Bavarian Syncro fire truck

[tarandusVDub]

Very nice labor of love! It looks great! So all the syncro bits are working well? If so that is a definite bonus.
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1990 Syncro 16" DoppleKabine 2.1 DJ 112i
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Sold: 1972 Bay Campmobile; 1984 Westy, base model, 2WD.

[Jens Brownstar]

I found this post few days ago. Syrgenstein is about 35 miles from my home and I liked to see that someone wants to keep this van in honour even across the ocean.

I contacted the Syrgenstein fire department, forwarded a link of this post to them and got an answer already the next day. They are also happy that their van found an enthusiast who keeps it running and they are proud that even their decals have been restored!

They asked me for a contact address of Milt and promised to look in their archives for some old pictures. Hopefully they find something interesting and can also answer to questions Milt has! Perhaps they do even have some old equipment which has to be dismantled in Germany before they are allowed to sell such cars, e.g. the sirene and the flashing blue lights. Who knows...

Might be interesting for some of you, that Feuerwehr vehicles in Germany very often only have a few 1000 km after 25 years, especially if they belong to fire departments of small villages. Those small fire departments usually have only voluntary firemen and maintenance is often done by themselves on saturdays in their leisure time.

In my own village they are still using an old vanagon in perfect condition. I'm always happy when I see the guys driving around with it.

Milts van has more mileage than a typical Feuerwehr car. The reason is probably, that this van ran at the Munich police before who made the kilometers. But I think this is even an advantage. Cars don't get better when standing around having changed the unused oil yearly.

And the police typically had basic interior with biggest engines while fire departments got the basic interior with basic engines... Another advantage!

Have fun with that van!

Jens
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'87 Caravelle GL
Blue Star Hannover Edition Interior
Ex JX, now Subi EJ22 powered

[RainierSyncro]

Thanks Jens for the efffort contacting the Syrgenstein fire department. I've e-mailed the contact info you provided and I'm waiting for a reply back. I would be blown away if there was a picture of the van while on duty. From my German title, it says that Syrgenstein picked up the van in 1999 and sold it in 2009. I think the next owner stripped out the front and rear lockers, replaced with non-lockers and drove it quite a bit before letting it sit for a long time in the salty air of Kiel, Germany.

Should be interesting to see what happens next. Maybe I can get all the switches and knobs that were removed off the dash.

[tjet]

[RainierSyncro]

More updates - Finally getting some miles on the van. Trips to and from work and an occasional 50 mile run. Did a short trip for a hair cut and then headed back home. While going uphill, I noticed a vapor cloud rolling behind me. Got stuck waiting at a busy intersection when the temp light started flashing. The temp gauge was pegged and the vapor cloud behind my van started getting bigger. I wasn't sure exactly what was going on until I heard a POP! A huge cloud of vaporized antifreeze blew out from underneath and shrouded the entire van in a fog. Apparently, the plastic coolant distributor tower blew apart and I was puking out all my antifreeze in the middle of rush hour traffic. Managed to limp the mile back home. A tow back to the shop the next day for a fix. A metal part replaced the plastic piece and the mechanic said I didn't over heat the motor.

Brake time - Just about everything that had to do with the rear brakes needed a fix or replaced. Got new GoWesty finned rear brake drums and assorted new parts. Needed new backing plates to replace the crusty ones on the van. Both trailing arms were pretty crusty as well. The shop was able to find less rusty ones. They shaved down some of the pinch weld where it's really close to the big tires I've got mounted. It was rewelded, sandblasted and powdercoated. Now I can get my whole hand around the tire without hitting the arm. The cost of the arms and mods was under $600. Not that bad considering my 2 steps forward, one step backward approach to fixing this van.

I think I've fixed/replaced every mechanical system/part on the van. Nope, the water pump started going out.

Now since most of the mechanical stuff on the van has been looked at, time for some accessories and interior work. I'm talking with Peace Vans in Seattle to do a bunch of odds and ends. More later........

Here are the old arms. The spring plates were completely destroyed. The mounting bolts were so crusty, it took 6 sawsall blades to cut off the grade 10 bolts.

