Ecotec swap, 2wd to Syncro conversion & camper build

[DAV!D]

Today my van became a Westy! Well it's much closer than it was at my last update.. lol

After cutting the donor roof off and realizing how much of a problem it was in the rear area, I opted to go with the over lap method. I used 3M body adhesive to glue the top to my existing roof then I welded in all the spot welds around the inside of the roof.

I also used some of the extra sheet metal and welded it to the westy hinge mounting points then glued/tac welded that to the under side of the original tin top roof for my hinge mounting points.

It's very solid feeling and I have no concerns of having any issues as I'm betting it will last as long as the van lasts.

This was my initial cut of my roof. There was lots and lots of trimming to do even after this picture..

Here is a picture of the cut down roof section being glued into place. I used the aluminum pieces which hold the canvas into place as my clamping method to hold everything in place while the adhesive dried.

Finally lots of welding and grinding..

I still have to fit the front cargo rack as well as the pop top latch, but the hard parts are behind me at this point.
_________________
86 Syncro Build - Ecotec Motor Swap - Pop Top Conversion - Camper Build & Syncro Conversion

[kybishop]

Awesome work! I'm psyched to see what comes next

[DAV!D]

[DAV!D]

It's been awhile since I've updated my build topic but doesn't mean I haven't done anything. Before I get into the update I figured I'd say the motor has still been running flawlessly but I had a 2nd starter go out. It appears to be a total fluke as the housing of the solenoid busted at the nose cone allowing the sprig to push out. I've never seen anything like that happen before and can only assume it was a manufacturing issue.

Getting into the camper interior build. I first built my rear closet which is actually my bike garage. In this picture you can see my build process. I like to make pre-fabs of the cabinets and pieces with cardboard so I can get an idea how everything looks before I start cutting wood.

A picture of the bike folded up and stowed away. It's awesome having my bike this handy as now everyday I do a 5 mile ride at a local park.

This is the start of my cabinets as I sorted everything out with the fridge in it's spot, which will eventually slide out on rollers for ease of access. This is the first time I've ever built complete cabinets like this so it's a lot of learning as I go.

I now have the cabinets a bit further along and I've added the doors. The sliders are pretty hard to get right as if you cut too much they fall out and if you don't cut enough they are too tight to get into the groves. The sliding doors under the sink are just temporary place holders hence the reason the wood grain is mis-matched.

You can also see the seat has now been added. It's about 2 inches narrower than a Westy seat and started out as a full width seat. I had to cut it down and will reupholster it once everything is done inside.

I'm kinda proud of these.. I'm not much of a wood worker and this is the first time I've used a table saw. I couldn't find any pre-made slider tracks local so I made my own out of wood on the table saw.

I've also mounted my water tank and put some Hankook ATM tires on the van but no pictures of that yet. In other good news my solar panels showed up yesterday so I'll now have 360 watts of flexible panels which will go on the roof soon. My goal is to wrap up everything that will be done this year and be on the road in 2.5 to 3 weeks.(it's long past time for me to go hit the road and make some money rather than spend it). It's getting down to crunch time!
_________________
86 Syncro Build - Ecotec Motor Swap - Pop Top Conversion - Camper Build & Syncro Conversion

[vanagonjr]

[DAV!D]

Being in nearing the completion of my build for this year (4wd and body work to be done next year) I decided to add up my costs so far. I don't think I've ever seen anyone publish their build costs before but I think it's important to show, that if you don't buy every premade easy bolt on option you can actually build a van "relatively" cheap if you are savvy with your shopping.

Keep in mind, this is a rough estimate and I added extra money for misc parts and items. Any way by doing my own engine swap from scratch with only the adaptor being bought aftermarket and doing everything myself except the harness/Ecu I've managed to build this entire van for the cost of many people's engine swap.

