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Phishman068 Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1867 Location: Pittsburgh PA (ish)
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Posted: Tue Sep 10, 2013 8:11 pm Post subject: Rescued '87 Syncro "The Shakedown Syncro" |
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Well, I rescued another one!
First, some backstory.....
I have made it a bit of a hobby to take vanagons with no hope, no other chance at life, and put them back on the road. My current daily driver was purchased at scrap metal prices, my sunroof syncro sat for 13 years in a junkyard, and now this....
I received a call from my father at work on friday telling me his coworker asked "Are you going to that auction this weekend with the 2 vanagons for sale?". He tried to get as much information as possible, but the coworker didn't recall where he saw the ad. I proceeded to spend every waking moment to find that ad, only to later receive a link to it from a mostly defunct classifieds paper that the coworker was able to track down. The only information relevant was "2 vanagons" in the description, and a link to the auctioneers site. There were 10 cars for sale, all well photographed and advertised..... except for the 2 vanagons. Each vanagon had one terrible photo but thanks to the wonders of technology to clarify and zoom in on an image, I was able to determine one was a syncro! NOW i'm interested!
Anyway, early in the morning the following day (saturday) my father, mother, and myself showed up to the estate auction to take a look at the offerings. I looked over the two busses hastily so as not to draw much attention, and then had to leave to go to work. I left my parents with what I could afford to pay for the syncro, with no real interest in the 2wd (both '87s). Anyway, they called to say they had the highest bid, but it was not accepted due to a reserve, but.... had the phone number of the person handling the estate.
A lesson in persistence:
I called the officiator and made my offer, but he was hoping for quite a bit more (more than double my offer), and I made a fair bid on the 2wd '87 which I didn't want, again he wanted quite a bit more. We were far off, but I said "lets keep in touch". I got his email address and later that night spent an hour on the phone talking to him about the two busses, about my plan to save them, and eventually sent him a lengthy, well worded email about why he should sell them to me. He was of several false impressions regarding the true rarity of the syncro (believed they made 500, turns out they made about 42,000....) and I ended up getting a call from him after he'd read the email saying he was still interested in keeping in touch, but asking still over double my offer for the pair of busses.
Anyway, the two busses were the only cars unsold at the auction, the officiator was leaving the state in another day or two, and I was hoping to have the busses in my driveway before he left. So through a series of meracles I was able to get off work the following day and show up at the auction site. I told the officiator I would be there all day, and was hoping he'd take my offer. If not, i'd still be there all day, cash in hand.
To sum up the story,
This tactic worked and by the end of the day the busses were mine!
I really tried to not look at them while on his property, and tried to not look eager, so upon getting them both delivered to my house late that evening, the excitement began to build. Why did I buy another '87 2wd passenger van!?!
YUCK.
Or so I thought.
It turns out it's going to be a sweet bus! That will get it's own thread.
But here are some photos of the syncro as it started it's life with me.
It had been stored inside for a few years in hopes of becoming a project before the owner passed. Not by any means a clean syncro (like my other one!) but certainly not the crusty beasts I'm used to seeing out here. There is hope for this one. Further examination today has found a few concerning crusty bits, but overall the vehicle is in above average condition for this region and will be a good project.
It is more or less MISSING the exhaust....
But what do you expect for a western PA van? I just assume they all need full exhausts at this point.
Most of the real crusty bits are bolt on bits, not the frame/body. There is only one vertical seam with any seam rust, and the horizontal seam behind the front bumper. Both will end up below the bedliner line once properly treated, so not huge concerns, yet.
We call this "minor" here in PA....
Of course it has no brakes, at all, with a completely dry resevoir....
But welcome to PA!
Not bad....
Delivered!
Today I spent the bulk of the day tinkering with it, putting fresh gas in, adding a battery, cleaning a bunch of contacts, cleaning out the fuel pump, etc....and it runs!
Successfully drives in Gears R,G,1,2 (all i've tested)
No brakes at all.
Soon.....
For now it waits patiently for a full rebuild! I hope to make this my trail and winter syncro, but still a very reliable and used vanagon. Some possibility of it becoming a FULL westy (with poptop), we shall see....
