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danfromsyr
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15144
Location: Syracuse, NY
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 Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 12:57 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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to view a big american van (towing trailer no less) solo in some real rough terrain.. take a stroll thru this travel log. (hope pics are behaving for you)
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/1516...g!-(PICS!)
again, not anything I'd take a more precious Syncro out into. sure some guys have more $$ than Sense.. and can and do go romp the paint off their hobby vans.. not something my economics or sensibilities will allow. [/img]
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| Abscate wrote: |
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TequilaSunSet
Samba Member
Joined: May 30, 2012
Posts: 2109
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:02 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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danfromsyr... many thanks for the links, the first one looks like a great read which I will get into later. I hope to do something just as fun one day...
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Don't harsh my mellow...
1985 Hightower Vanagon 1.8T- Gone
1972 Panel Bus- Gone
1967 Bug- Gone
1964 Euro Sunroof Bug- Gone
1969/72/63 Sunroof Bug- Gone
1975 Brazilian Bug in the Philippines 🇵🇭- New to me |
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danfromsyr
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15144
Location: Syracuse, NY
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 1:15 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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and this guy taking his $500 AWD Astro out for some fun..
http://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/46437-Grumpy-takes-to-the-trails
guess the point here is you don't have to spend $yncro $$ to have fun and sleep in a van.. neither one are a jeep or proper crawler, and yet both groups take their vans out to play with the Jeepers.. no harm no foul. it's all about getting the people out and enjoying the outdoors to me..
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| Abscate wrote: |
| These are the reasons we have words like “wanker” |
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danfromsyr
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2004
Posts: 15144
Location: Syracuse, NY
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gene l
Samba Member
Joined: August 31, 2013
Posts: 136
Location: LOS OSOS,CA.
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:12 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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| Bruce, I'll still talk to you and even camp with you. It will be great having a fellow camper with a van to pull me out in the bad times. |
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TequilaSunSet
Samba Member
Joined: May 30, 2012
Posts: 2109
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 5:14 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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| gene l wrote: |
| Bruce, I'll still talk to you and even camp with you. It will be great having a fellow camper with a van to pull me out in the bad times. |
Thanks Gene  
_________________
Don't harsh my mellow...
1985 Hightower Vanagon 1.8T- Gone
1972 Panel Bus- Gone
1967 Bug- Gone
1964 Euro Sunroof Bug- Gone
1969/72/63 Sunroof Bug- Gone
1975 Brazilian Bug in the Philippines 🇵🇭- New to me |
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IdahoDoug
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10251
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:43 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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I suspect the power/torque of the 4.3 Vortec and the auto trans torque converter would make this easily the equivalent of the Syncro on most offroad terrain where slow/steep climbing on obstacles is needed. Its downfall is clearance. Especially yours - gotta get rid of those side steps, man!! Like leaving the reflectors on a bicycle spoke...
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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TequilaSunSet
Samba Member
Joined: May 30, 2012
Posts: 2109
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:52 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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| IdahoDoug wrote: |
| I suspect the power/torque of the 4.3 Vortec and the auto trans torque converter would make this easily the equivalent of the Syncro on most offroad terrain where slow/steep climbing on obstacles is needed. Its downfall is clearance. Especially yours - gotta get rid of those side steps, man!! Like leaving the reflectors on a bicycle spoke... |
LOL... nothing like peer pressure 
Yeah they are part of my plan to be gone, especially since one of them has a notch from the wheelchair lift (like I needed an excuse  )
Looking at a hightop but its only 24" minus 1" for the liner cap, which puts it right at 5'-9" my height... not sure if it is worth the cost, so a lift is really in play now
_________________
Don't harsh my mellow...
1985 Hightower Vanagon 1.8T- Gone
1972 Panel Bus- Gone
1967 Bug- Gone
1964 Euro Sunroof Bug- Gone
1969/72/63 Sunroof Bug- Gone
1975 Brazilian Bug in the Philippines 🇵🇭- New to me |
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kamzcab86
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 26, 2008
Posts: 7925
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:47 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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| ThankYouJerry wrote: |
| TequilaSunSet wrote: |
| Did you sell your Vanagon or simply add this to the fleet?!?! |
So far part of the fleet...
Krusty will probably be the short straw though. |
Soooooooo... is this still your answer:
| TequilaSunSet wrote: |
No regrets... dumped a chit load into it, some things I wish I might have done differently... but no regrets 
...and will be spending more on it |
I was going to say that you'll want to join an Astro forum, but I see you already did: http://www.astrosafari.com/ .
