Another 86 Syncro restoration

[bluefirefly]

[vwjedi]

You are really putting a lot of effort into this project. She will serve you well on many an off-road adventure. Best of all you will know your van like no one else does. Nice job.

This may be a moot point since it looks like you are not going to repaint but I noticed the issue with the orange peel in this pic:

Your over spray is big droplets of paint, it should be a fine mist of over spray. Try turning down your product volume and turning up air pressure. It helps to practice on a piece of scrap metal before pointing the gun at your van.

Good luck with it!
_________________
1987 Wolfsburg T25 still riding out. A bunch of other VW's passed on...

[bluefirefly]

Lots have been done today.
Let see, lots of done, re-done and re-re-done.....

We started happy with a lot of new parts, a 2.2 GW kit, CB 1.25 rockers, CB maxi pump, AMC heads......

Both half cases together, making sure I don't forget anything....

Nice JE pistons, cylinders already assembled, I am so lazy, I love it:

So, the first cylinder/piston go in and to make sure everything is good, I try to rotate the crank and.... cannot anymore, something not right here.
I tried to look under and it seems the squirt of the piston is stopped by the case!!!!WTF

Took it apart and I was right, it is possible to see 2 marks on top and bottom on the picture (light marks and I put white stuff for the picture):

Not really happy and I remember a thread about a 2.5 where the guy had to send his case to a machine shop to make room for bigger cylinders (even if I know that GW cylinders are original cylinders bored).

So, I had to do something:

and voila, it works.

Put it back together again, all cylinders are in place and I can rotate the crank.
Turning the block on the support, I remember that I forgot to put the yellow stuff on the bolt for the oil pickup tube.
Not a problem, take the bolt off and .... a bad, really bad noise, like something is falling inside the motor....., it was the small washer between the tube support and the case.

I know what you are thinking, I know

But, we are getting good at it, still a waste of time, some cleaning to do everytime....

Anyway, here we are:

Some nice pictures to follow, I love it when I work with new parts....

Tubes aren't new, but close:

Cylinder heads are on the motor, and I am looking to put in place those rockers, but it is the first time and I am a little lost about those shims and others, I need to read a little before, I saw nice posts about it.

After that, I got some cromoly rods that need to be cut and we need some shims for the crank to add behind the pressure plate but we'll see that this week.
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[bluefirefly]

[bluefirefly]

[bluefirefly]

[bosruten]

Cool thing with the lights. Will your van stay at stock hieght? or do you intend on keeping the lift? You better hurry...My guess is 3 weeks till the white stuff!
_________________
'87 Syncro Weekender

[rcook52459]

you really have a van to be proud of with all the work.congrat's
_________________
85 westy tiico conversion.auto trans triumph TR250 1980 Suzuki GS1000l

[ALIKA T3]

Looking gooood
_________________
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

[bluefirefly]

Some coolant system work today, almost all hoses are new (all hoses I wasn't 100% sure about).
Only front of the van for now, since we received our main bearing set, we'll start on the motor in a short time, but it is way to hot today to work....

New radiator, hoses and SS coolant pipes from Van Cafe.

Started a little on the motor, but I took it apart a long time ago so I need to get more info about what I need to put back inside and how.

.

More tomorrow.
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[bluefirefly]

All head light electrical is done (including driving and fog lights),
We added 6 different circuits on the right side of the dash, all with 40A relays.
Circuits are horn, fog lights, driving lights, original driving lights left and right, one spare.

all of them with separate groung from inside, everything with 12ga wires but I limited the current at less than 20A per circuit to be safe for the next 20 years.

Almost done, there is still some cleaning to do:

Here is a view of the front:

3 windows are on the van, both rear were easy, harder for the driver side sliding window so we are still not sure if we are going to put the windshield in by ourselves.

I picked up some plastic strip to put at the bottom of the slide so the glass isn't in contact with the aluminium, saw that in a post but cannot find it anymore.
This will at the same time fix the lock for that windows when we'll have time to re-cut it.

Hopefully this weekend we'll be able to put back the dash, some doors, do some electrical for the motor (still waiting for parts, especially that main bearing set.....) and finish the front.
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[bluefirefly]

More has been done today.
Gearbox shifter link is back in place, replaced and greased.
Doesn't feel that good but the trans didn't run for at least 5 months, there is new oil but I think I need to adjust it when the motor is running.

Here some pictures:

I made a mod on the shifter shaft, my wife was complaining it was hard for her to shift in reverse, I make 2 more holes in the shaft to adjust the spring. It is in the middle for now, it feel softer, we'll see if she is ok with it:

I was able to work on the electrical, but I didn't replace the starter original cable. First, it is in good shape, all connections are clean and second I think I need to remove the tank to get it, there is a clamp on the side.
So, I did add a 2 ga cable to it> There is a longer stud on the starter, no problem.
At the same time, I added a 6 ga from the alternator to the starter in case we are going for a bigger alternator in the future.
I was not happy the first time I replaced the alternator, but now, with the trans lowered and without the motor, it is a 5 min job.

