Black Diamond - A 1984 Westfalia hightop syncro conversion

[K58]

This is epic!
Can't wait to see what's next!
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Westy HID Projector Retrofit

[Farfrumwork]

Great work!



Looking for a donor here myself. I've completed the subaru swap already, so it would be wee bit less work for me (wishful thinking I'm sure)

Updates?

12/7 EDIT - I did find and secure a donor syncro (motor/trans-less) Actually, I should say that the donor found me!! meant to be
I'll be tackling this myself, starting in a few weeks.
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sold -> '85 Wolfsburg Syncro / 'Built' DOHC EJ25 (a great machine!)
'07 Legacy spec.B, road tuned stgII
'17 4x4 Sprinter, stone grey, SMB pop-top, on 33"s

"Blood stains, speed kills - Fast cars, cheap thrills - Rich girls, fine wine - I've lost my sense, I've lost control, I've lost my mind"

[carterzest]

Impressive. Following for future reference in helping Jahbah~D
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Happiness=Portland, Oregon in the rearview mirror!

[jsmitch11]

All right back to the project. I have been very busy at work so not too much free time. I posted a bunch of pics too earlier posts I made so check back on those to see a few more images.

Next on the list for the conversion was the center cross member. Most of the conversions I have seen the 2wd is cut to allow enough room for the drive shaft. Originally this is the method I was planning on but when it came time to do this part I deided I wanted it to be as close to a stock ssyncro as possible. I had cut the crossmember out of the donor so I ground all of the junk off of it. It is amazing how sloppy this was done at the factory....lots of fiberglass mesh and black goop to cover it. After I had a clean crossmember I went to work on the 2wd one cutting out as much of it as possible and grinding down the rest. I ground down the connections on the frame rail and floor pan flush. The two support rods rear of the crossmember and the one forward I ground down flush. It was a little tricky snaking the crossmember in and getting it perfect but we did and Joe welded it perfect. Notching it out probably would have been a 30 min job. After we were done it was a solid 7 hours of work getting it perfect but ohh well.

The 2wd filler location needs to be sealed up if you are not using it for an aux fuel fill. I already have a big greywater tank and a propane tank so no extra room for me down there so I sealed mine. I cut the donor one big so I had plenty of room to grind it down with the factory lip intact. Joe did wonders with the welding again and it looks factory. The only reason why there is black on some of the welding areas pictured is I sprayed them to protect against rust. They will all be sanded smooth before paint.

Since I am also doing a full restoration there is body work coinciding with the conversion. My van is an 84 so it did not come with power steering. I am adding this so Joe welded the bracket from the donor on.

The 1984 body also only had the snorkel tabs on the driver side for the diesel snorkel. I am not certain what I am doing yet for my intake but I have some ideas and I want all options available so I added snorkel tabs on the passenger side.

I have decided to delete the original antenna so I closed that up and added two antennas that are side mounted. One is for radio and one for cb(pics later during reassembly)

I want my van to be as tough as possible so I am adding numerous reinforcements. On the underside I welded two support straps to the uppers spring mount and three straps of 1/8 steel to the sides(per side).

More to come soon.......
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1984 Vanagon Westfalia Syncro Hightop
1986 Vanagon Syncro(RIP)
1989 Vanagon Wolfsburg Whitestar Edition(RIP)

My Van syncro conversion/restoration
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=535730&highlight=black+diamond

[Phishman068]

patience is wearing thin....
: )

Hope the project is still coming along nicely! Lets see an update!
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http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=559766&highlight=winter+rust
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=482402&highlight=sunroof+syncro
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=569774
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=6864936#6864936

"Along with the ability to go fast, one looses the desire to hurry."

[BoneMachine]

Killer!!!!!!!! Are you gonna drive it to the east coast to fish for Albies? Bring your 9 weight.
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'85 Wolfsburg Edition Westfalia Weekender, Zetec #36, w/ Peloquin TBD
'83.5 Westfalia, full camper (we'll never forget you)

[jsmitch11]

I have been lacking on the posts but I am constantly working on the van(when I am not working my real job.) I recently scored some eurovan seats at the local junkyard(they have had 5 eurovans go through them in the past couple of months!) so I removed all seat covers and sewfine has them right now. In about a month I should get some beautiful interior back. I had a guy lined up for paint but he recently bailed on me. He let me know that the van needs to be running and driving for him to do paint(I assume because he needs to move it between shops). This is not possible for me so now I am on the hunt for a new painter which is not an easy task. Hopefully I can get this sorted out in the next month but in the meantime I always have stuff to be doing. The syncro conversion part is pretty much done but I have been touching up a couple of small details. The rear sidemarker lights on a 2wd are right on the seam but on the syncro they are moved towards the rear so we sealed up the rear holes

and then made new holes in the correct spot for a syncro

I still need to mount the charcoal canister and do a couple other things(which I will post).

Recently I purcashed the Burley HD rear bumper hitch. My plan was to add recovery shackle mounts and outriggers to offer more protection. Later I saw this post by Alaric of a custom one he had Burley make which is similar to what I made.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...;start=220

Here is the rear hitch with 1" thick recovery mounts added and outriggers.