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~Kamz 
1986 Cabriolet: www.Cabby-Info.com
 1990 Vanagon Westfalia: Old Blue's Blog
2016 Golf GTI S
"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance." - 孔子 |
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TequilaSunSet
Samba Member
Joined: May 30, 2012
Posts: 2109
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:50 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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KAMZ A STALKER!!!!!
_________________
Don't harsh my mellow...
1985 Hightower Vanagon 1.8T- Gone
1972 Panel Bus- Gone
1967 Bug- Gone
1964 Euro Sunroof Bug- Gone
1969/72/63 Sunroof Bug- Gone
1975 Brazilian Bug in the Philippines 🇵🇭- New to me |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32632
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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IdahoDoug
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10251
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 9:36 am Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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Wow, I've never seen that model before. Pretty ambitious. I tried my best to read the fine print and it looks to have a shower and optional toilet even. Nice. Dig the color as well.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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Jake de Villiers
Samba Member
Joined: October 24, 2007
Posts: 5911
Location: Tsawwassen, BC
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 12:27 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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| djkeev wrote: |
Here you go, a 1968 Chevy Kamp King Coaches conversion......
Dave |
Wow! I'd hate to drive that across the Astoria Bridge!!
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'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com |
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Zeitgeist 13
Samba Member
Joined: March 05, 2009
Posts: 12115
Location: Port Manteau
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 12:43 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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Looks like it escaped from the set of Mad Max
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Casey--
'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik? |
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djkeev
Samba Moderator
Joined: September 30, 2007
Posts: 32632
Location: Reading Pennsylvania
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ThankYouJerry
Samba Member
Joined: September 01, 2012
Posts: 2271
Location: Shakedown Street
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TequilaSunSet
Samba Member
Joined: May 30, 2012
Posts: 2109
Location: Philippines
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 9:24 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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Me like!!!
CL ad with more pics
https://dayton.craigslist.org/cto/5420863279.html
_________________
Don't harsh my mellow...
1985 Hightower Vanagon 1.8T- Gone
1972 Panel Bus- Gone
1967 Bug- Gone
1964 Euro Sunroof Bug- Gone
1969/72/63 Sunroof Bug- Gone
1975 Brazilian Bug in the Philippines 🇵🇭- New to me |
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IdahoDoug
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10251
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Sun Feb 07, 2016 11:07 pm Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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Wow, cool. Kind of interesting that its max GVW is a meager 5000lbs, though. Seems like that kind of heavy american iron should have been able to hack more than that, since it probably had a curb weight of 4000lbs ish. Just makes a Vanagon more amazing since some models probably have a curb weight of 3500 and a payload of 1500 or more.
Anyhow, interesting bit of history and nice to see it in the right hands. That's a stout price.
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1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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davevickery
Samba Member
Joined: July 16, 2005
Posts: 2887
Location: Fort Collins, CO
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| Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:10 am Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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I don't know if anyone mentioned the Chevy Express AWD vans but I am not going back 9 pages to find out. I like the Astro but they are getting old, aren't really big enough inside, and really that high a quality.
All the modern features, extra space and quiet ride would be nice. The long wheel base isn't great but better than a sprinter. They get 17mpg with an effiicient 5.3 V8. I'm surprised you don't see more of them getting camperized.
They make a couple lift kits for it, only a few hundred bucks for a 2" lift, Add a GTRV westy style or Sprortsmobile poptop, for what $6K, and finish out the interior as a camper. Here is one with a Westy top.
A nice fairly nice used one with under 100K can be had for 10-12K. It would probably wind up costing 25K by the time it was all camperized. But an automatic with comfortable seats, good AC, no wind noise, far higher cargo capacity and all modern car conveniences is pretty tempting. It wouldn't follow a syncro in a lot of locations but the AWD would still take you into a lot of remote country without getting stuck.
I haven't driven one but I think it would be a lot more comfortable ride than a sportsmobile 4x4 which I have checked out in the past. |
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BlueGrasser
Samba Member
Joined: August 27, 2014
Posts: 562
Location: Sacramento
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| Posted: Mon Feb 08, 2016 11:32 am Post subject: Re: Ever want sell your Vanagon for an American one? |
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| TequilaSunSet wrote: |
| ... and this summer my last events in my vanagon will be sad, especially the $$$ loss I will take up the azz! |
Say it isn't so! 
You still going to Syncrofest this year?
You can still rock that Astrovan at Descend on Bend. It's not VW specific (though most vans there were VW). Better get that beast off the ground a little more first though, or you're liable to lose one of your side steps on the way in.
| ThankYouJerry wrote: |
You kinda just harshed my mellow. |
This! 
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Going to where the grass is bluer...
1985 Vanagon Westfalia Camper with 1.8T |
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