Through a listing I had on eBay I found a guy who wanted to buy all the PW/PL parts from a '99 Chevy van I found in a junkyard here. So I spent the last couple days freezing my *** off to rip and tear the wiring and doors and **** out of one. Along the way I found a few interesting things, at least they'll be interesting to guys building a car on a budget. #1 the brake pedal and bracket. Had to pull it to get part of the harness out. It has a standard GM 4-bolt pattern for the booster on the firewall, and one bolt in the top of it to hold it in place. The ***embly is very compact, the pedal itself is not overly huge either. The actuating rod is part of the booster and held in place with a clip that includes what looks like the brake light switch. Unlike a lot of factory pedal brackets, it doesn't have anything tying it to the steering column, which opens a lot more options for the install. If you're looking to convert an older car with an under the floor master to a firewall mount, this may be a good and relatively easy to find option. Because the rod comes off easily and could be reversed 180' I don't see why you couldn't rig it to run a master hidden under the dash, too. #2 the door latch mechanisms themselves, particularly from the side door and rear door. GM combined the lock solenoid with the latch on these vans, an all-in-one unit. The unit itself is also compact for the thin van doors, and bolts in place with three torx-head screws. They're not difficult to remove and use normal rod actuators from the handles. The factory wiring isn't hard to remove either. If you're looking for a low-buck option to convert an older car to bear claw latches, these might be a good choice. The power lock ones aren't super common, but manual lock vans are very common (examine them carefully, I see some of them have issues with function after 200K in a work van). I paid about $30 for two latches and all the wiring from the front connector at the dash to the very rear of the van. They're narrow enough they should fit in at least most 1935-up cars. They might even fit into Model A doors. Another good donor part on these is the speakers in the front doors. They come with a nice mount bracket that would let you mount them elsewhere pretty easily. I'll post pictures of the latches when I get a chance with the exact dimensions. I didn't pick up the pedal mount but I may get it my next trip out to the junkyard. Something else I ran into, if a guy was looking to put power windows in an old car, I would look at like 97-05 Buick Century, Regal, Pontiac Gran Prix and the like. (it turns out they use the same window motor as the vans). The window mechanism looks a lot like some of the ones I see advertised for $150 or so in the magazines, the screw cable drive, except I can buy the whole damned door for $40 a shot and gut it at home, or buy the window motor and regulator for $25 and the switch for another $5-$12. Of course being a late GM, a lot of the inside bits are Hecho En Mexico, but if you don't worry about stuff like that, you're golden.
I finally got some pictures of those latches, I'll post them Sunday. Looks like they're a tad wider than I thought, close to 3", but those are off the side and rear door anyways. I have to go back for some other stuff, too, I'll at least get a picture of the pedal mount while I'm there.
Here's what the latches look like. About 3 inches at the widest, about 7 tall. Last picture is the business side.
The impala should be the same as the Grand Prix Also depending on the year those latches will be made in the USA, I can remember when they closed the plant where they were made.
im a firm believer in finding useful parts in any vehicle i part out..even right down to the light bulbs.
Is this a G full size van or a M astro vans? I like the pedal and pad on the full size van for its small size. Also a very compact booster mount ***y is those used in 1980 malibu.
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