The game plan is to put on 16'' wheels, Audi brakes, 215/70/16 General Grabber tires, NiCU brake lines, GW Stainless Exhaust, Stainless fuel tank straps, a westfalia interior, aux battery setup, a functional stereo, and perhaps a pop top.
The game plan will include removing pretty much everything from the underside, and PROPERLY dealing with the rust and coating it with a fresh waxing that will last another 20 years.
More to come! : ) _________________ 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."
Last edited by Phishman068 on Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:45 am; edited 1 time in total |
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61Scout Samba Member
Joined: November 06, 2011 Posts: 1297 Location: Shoreline/Yakima WA
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ALIKA T3 Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009 Posts: 6348 Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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sanchius Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2007 Posts: 1451 Location: IN
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:42 am Post subject: |
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Well done, it sounds like it's found a great home! |
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Phishman068 Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1867 Location: Pittsburgh PA (ish)
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xoo00oox Samba Member
Joined: February 11, 2010 Posts: 2672 Location: East Nassau, NY
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 5:52 am Post subject: |
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Nice find on that Syncro Craig.
It is always bad luck to remove a Grateful Dead sticker from any bus, do it and that transmission will go bad very soon. |
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dobryan Samba Member
Joined: March 24, 2006 Posts: 16501 Location: Brookeville, MD
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insyncro Banned
Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 15086 Location: New York
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 6:15 am Post subject: |
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I was going to say change your fuel lines,
But instead just change everything while you are at it.
Enjoy another $yncro |
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rs4-380 Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2006 Posts: 449 Location: Maine
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 7:12 am Post subject: |
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where do you source your nicopp brake lines?
Do you flare yourself or buy pre-made sections? _________________ Dave
87 EJ25 Syncro GL |
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insyncro Banned
Joined: March 07, 2002 Posts: 15086 Location: New York
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:03 am Post subject: |
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BelMetric and FedHill for high quality brake and clutch hard lines. |
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juanl Samba Member
Joined: July 22, 2012 Posts: 47 Location: United States
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:35 am Post subject: |
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Nice work! Great to see another going to be kept on the road! _________________ '90 Westy "Kurt" |
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rs4-380 Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2006 Posts: 449 Location: Maine
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:39 am Post subject: |
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insyncro wrote: |
BelMetric and FedHill for high quality brake and clutch hard lines. |
thanks for this. Belmetric looks like a great metric hardware source actually close to me! _________________ Dave
87 EJ25 Syncro GL |
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outwesty Samba Member
Joined: June 06, 2006 Posts: 1074 Location: Tahoe City
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 10:56 am Post subject: |
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Very nice Craig. Think you will add a locker at some point ? |
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Phishman068 Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1867 Location: Pittsburgh PA (ish)
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porterbrown Samba Member
Joined: February 25, 2005 Posts: 718 Location: Bentonville, AR
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Posted: Wed Sep 11, 2013 8:13 pm Post subject: |
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phishman and "NiCU brake lines"--a coincidence?.....i think not. _________________ '90 Westfalia GL Automatic |
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Phishman068 Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1867 Location: Pittsburgh PA (ish)
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Rocky Mountain Westy Samba Member
Joined: April 17, 2008 Posts: 1031 Location: Fort Collins Colorado
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Rocky Mountain Westy Samba Member
Joined: April 17, 2008 Posts: 1031 Location: Fort Collins Colorado
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Phishman068 Samba Member
Joined: February 19, 2007 Posts: 1867 Location: Pittsburgh PA (ish)
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thatvwbusguy Samba Member
Joined: April 18, 2007 Posts: 1712 Location: Newmarket, New Hampshire
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Posted: Fri Sep 13, 2013 12:13 pm Post subject: |
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This was the plate on my '72 bus that I converted into a Riviera. Sold it a few years ago to a fledgling hippie chick from CT that offered me an extra $50 for the plates (sorry, worth way more than that to me).
I get the nickel copper alloy brake line at Napa. 25' spools are usually in stock and no extra cost or waiting for shipping. The NiCu line bends and flares so nicely that I would never consider using anything else. Knowing that it will never rust is just the icing on the cake. _________________ Jay Brown
'85 Zetec Westfalia
Newmarket, NH
If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.
If you want to be happy, practice compassion. |
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