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tschroeder0 Samba Member
Joined: April 14, 2008 Posts: 2096 Location: Boulder CO
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Posted: Fri May 26, 2023 1:53 pm Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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Hey All, just another van travel update- It was a long winter here in Colorado and its been good to get some trips happening in the last many weeks.
I made "short" 1600 mile round trip to Tulsa to see a good friend who moved there...absolutely insane headwinds the Entire way there, it will put a dent in your gas mileage! Tulsa was a cool place, especially if you're a musician and get out and see some local bands!
This is what it looks like driving to Oklahoma...the whole way, lol
Downtown Tulsa...absolutely top notch players and great local crowds!
The trip back was uneventful and easy...of course this was followed by some van maintenance. I had a torn CV boot, so...
My shocks were looking a little unhappy, so a little polishing and wax for protection, not too bad!
Next up was Syncro Solstice! weirdly, I have never been. It was great to hang with friends and meet up with my stepson Ethan, who was headed back up north to Glacier for a his river raft guiding gig...a great laid back time!
Up the mountain and through the canyon to Moab!
Syncro Solstice- Lots of friends to hang with!
Some Great rides were had in Moab and Fruita and the Bloom was happening!
Then it was back home after several days to the not so great wildfire smoke from Canada...All in all a great trip!
Smoke.
On a side note, despite the fantastic times with this van and all the hard work making it what it is- I have made the (hard) decision, related to an ongoing health reason, to list it for sale sometime soon...several things I want to do before passing it along to someone, but if anyone has some interest feel free to mail me.
Cheers! and Safe travels! |
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tschroeder0 Samba Member
Joined: April 14, 2008 Posts: 2096 Location: Boulder CO
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Posted: Fri Jun 09, 2023 3:04 pm Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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I've been doing a number of things on my van thst needed to get done before I possibly sell- unfortunately they are things I've already done less than 3 years ago and had to redo because of issues with the parts.
Thought I'd make a quick post to maybe help others.
First off, I bought one on the more flexible fuel filler hoses when I was replacing everything- big mistake- this is less than 3 yrs of use:
Cracked everywhere.
Stick with the heavy duty oem type.
Next, I had replaced my fuel sending unit also when I had my tank out- the quality is questionable of the ones available- the clip for the connector is ridiculously feeble- mine popped out at one point and I had to JB weld it in while in the middle of nowhere.
So- when you do the job JB it first so that it can't come out in the future.
My old one:
Notice how small the little insert is into the body of the sender...just waiting to pop out.
New one with JB on it around the clip
The other thing to note was it took several rounds of tightening up the gasket/metal ring to get the sender to completely seal, frustrating...fill the tank up above the sender, let the rubber gasket swell up a bit and be patient.
Thanks- good luck! |
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ALIKA T3 Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009 Posts: 6315 Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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Steve Arndt Samba Member
Joined: August 01, 2005 Posts: 1777 Location: Boise, Idaho
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Posted: Mon Jun 12, 2023 2:42 pm Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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I just replaced my transaxle. Didn't want to do the tank since nothing was wrong with it.
Now my sending unit is leaking badly. Ugh. I'm going to attempt to re-seal it with the tank installed. Just new gaskets. My gauge works perfectly fine. _________________ Steve
Steve's 87 Syncro project |
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tschroeder0 Samba Member
Joined: April 14, 2008 Posts: 2096 Location: Boulder CO
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2023 10:04 pm Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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Super Wonderful Amazing Trip Rundown!
Hey all, I just finished up a long many week trip west from Colorado to Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah and back home. Truly one of the best trips I have ever had. The van clocked in a rock solid 4000 miles! Mountains, off road, long lazy hwy stretches and everything in between.
Check out the recap-** for reasons explained later in the post, the Imperfect Beast is getting painted and will be up for sale in the near future. I've decided to buy a piece of desert property and will need the funds. If anyone has any interest, please feel free to PM me...a sale add will be placed sometime soon...
The trip:
This trip was a special one, my first journey out on the road where I also had the van setup to work from, and had the ok from work...very freeing and a little nerve wracking...After some van prep and some new items-
I headed to the area I love for mountain biking just outside of Vegas and was lucky enough to get the OK from the wonderful Cactus Joe (check out his place when nearby) to park overnight and work my shifts...it was a great experience and could nit have gone better...Thanks to some Lithium, Red Arc, and We Boost;)
A good once over before hitting the road.
The new 230ah battery setup/RedArc!
We Boost!
With the "stronger" inside antenna.
The antenna works great on the Rocky Mountain swing out.
Adding some suction cups to the EZ awning(which I still reslly like, light, simple...)
And- a nice new little drawer organizer
Lastly a redo of my nice little defroster for the lower part of the window where the wipers sit...the last one didn't look nice and was kind of a test. This one turned out really well!
I woke from the night shift after my weekend and put the last supplies in the van for what would be a ~4week almost 4000 mile journey...and headed up into the mountains aiming for Fuita where I got in a nice ride and then headed down the road towards Vegas on a beautiful moonlit night. In Fruita I met a couple of Canadians on a long trip...He bought his Syncro brand new almost 300k on it!
Fruita never disappoints
They were on a 10000 mile trip!
Driving through the night to Vegas.
Lovel Canyon, late night trailhead and Cactus Joes would be my spots for the next week of riding and work
Looking down on the strip while I worked overnight in the van.
An amazing little hidden spring I found on a really hot mountain bike ride
This trip was also about finding a possible piece of desert land...between Purumph and Vegas a cool young couple has created a little amazing oasis!