[RainierSyncro]

If you read a post on this thread from last November from a fellow Vanagon owner in Germany (JensBrownstar), you would know that he contacted the FD in Syrgenstein and filled them in on where their old van ended up. After a couple of months of trying to contact the fire station over there, I finally got a response from Germany. My jaw hit the floor when I got an e-mail from Felix who works for the Syrgenstein fire department. He sent me pictures of my van when it was assigned to their station! These are so cool. The van's official designation is 11/1. I'm going to add this the windshield when I get the chance. A HUGE thanks to Felix and Jens.

My van next to big brother ---

My van in action in Germany --

The interior shot. I want that phone!

[Jake de Villiers]

That's really cool! And the phone is truly awesome!!
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'84 Vanagon GL 1.9 WBX
'86 Westy Weekender Poptop/2.5 Subaru/5 Speed Posi/Audi Front Brakes/16 x 7 Mercedes Wheels - answers to 'Dixie'
@jakedevilliersmusic1
http://sites.google.com/site/subyjake/mydixiedarlin%27
www.crescentbeachguitar.com
www.thebassspa.com

[fleet_maintenance]

Cool to get photos of your van's former life. Looking at the pictures of the dash, was there a euro glove-compartment delete option? I've never noticed another like that. (or is the glove box door just missing?)

edit: if that glove cubby is OEM, could you post a close-up (or two) of it?
Thanks!

[Zeitgeist 13]

My first two Vanagons had that same glove compartment shelf ('82 diesel and '80 air cooled). I like them better than the later versions
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Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[RainierSyncro]

fleet_maintenance - I went out to check on the glove box with a flashlight. Looks like it's just a shelf with no mounts for a door. I can get pictures when it's daylight.

Up until recently, I had no idea where the switch was for the roof fan. I thought I would have to pull the ceiling panels off and trace the wiring. Well, last week during a cold spell, the rear window was frozen and I switched on the defroster. I then heard a motor spool up. Yup, you guessed it, it was the roof fan. Weird...

More pictures from 2008. It looks practically brand new. Hard to believe the van's life after its FD duty went so downhill in 3 years before I bought it.

[fleet_maintenance]

Thanks! Further investigation shows a couple of glove cubbies in the classifieds, but I'd still be interested in some closeup pics of it installed.
Great van!

[RainierSyncro]

fleet_maintenance --- Here's a close-up on the glove box/parcel shelf. I didn't know there was no top to it and you could get your hand up into the dash. The hole on the left side looks to be drilled out for some equipment.

[tjet]

Cool "in-service" pics.

Did you get that radio manual?

[fleet_maintenance]

Thanks for the photo. The shape of the ones in the classifieds make more sense now. I had never noticed these shelves were an option (or standard equipment) at one time.

off on a tangent...your firetruck and Tristar Eric and the gang's Lemon's police van NEED to be photographed together.

[danbar]

I have the same parcel shelf in my syncro from europe. The US only got the fancy options.
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'88 SCA High/Pop-top Syncro camper
'61 Meyers Manx

[Syncrozilla]

Hi RainierSyncro, Very cool firetruck! It's really fun to get the in service pics. I just acquired this 1991 Syncro Tristar that was in service in Breitstetten Austria. It would be really cool if you can bring your truck to Syncrofest this year. I'm trying to organize a T3 Emergency vehicle line up. I will be bringing my Tristar as well as a Swedish 16" search and rescue truck (unless I sell it before then). There will also be an Ambulance and a Nato radiowagon there as well. Hope you can make it. I've really enjoyed following along on your thread.

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Please do not message me on TheSamba. Use my email, [email protected]

[RainierSyncro]

Sorry Syncrozilla, can't do Syncrofest this year. My van has been towed 5 times in the last 18 months for various problems so I can't trust it yet to do a 1,700 round trip until it's dialed in. I might try Mogfest in August which would be more of a day trip.

[Jeroen_M625]

[junichi]

Very cool! Wow -5 tows.. Keep at it, i am sure you will get it to the point of being reliable soon!
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1964 Kombi- http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=640048
Sold: 1985 Transporter Doka,1978 Westfalia, 1975 bay x 2, 1986 syncro vanagon, 1965 beetle, 1980 vanagon, 1967 deluxe bus, 1988 golf

[Gruppe B]