We cut the rear bumper to fit the rear hitch, recovery points, and holes for reverse lights that I have added by attaching to the hd rear bumper. A pic of the finished product(however I still need to paint the hitch and rear bumper in John Deere Blitz black).

I am finishing some other work today and will have another update with pictures later today.
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1984 Vanagon Westfalia Syncro Hightop
1986 Vanagon Syncro(RIP)
1989 Vanagon Wolfsburg Whitestar Edition(RIP)

My Van syncro conversion/restoration
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=535730&highlight=black+diamond

[jsmitch11]

[goboness]

[jsmitch11]

[jsmitch11]

So I got the Rocky Mountain Westy sliding drawers for passenger and driver. I am very impressed with the product as it is high quality materials and works well. It is very easy to cut out the hole using the template(although I used a cut-off wheel which I think is easier then a jigsaw). After the hole is cut just shoot the supplied self tapping screws into the frame. The release for the swivel has to be bent 90 degrees so the drawer can open. Thats it....easy to install and a great product!!!!

More soon!
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1984 Vanagon Westfalia Syncro Hightop
1986 Vanagon Syncro(RIP)
1989 Vanagon Wolfsburg Whitestar Edition(RIP)

My Van syncro conversion/restoration
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=535730&highlight=black+diamond

[jsmitch11]

So I battled for a while with whether or not I wanted to add a winch to my vehicle. I ended up deciding that it was a good idea so I ordered up a Warn VR8000. I did some looking at different mounting positions for a vanagon and ended up copying the mod that Ten Cent did.

TenCents mod is a little bit down the page.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=495322&highlight=winch

I started out cutting a hole in the crumple strip for the wire to go through. I had my buddy Joe weld in some .12" think steel 1.5" x 2.5".

I found a good 1/5 thick winch mount on fleabay for about $50. After I got it I cut off a little bit on each side and notched it so it would snug up against the frame rail The winch mount came with holes that lined up with the warn winch. It was also predrilled with mounting holes that lined up with the vanagon frame rails so I drilled a few holes and bolted it up. I am going to remove the front opening on the winch plate since I am not mounting a foller fairlead on it and don't want the cable dragging against metal.

I bolted the winch in and pulled the cable through the crumple strip. At extreme angles the cable will drag against the inside tube steel so I will be placiing a second roller fairlead on the rear part of the crumple strip. I will be making the mount for the roller fairlead and test fitting it with my front bumper shortly. I also am going to pop the radiator in and check clearances as there is not a ton of room in there. A couple more pics of the winch.

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1984 Vanagon Westfalia Syncro Hightop
1986 Vanagon Syncro(RIP)
1989 Vanagon Wolfsburg Whitestar Edition(RIP)

My Van syncro conversion/restoration
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=535730&highlight=black+diamond

[70coupyel]

Great project. The winch is really nice.
So will this be the first Aswan Brown Syncro?
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[jsmitch11]

[rubbachicken]

keep the pictures coming, nice job

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lucy our westy

lucy's BIG adventure

meet 'burni'


markswagen {mobile mechanic} san diego area all early VW's cared for.

619 201 0310 or 617 935 4182

[Capt100j]

I am in the middle of my Subi 2.2 conversion, wish I had your energy! The talent on this site is just amazing, cudos to you and your welder bud.

[Steve Arndt]

Ambitious! Nice work.
Glad to see the CLK light weights powder coated dark color. I really dislike the look of the bare aluminum CLKs, much better dark.

[J Charlton]

Great to hear of the progress on this extensive a project. Looking forward to seeing some pics of the hightop on it and to see how you trick out the interior.

Hey - on your way to the East Coast - let me know when and I can take you for some excellent Northern Ontario Walleye. Maybe you can even get a 20lb pike on a fly as well.

JC
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NAHT hightop availability May 18 2023 -
Bend Oregon - for Oregon, California- (7 tot , 3 available), Kennewick Wa (6 tot, 1 available), Small Car Performance Fife Wa. (7 tot 4 avail ), Fairbanks Alaska (1 tot 0 avail)
Future availability TBD : Springfield Mass. Staunton Va, Florida, Colorado, Grand Junction Co., SLC probably late 2024

[jsmitch11]

[J Charlton]

I suggest that you place the top on the van temporarily to measure the cutout for the windows. It seems to work out better having the top sitting there and being able to measure up from the gutters of the van rather than from the edge of the top. By doing this you ensure that the windows are set with the horizontal frames parallel to the gutters and that's the alignment that catches the eye.
Which power vent did you finally select?
J
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NAHT hightop availability May 18 2023 -
Bend Oregon - for Oregon, California- (7 tot , 3 available), Kennewick Wa (6 tot, 1 available), Small Car Performance Fife Wa. (7 tot 4 avail ), Fairbanks Alaska (1 tot 0 avail)
Future availability TBD : Springfield Mass. Staunton Va, Florida, Colorado, Grand Junction Co., SLC probably late 2024