Next stop was to meet OutWesty Dave to check out FishLake Hotwell in Nevada and explore the Bristlcone area off hwy 395...beautiful, peaceful and nothing better than hanging with good friends.
Fishlake Hotwell
Heading way up high into Bristlcone and some off road exploring and camping.
Dave had to head back towards Tahoe and I decided I needed to go see the progress happening at Cerro Gordo and to at least get a look into Saline Valley(closed due to washout from Hillary)
Looking over the Sierras from Cerro Gordo
From here it was North up 395 and up the monster pass into Yosemite...um, and gas
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Steep!!
Yosemite was insanely busy, so I decided to have a leisurely roll through and make my way down after camping into San Francisco...after being out for almost 2 weeks I was ready for a good meal in Chinatown:)
I rolled into insanity, lol. Columbus day, Blue Angels over the bay and 3 hours!! Of literally just sitting in traffic about half a mile from the hostel...but the vibe was cool and the entertaient was top notch.
Finally the hostel and a shower...and the roar of the Blue Angels
#vanlife in the city haha
After a couple of days relaxing in SF, it was down the coast towards Santa Cruz, one of my favorite drives...have some beers with buddy Ben and get nice and close to the ocean...
I made the journey down the coast towards Ventura and the Channel Islands and had an amazing time seeing Killer whales, camping along the Rincon Pkwy and just watching the ocean and the sunset...it take a while to settle in, but when you do, it's magic.
The van had been absolutely perfect, all the hard work has paid off and I was relaxed and simply happy...
Bombay Beach, Slab City were next...maybe you get it, maybe you don't but for me this area is wonderful full of interesting characters art, and conversation...
If you want to see some cool stuff- check out this guy and his drone vids on fb- Andrew Stranack. Amazing foort of the area
From about as far down as you can go, the only way from here was North up through Prescot and Sedona. I had not been through much of here in the past but it was fantastic country and the mountain biking was !!
Mingus Mountain Hang guide jump off- Crazy!
If you know- you know.
And just like that I was back in Fruita and had my first breakdown...on my mountain bike haha...
After some more rides in Moab and Fruita it was back through the mountains over the passes and down.
A check of the trans magnet- couldn't get much better
And now the prep to hand it off...getting ready for paint..teardown, sanding, and drop it off to the shop...
If Cheers y'all have a good Thanksgiving. |
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MsTaboo Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2006 Posts: 4065 Location: East Kootenay, British Columbia
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Posted: Sun Nov 19, 2023 10:29 pm Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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_________________ Currently:
'90 Syncro Westy 3 knob w/Zetec
The information age has morphed into the age of disinformation and willful ignorance. Agnotology!
Help the fight against Truth Decay.
Defend democracy, support Ukraine. |
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DirtDog Samba Member
Joined: July 06, 2021 Posts: 77 Location: FOCO, Colorado
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Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2023 8:03 am Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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good dog. |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16473 Location: Brookeville, MD
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TopBud Samba Member
Joined: February 28, 2004 Posts: 1107 Location: Flagstaff AZ
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Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2023 9:22 am Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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tschroeder0- Thanks for sharing all this. I have a few questions. Can you provide some info or links for your front defroster and 2) what shop is doing your body work? Thanks _________________ 86 bostig SYNCRO
66 convertible Karmann Ghia |
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tschroeder0 Samba Member
Joined: April 14, 2008 Posts: 2096 Location: Boulder CO
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Posted: Mon Nov 20, 2023 11:42 pm Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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Thanks guys!
The defrost setup is from a place in Golden Co called Frost fighter. They make littlerally hundreds of kits of different sizes. I could honestly see doing the entire windshield if you lived and drove in a really Nasty winter environment. The issue is getting the defrost lines to sit correctly on the curved windshield. Trust me it's not easy and doing it twice isn't cheap, lol.
To give credit where it's due- somewhere here there is an old post by ten tencent on the same setup.
The van is being painted by a guy I know of on the eastern plains of CO. My first time working with him. The van will be going up for sale shortly after the paint is done and I do a thorough once over, so there will be a lot of pics of how the paint turns out. Luckily the seams are almost all in great shape and most of the rust is very superficial. |
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sanchius Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2007 Posts: 1446 Location: IN
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Posted: Tue Nov 21, 2023 5:17 am Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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tschroeder0 wrote: |
Hey all, I just finished up a long many week trip west from Colorado to Nevada, California, Arizona, Utah and back home. Truly one of the best trips I have ever had. The van clocked in a rock solid 4000 miles! Mountains, off road, long lazy hwy stretches and everything in between. |
Wow, incredible trip, thanks for taking us along. Hopefully whatever you get next will have you back out there. _________________ The Syncro years (2005-16) - The 2WD years (2017-23) - Westy & WBX rebuild spreadsheet - Sanchius & Tuna: The Video
Your gold star membership keeps this awesome list going! |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16473 Location: Brookeville, MD
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tschroeder0 Samba Member
Joined: April 14, 2008 Posts: 2096 Location: Boulder CO
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Posted: Fri Nov 24, 2023 5:29 am Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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Haha Dave O- I hope so, at the very least it will be on the way to Baja:) |
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ranchero Samba Member
Joined: October 11, 2006 Posts: 359 Location: Salida, CO
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Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2023 10:52 pm Post subject: Re: Building the (im)perfect beast: The Saline Build |
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Hey Todd - What size tires did you end up going with? _________________ '90 Westy Syncro EJ25 (money pit #1)
'96 FZJ80 (cheap by comparison^^)
'13 Golf R. Daily driver. |
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