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Mon Jun 04, 2018 12:12 pm

I'd like to introduce my new project vehicle. I've had it since January and gathered some ideas, but I haven't done much.... yet. :)

It all started with an email from Frans at Dutch Auto Parts. I have bought quite a few parts from him. He supplied the parts for converting my 99 Westy to TDI. He's a good guy. We keep in touch through email. A year or so ago, he sent me an email asking if I'd be interested in a T4 (Eurovan) PICKUP. My immediate response was "YES! but I'll have to wait a couple more years so they are 25yrs old and easier to import". He then explained that Europe got the T4 in 1991 and they were now old enough. After that, the hunt was on! :D

He kept his eyes open for a few good examples that were worth importing. In Europe most, if not all, of the T4 pickups are used commercially. Think about an early 90s domestic pickup that has been used commercially all its life for a minute.... Do you envision one in good condition? Yeah, me either, and generally, that's the condition of these T4 pickups in Europe. He had his work cut out for him and it took a while for him to find one good enough to send. Late last year he had rounded up an example of each style available, a crewcab (Doka), a short box single cab (Sinka), and a long box single cab (Sinka). We worked together to get them imported to do Oregon. The thought was to import them all, see which one I wanted to keep and sell the other two. I have other vehicles I can’t haul my whole family in and I decided I didn’t need another of those. The Doka was the one for me.

My plan is to upgrade this one in quite a few ways and daily drive it. My commute to work is 54 miles/day. It is currently a 1.9 diesel. I’ve only checked two tanks but I got 27.5 and 30 mpg. Not bad. I really like the additional power in our 99 Westy though so the Doka will be getting a TDI. I’m still not sure which one, but leaning heavily towards a 2.5. There are a number of other ideas I have that I’ll share later as I get time.
Writing this and then looking for pictures made me realize I don’t have many pictures of the Doka. Here are a couple though.

Tough Decision that I was faced with one morning... which do I drive to work? :-)

Lastly, a picture of our 99 Westy, just because I think it's a cool picture at Glacier. :-)

The two sinkas are for sale now. If anyone is interested in those, the ads are here:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2169282
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2172336

Mon Jun 04, 2018 5:37 pm

rcowan wrote: Tough Decision that I was faced with one morning... which do I drive to work? :-)

That is a cool photo, looks like a VW brochure shot

Mon Jun 04, 2018 10:47 pm

Thanks Everett. I wish I would have pulled the air hose back in the shop. Kinda made it messy looking. I just took the picture to text to a friend but had to scrape around for pictures of it this afternoon.

Tue Jun 05, 2018 7:59 am

I would have chose the red one since you could fit more people in there. I would assume that once you got to work that you would be getting requests for a ride...

Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:31 am

Super cool!

Tue Jun 05, 2018 10:38 am

sorry - double post

Tue Jun 05, 2018 11:12 am

sweet rides. did you know that your doka was featured on curbside classic?

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-e...el-pickup/

Tue Jun 05, 2018 12:17 pm

Are these 25 years old?

Tue Jun 05, 2018 2:07 pm

postjosh wrote: sweet rides. did you know that your doka was featured on curbside classic?

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-e...el-pickup/

I had not seen that but that's actually not mine. That is another red one!! That one is unusual in that it has a long box that I don't think VW ever made (on a crewcab)..... I'd like to look at the frame on that one. That rear axle is pretty far forward compared to the rear of the bed. I haven't seem proportions like that before. Definitely unusual.

Tue Jun 05, 2018 2:09 pm

vw_dude wrote: Are these 25 years old?

Yes. This one is a 1991.

Thu Jun 14, 2018 11:21 am

I've always liked Borbet Type C wheels so when I saw a set for sale, I had to pick them up for the Doka! :-) I had 215/70R16 tires mounted on them and finally had a chance to put them on the Doka last night! This is stock height. I still want to add a small lift.

Stock

Borbets

Thu Jun 14, 2018 2:50 pm

rcowan wrote: [quote... I don't think VW ever made (on a crewcab)..... I'd like to look at the frame on that one. That rear axle is pretty far forward compared to the rear of the bed. I haven't seen proportions like that before. Definitely unusual.

Might be worth measuring it and comparing to the longer wheelbase and body on the Winnebago.

Fri Jun 15, 2018 9:56 am

Do you have more pics/information you can share about the TDI swap into your Weekender? There's not a lot of information about the TDI conversion process for the VR6 models. You have an enviable stable of T4s

Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:02 am

pinetreeporsche wrote: rcowan wrote: [quote... I don't think VW ever made (on a crewcab)..... I'd like to look at the frame on that one. That rear axle is pretty far forward compared to the rear of the bed. I haven't seen proportions like that before. Definitely unusual.

Might be worth measuring it and comparing to the longer wheelbase and body on the Winnebago.

I have done that. The single cab/long box and the double cab/short box are on the same chassis (same wheelbase) as the Winnebago. The single cab/short box are on the same chassis as Westy/MV/GLS.

The double cab linked has a lot more box hanging behind the rear axle than any I have seen before. That was my point. It appears someone has mounted a long box on it and extended the frame behind the axle to me.

Sat Jun 16, 2018 9:09 am

Zeitgeist 13 wrote: Do you have more pics/information you can share about the TDI swap into your Weekender? There's not a lot of information about the TDI conversion process for the VR6 models. You have an enviable stable of T4s

I didn't document my swap. When I did it, there were very few done. There were a couple guys in Oregon that were doing the swap for others/profit. They were kind enough to share many pointers with me. I didn't want to spill any of their "secrets". I didn't feel they were mine to share.

Now there are a few documented swaps on the TDI Club (http://forums.tdiclub.com/forumdisplay.php?f=63. There is also quite a bit of information on http://www.vwt4forum.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?f=146. That's where I found a LOT of my information.

Mon Aug 27, 2018 11:51 am

It's been a busy summer and I haven't done much with the Doka.... except enjoy it. :D This past weekend the kids and I took it for a few mountain bike rides. It did great! I took a couple pictures along the way.

Thu Oct 11, 2018 11:15 am

I added 1" spacers to the rear of the Doka and raised the front end up to match. It needs to be aligned yet but I like how it looks!

The CVs are really complaining though (Vibration). I have read that old CVs can be an issue when the angles are changed from raising. I think that's my issue. I'm going to order new driveshafts and hopefully that will take care of the vibration.

Compared to the stock height Sinka:

Side View Comparison:
Before:

After:

Wed Oct 24, 2018 5:13 pm

I stumbled across this article on Go Westy's site: http://www.gowesty.com/tech-article-details.php?id=171

Since this Doka is a manual transmission, the axles left and right are the same length. I swapped them side to side as the article suggested and vibration is gone! That saved me a few dollars and that makes me happy. Time will tell if it lasts. I have an alignment scheduled and then I can really put some miles on it. :D

Sat Oct 27, 2018 4:09 am

The 2002-2003 pickup was even better...
Cool rides, I like that candy apple red with raspberry tones

Tue Oct 30, 2018 3:43 pm

Abscate wrote: The 2002-2003 pickup was even better...

I used to think that also but this short nose is really growing on me. The Euro-spec front bumper definitely helps out! The later brakes/engines are definitely better but I'm really starting to like the looks of the short nose on a Doka.