In for a penny, in for a pound

[4Gears4Tires]

I've got one Vanagon yes, but we all know the perfect number of Vanagons is N+1.

So...

Two weeks ago I flew with my buddy to Denver. We rented a car and drove out to his newly purchased Westy in Steamboat Springs, CO. After having extensively camped in my Syncro for the last few years, I immediately saw how good a Westy is. My camper set up is fairly crude. So I asked Dobryan about where he sourced his cabinets and I started looking into swivel sweats and pop tops,.... Yeah I was looking at an easy 10k. Dave mentioned that Valley Westy had a Westy and maybe the better solution would be to swap the Syncro drivetrain on it. Which, even when I bought my Syncro I had kind of expected on doing that since it was basically a parts van. At this point I have put a crazy amount of effort into it and it's not a parts van. But it's still the van I learned to weld on. Body work is an art and I still haven't put in the hours, it's a good 30 footer.

So I went to go look at it, cash in pocket, and walked away with another project. Keith at Valley Westy is a great guy, super personable, awesome to chat with. If you're in the Staunton, VA area or passing through, he certainly knows his stuff.

So here's the classic, "ran when parked," project.

It has a little bit of damage in a few places and a few rusty seams. Above the passenger headlight.

And behind the kitchen cabinets is the worst of it.

Overall, fairly clean exterior.

The interior is another matter. Everything I've found points to this van sitting for about the last 20 years. It is covered in mold. I found one mouse nest in the pop top, although thankfully they didn't chew the sleeping mats. Looks like they pulled the insulation from behind the kitchen cabinet or maybe from an external source.
This seat will never go back in, lol.

So loaded it up and hit the road back home to DC.

Back home, I pulled as much crap out as I could. Raised the pop top. Opened all the cabinets. Turned the garage fans on. Air out as much as possible.

Please excuse the bike getting in the middle of the shot.

Found a pair of CV boots, W Germany stamped. Rubber feels new.

Found in the fridge, seeds, maybe I'll plant them and see what happens.

The window sticker, which is cool.

The passenger crank was broken, but in the glove box was a replacement from GoWesty. First thing fixed on the first night!

And it's cleaned out! Now to start cleaning

I always thought the 2.1 engine bays where a ridiculously bad and confusing layout. The 1.9 is worse. What scatterbrained engineer thought this was a good layout? I checked before I bought and the AC schrader valve didn't seem to do anything, but I checked again when I got home and the AC system has pressure. Hilarious. And the computer is just in the engine bay? Exposed to everything? That is just dumb.

Syncro peaking in

So the current plan is clean as much as possible so I don't get mold incurred respiratory issues while I work on it. Get it running if possible. Then decide what to do. I'd rather not scrap my Syncro to make a Syncro Westy, but if that's the only way then maybe. If I can build a new steering rack mount for the Westy, then maybe I can leave the one on the Syncro. I don't know too much yet. But it's a bridge to cross for the future. Interested in everyone's thoughts of course.
_________________
'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition

[dobryan]

I like being an enabler....


_________________
Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2010 Subaru EJ25 (Vanaru) and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[4Gears4Tires]

I owe you a beer!
_________________
'87 Syncro Ferric Oxyhydroxide Superleggera Edition
'85 Westy Sciuridae Domus Edition

[MarkWard]

Ah Syncro fever. We have an 82 sorted 2wd camper. The only thing missing was it was not 4wd. Every now and then it would bother me. So, I bought a driving 87 syncro passenger van to convert our 82. The syncro didn’t have one straight panel.

Knowing how projects can go off the rails, I decided leave our van alone and convert the syncro to a camper. Bought a non running weekender for the top. No kitchen, but a start. Of course it’s easier to move a running van, so I got it running and driving. Then a 90 non-running camper came along. Original owner, interior like new. Of course it needed to run and drive, I purchased a local Tiico setup and got it running and driving. Its frame was tweaked and lots of rust on the chassis.

So, decided to use the 90 as a donor. Started fixing the syncro body. There is a picture of the side removed in my gallery.

Began to realize it was beyond me ever finishing.

