Seattle to La Paz - only one minor incident

[livethevanlife]

I told James, this is one of the cleanest, most unmolested (for lack of a better word) Syncro Westys ive ever seen, and maybe ever will. Less than 100k original miles and it drove like it. It was really a pleasure to work on it. You should tell some of the back story of it, I enjoyed it. Each Van and its owners tell a story. These vehicles have souls, and SNAFU is no exception. Thanks again for your business, and hope to see you back on the fun side of the wall again someday


Link

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Vanagon Restorations www.LiveTheVanLife.com
The Westy Bravo https://smallcar.com/westy-bravo/
1991 Syncro Triple Knob Westfalia "Miki" 2.2l WBX
1992 Syncro Triple Knob Tintop "Schnitzel" 1.9AAZ
1990 Syncro Doka Subi 2.2l
1974 Thing
1989 Carat Tintop

[elizer]

That looks great! Love the wheels!
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91 syncro westy fas tdi

[Klister]

Well, here’s the update on the bodywork project. We dropped off the van back in early November. There were a number of dings and some minor seam rust starting. I had gotten a couple of estimates for just fixing the slider door and some dings on that side of the van that were way, way expensive. So, after research and talking to a couple folks who used Shane Jordan in La Paz – we made the plan and drove down.

I was in no rush and had a few things going on, so we picked it up in mid-March and explored Baja for several weeks before heading home (trip post later).

We are extremely pleased with the work. Here is the list.

• Paint and bodywork.
• Truck bed liner along lower quarter
• Undercoat
• Remove and paint bumpers.
• Install window seals.
• New skylight
• New inner front cv joints and boots
• New compressor for A/C – system check
• Replace slider door bearings.
• Install new tent canvas (sunbrella from NorthWesty)
• Horn replacement – tweak pesky horn ring
• Replace fuel filter.
• Replace cap and rotor.

Every step of the way Shane communicated clearly and answered all of my stupid questions. He knows vans and van folks. I am extremely jealous of his garage. We had one problem arise after picking up our van. From miles and miles of washboard that connection from the driver’s side door lock button to the lock mechanism shook loose. So, I could not open the door. We came back through La Paz and Shane graciously said he would help us out the day before he headed out on Santa Domingo vacation. Seat removed and panel popped, he figured out the issue and with a small dab of glue on the male connector we were good, and it held for the rest of the trip. Another lesson learned on odd things that can happen. Thanks!!

After we got home I gave our trusty SNAFU a wash and wax (well deserved – 4500 miles, nothing mechanical, hardly any oil use) so got an up close look at every inch of the critter. It is just flawless bodywork and paint – very, very satisfied.

[livethevanlife]

Stacy, thank you for your input. We remove wiper squirters, the windows, the antenna, all of the exterior trim, the front doors, the slider door, the rear hatch, the bumpers and brackets, wiper arms, the mirrors, door handles, etc etc. We also paint all of the exterior trim including the door handles, bumpers and grilles before reinstallation. Its a lot of work painting a Vanagon, but weve done so many now, and made mistakes and learned from them. We remove things in stages, label and box them all for easier reinstallation. The windows we try to remove last so that we minimize the amount of time that the van is fully open. I send constant photo updates to my clients and post most of what we do on instagram for the world to see, which helps make people comfortable with what we are doing with their vans. Ive never seen a body shop (or any shop for that matter) share as much and as often as I do, and with full transparency of what we are doing to someones van. Its something I take a lot of pride in.

We recently finished this Van from the bay area. We had to cut it nearly in half to fix all of the rust and source a donor van for panels. The client told me he had quotes all around 30k for the work, we ended up doing the paint and bodywork portion of his van for 12k. And you get a kickass road trip for free.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzEMF9lr3Ks/

[jimf909]

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- Jim

[Klister]

[gtinseth]

[Schuylersister]

[16CVs]

Sir Klister, make sure they remove the squirters, they're kind of a bitch if you loose the hose. But masking things like end up with peeling paint and when you do replace them you end up with a paint line.

I also cut the rubber shaft seal off and then put them back on as half a seal. Once you put that big washer on and the nut its going to seal.

It's the small details that make a paint jib nice. The other common short cut I see is not taking the rear bumper brackets off and painting around them. Male sure they remove them and not mask them and have them painted when off.

Will they paint the door handle and wiper arms as well? Makr them give you 360 views of the van before paint.

Stacy
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1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[Tobias Duncan]

Do yourself a favor and hit Tacos Estadio.
Sometimes they even have an amazing fish soup




https://g.co/kgs/heDr4m

[Klister]

Body work has started in La Paz, windows will soon be removed.

[Klister]

[Kdj]

Got to ask, What was your total cost for a windows out respray? And how long did it take?

[gtinseth]

[Klister]

[DeLvxe]

Thanks for sharing this and keeping us updated. Also from Seattle and thinking about doing the same (someday) although I'm a little afraid of new shiny paint to mess up.

Are you also having interior repainted? Having any panels replaced? How long do you expect it will take for the paint job.?

Thanks
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1991 manual camper with EJ25

[Jeffrey Lee]

Let's face it, if you have enough duct tape, every incident is minor ...

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Camp Westfalia
Camping Tips • Newsletter • Cool Campervan Apparel
www.CampWestfalia.com

[Klister]

[Klister]

[16CVs]

I’d love to see progress pictures of your van as it progresses along.


Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.