I had some problem with the starter, not sure what it was so I added a second ground cable on the left side of the motor, it is a 1/0 ga, too big, but I do with what I have, some leftover from my past job as electrician.

My wife did her part today, she put a lot of HP cable all over the place, there will be speakers in the back door and some under the back bench as well.

Enough for today, more coming this week.
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[bluefirefly]

All headlights are back in their frame but I am still waiting to put them back in the van, I need to improve the electrical system for the light since I am planning to put 100w bulbs all over and there are fog and driving lights. Sadly, I'll need to put all extra relays on the right side of the dash, there is not enought room above the existing fuse box.

Gas pedal is back in place and the mechanism is waterproof (was not before, there was rust on the floor).

Steering is in too, waterproof too, I had to put the boot in a different way, I found some rust there too so now the boot's lips is "outside" with some sealant so nothing can come in.

We did put back 2 back windows, not that hard, maybe some time today for the driver slide windows and we might be ready to do the windshield next weekend, but I am not if the 2 of us can do it, we might need help.

Next today will be shifter, maybe cooling system and starter electrical.
Starter isn't doing good, not sure if it is ground related or not (I replaced it and still the same when the motor is hot, bushing will be new too even if the old one was ok), but since everything in out, I'll replace all wires related to it, need to check what size it is and I'll go bigger.
Same for the alternator wire, I might go with a bigger alternator in the futur so that wire will be oversized, now is the time since the starter on the syncro is so accessible......
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[bluefirefly]

It was cleaning time this weekend, need to go to the metal dump, more to come but I can manage it later.

More sanding and painting:

and of course my favorite, new pieces going together, less cleaning but it was needed.

We did rust proof the van too, but it was a mess, the forecast was going to be 28 degrees Celcius, but the North wind came in, dropped to 20 in no time as usual and we end up heating our home made Waxoyl, a mess.
We had to keep it hot inside the sprayer, it was not easy.

Anyway, it is done, I am happy with it and we'll see in 5 years if I did a good job or not...... but now I need to use a screw driver to make I didn't plug all water drain.
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[bluefirefly]

[RGS Paul]

Going out on a limb, the only 'Porsche' ones that would fit would be from the 356. I would have to check though, the 911 valve gear is significantly different since it is an over head cam design. The 911 ones are about $23 though and the 356 ones are about $9 EACH!

Check out CB Performance's website, either the Rhino (PN 1642, 9mm screw) or Elephant feet (PN 1518 8mm screw). I can not remember which one you need for the CB rocker arm, I think it is 8mm though. CB can tell you, and they should ship to Canada. The difference is in the head and how it attaches and oils. You can see the difference in design on the CB site, compare to PN 1523 which is what you have. I also had custom push rods made by Manton but that was just me…

Good luck with the engine build.

Paul
_________________
'87 Syncro 7-Pass. Adventure Touring Vehicle
"Simplicate, then add lightness." Colin Chapman

[bluefirefly]

[RGS Paul]

Looks like a great project, you are going to have a beautiful van when it is all done.

One suggestion, don't use the swivel feet that come in the CB 1.25:1 kit and get the Porsche style elephant feet. I had one of the ends break off the CB style swivel after about 2k miles, there just is not enough material where the swivel connects. The Porsche style feet are much more robust and worth the extra investment.

Paul
_________________
'87 Syncro 7-Pass. Adventure Touring Vehicle
"Simplicate, then add lightness." Colin Chapman

[bluefirefly]

Some work on the brakes since the weekend, it seems ok with the big brake booster, got the idea from this post:

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=401822&highlight=bigger+brakebooster

following all indications and it works good.

Here a pic of both boosters

went in without any problem.

We still need to wait for parts, I forgot to order wiper grommet so I cannot put back the dash for now so no steering or coolant system in place, seems everything need to go in order.

New coolant parts, all the system (minus heaters, fan) will be new.

Our homemade "waxoyl" is almost ready, the hot weather did help a lot, I only hope I'll be able to spray it without problem.
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!

[bluefirefly]

Little work has been done on the van, more sandblasting and painting (my wife is doing all the painting, 2 coats of primer and 2 coats of black, cannot complain, it is taking her a lot of time...)

I was looking at those old coolant pipe, it was time to replace them, has been repaired already once I think, I am so happy to have new SS one, looks good.

Of course, all other hoses are going to be replace, we don't want any trouble down the road.

Some work done on the front bumper, I need to protect those lights, but not sure if I like the grill in front, heavy duty stainless steel, but it seems to big, we need to think about it.

Before:

After:

Not too much choice here, they are using more gravel than salt during the winter, I don't want to replace them every year but I might go with some plastic on it, not sure if it will hold with 100W bulb inside....
We don't want to use the white protector sold with the light, we are going to use them, those lights are not for look!

It is about it for today, not much for this weekend, we are going condo-packing (same as backpacking, but in a condo, no tent).
Some snow yesterday in the mountain, we are not that tough and certainly not crazy, a little comfort is always good.
_________________
86 Syncro Tintop G60
work in progress ...as always!