So I sold the 86 weekender and the 90 camper at bargain prices on Craig’s list. At this point, still using our 82 camper. Then a 90 running automatic camper came along. That’s when the fun began. With the syncro on hand, stripped the auto van and the syncro. Over a summer I converted the 90 camper to a syncro.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=349105

I added some detail to this thread, but these were common place so no real interest. Got the van started and backed out of my shop. I was not as excited as I expected.

Drove it home and took the Mrs for a ride. She was like “it’s ok”.

So, the story is, wanting and having. Our 82 is part of the family. Tons of memories. This syncro was a stranger. I sold it shortly thereafter. Took the money and added a Peloquin to our 82.

So, I could have converted our 82 and probably should have. I did finish the conversion that I was afraid I wouldn’t finish. I learned a ton and have zero regrets. I also bought a barn find 911 with the profit. Sorry for the aimless story. Looking forward to your build thread. Mark

RIP Syncro donor.

[Corwyn]

_________________
'90 White Westy ("White Lightning")
FAS Gen V 2.0
The Annual Baja Rally
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=604813&highlight=baja

"If anything's" gonna happen, it's gonna happen out there"
~ Captain Ron ~

[calsurf]

Awesome, can't wait to see more. BTW, mold can be a major concern for some. Bleach/water in a spray bottle is excellent in killing what you can get to. 50/50 mix would be strong, 25% bleach-75% water is mostly what I use. Allow to sit for a minute or so and then wipe. Then wipe with moist water only towel, air dry. Be careful on fabrics. Cheers.

[jimf909]

[?Waldo?]

[MarkWard]

They were trying to water cool an air cooled engine. New idea for them I imagine. What surprised us was they could have easily installed the GTI 1.8 inline 4 since they had already figured out how to shoe horn in a diesel in 82. That could have been a nice ride.

[do.dah]

[?Waldo?]

3+ tons? I guess one of them might weight that much if you add every accessory known to man and count the weight of a full crew of passengers.

[mtnhome]

Sounds like a fun trip! Wonder if this is the van my neighbor with Vanagon envy went and looked at. Does it have rust and a loud exhaust?
Your project looks good, glad to know Dave is an enabler as well!
Would have been fun to have met up for a beer. You probably drove right pas where I live. Met up with Vanis13 driving his mid engine Vanagon back from the PNW.
_________________
'84 Westy, '93 Subaru ej22 and Subarugears 5speed
Build thread: https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=763098&highlight=

[ALIKA T3]

This thing is clean!

Get a steering rack mount from Burley, problem solved.
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[MarkWard]

[MsTaboo]

[tjet]

Nice van You guys with your sweet garages, too. My next house will get a big shop.

[4Gears4Tires]

The swivel seats are out, most of the interior has been wiped down with Clorox, the cabinets are coming out soon. The canvas looks serviceable for a bit, however the screen has a few holes in it. It has some rodent chew holes near the feet but I don't mind patching that for a little bit while I work on higher priority items.

The pop top itself is moldy AF. Not sure how to tackle that in the van and right now I do not want to undertake removing it from the van. I was going to try an interior wet vac for seats/carpet on it and see how it goes.

[Corwyn]

[MarkWard]

What made the rear more difficult is getting the transmission in the correct location. It needs to be centered. I also wanted to avoid cutting the floor to install weld bolt plates. I did the complete conversion with the interior installed. I also had to come up with a fuel tank support. The original was not worth the effort and would have required welding and I was trying to avoid burning paint. There is a picture of the bolt in support I fabricated in the above thread.

The front was more of a bolt in project. It finds its own center by design. The rear it’s up to the installer. The fuel fill took some thought as well. Any questions feel free to reach out.

Edit: I also did not swap in the cross brace mid van. It also wasn’t worth the head ache. I cut the 2wd one for the driveshaft clearance and fabricated a finished lip for the cut out. This also saved welding the floor and removing the interior. I also welded up the filler neck oval both sides of the frame for strength. I also had to transfer the power steering hard lines. They are similar but completely different.

[MsTaboo]