Merkin Muffley
07/18/2020 at 23:39

If you look at the third photo, you can spot a loop of 6 ga wire going to a 100A breaker... It’s self-closing, so I may replace it with one that has the lever on it, and make a more elegant bracket.

jminer > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/19/2020 at 00:06

I know they bolt up but I’d think it would be very hard to fit. I’ve replaced an alternator on one and it took a while, not a lot of room for an extra 2 cylinders in the front I’d think.

$2-4 k is what I’m thinking now for a van, something cargo that can be a decent hauler, camp in it and tow a bit. It’s a wish list item that the Mrs supports but not a necessity. If some work vans or conversion vns start to show up cheap I’ll likely pick one up.

I lo ve vans, first car was a 94 Voyager, wife had a diesel E250 club wagon, later I had a 96 Voyager and finally the 98 Safari. I grew up in the back of Econoline conversion vans - road trips with a big family.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > jminer
07/19/2020 at 00:47

Cool. I've driven my family to the Atlantic Ocean and back three times in that van. I've rebuilt or replaced pretty much everything on it. I know a guy who scrapped his AWD Safari a few years back with, he claimed, 324k miles on it. Said it was the original engine and trans and I have trouble believing that. He said it never gave him any trouble but I don't readily believe that, either. No injectors? No intake manifold gasket? As much as I proactively maintain mine, I know he must have had some 4-digit trips to the mechanic over the years.

jminer > Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo
07/19/2020 at 01:36

My mom had two and while they were generally reliable they were in the shop regularly. Both made it to 200k, but neither with their original transmission

The 2nd one was the all wheel drive I ended up with. She bought an escape cause all her kids had grown and it was costing too much to keep on the road as a daily. I ended up with it and fixed a bunch of things and put like 8 thousand miles on it but it needed a transmission rebuild and then the intake manifold gasket went and I didn’t really want to d o that much work to it anymore.

The 4.3 is a very reliable engine but does have some problems as it's a 90s GM product. The Transmission was the big weak point on them.