Van build cost to date.


syncro $3,500
2wd $2,500
Westy. 300

Rims. 300
Tires. 150
Hardware. 75

Ecotec. 600
Ecu/harness. 500
Adaptor. 540
Clutch. 75
Starter. 100
Alt 175
Misc parts. 500


Solar panels. 690
Rack. 80
Charger. 150
Misc. 100
Batteries. 150

Interior. 500
Fridge. 640

Camper top related. 500

Misc parts. 1000

$12,525



Sold. (I still have lots of parts to sell)

2.1 engine/trans. 800
2x icu sensors. 150

-950.
_________________
86 Syncro Build - Ecotec Motor Swap - Pop Top Conversion - Camper Build & Syncro Conversion

[Volkska]

Excellent build so far! It is interesting seeing someone do exactly what I have planned for one day. I like the layout for the interior. Out of curiosity, what do you do for work when you go on these adventures?
_________________
2011 VW GTi 6MT (The Daily)
2003 Golf 2.Sl0w (The Flaming Turd)
1997 VR6 motor awaiting some love and a Vanagon
1986 Honda Elitee 150 awaiting a title

[davevickery]

Hey nice job David on your conversion. This is the first time I noticed it. It is rewarding doing things custom eh? I did that on my first syncro. There are always things you (me anyway) would redo, but when you come up with something more useable, it feels great. I put my bed in the middle and a thinner cabinet on each side, I loved that cabinet by the sliding door. I bet that extra storage space you have by the windows will come in handy.

[DAV!D]

[DAV!D]

[Volkska]

My friend, keep up the awesome work. This thing is going to be a monster when it's finished! You are a huge inspiration to a person still saving for his van. The custom interior, the detail and the work, it's awesome to see someone building a van to their own specifications.

Cannot wait to see how the 4WD swap goes!
_________________
2011 VW GTi 6MT (The Daily)
2003 Golf 2.Sl0w (The Flaming Turd)
1997 VR6 motor awaiting some love and a Vanagon
1986 Honda Elitee 150 awaiting a title

[DAV!D]

Guess it's time for an update. I've been working pretty hard trying to get the van road trip ready. I'm trying to leave sometime next week and still have lots to do..

Getting back to the cabinet build. I filled in the rest of the structure (sides shelves ect) to the cabinets and tried to set things up so my stuff wont move around too much.

I also added a mini closet behind the passenger seat. It's not finished yet but gives me a place to hang a few shirts and a little more shelf space for small items.

I'm still not done, but I'm very happy with the way the cabinets have turned out. Originally, I had planed to paint them a similar color to the stock westy's but after getting all the doors in place I decided I wanted to stain them.

I did screw up on 2 of the doors and they are much darker than the rest. I'm hoping to get a chance to sand then back down to re-stain them, but my time budget is getting small so I may just have to live with them.

You can also see I've re-upholstered the bench seat.. I did that today.

A look from the back to give a better feel for the set up. I still plan to build a cabinet above the window hence the reason that area looks a bit sloppy at the moment.

I'm also planning to build a counter top with will be hinged. The recessed area on the top of the cabinets will be a hidden storage area. As I say still lots to do over the next week & a half.. or so..
_________________
86 Syncro Build - Ecotec Motor Swap - Pop Top Conversion - Camper Build & Syncro Conversion

[DAV!D]

part 2 of today's update..

The van is pretty much free of any serious rust, but to keep it that way I really needed to redo all my body seams.

This was likely the worst spot on all my body seams.. I ended up grinding/scraping all the old seam sealer then treated any potential rust with a rust converter.

I then went over all the seams with the left over 3M body panel adhesive which I previously used while doing my pop top conversion.

Because I won't be painting anytime soon, I found some rattle can touch up paint which was a very close match to my van's paint (some Toyota color) and went to town repainting all the seams to seal them up.

If you get close to the van you will probably notice the difference in the paint, but from 10ft away it's a pretty solid match. It's good enough for me till I finish off the body work and paint it sometime next year.
_________________
86 Syncro Build - Ecotec Motor Swap - Pop Top Conversion - Camper Build & Syncro Conversion

[Volkska]

Question, if you had the choice, would you have preferred to start with a tin top Syncro? I've been scraping my pennies together saving for a Syncro 7 passenger in the 10K-14K with minimal to 0 rust, but I have come across many cheap base 7 passengers in mint condition.

Your build is shedding light on how building one may actually be cheaper then saving up for one.
_________________
2011 VW GTi 6MT (The Daily)
2003 Golf 2.Sl0w (The Flaming Turd)
1997 VR6 motor awaiting some love and a Vanagon
1986 Honda Elitee 150 awaiting a title

[DAV!D]

[snwbrdr435]

Any updates on this?

Wondering if the OP ever got around to swaping the subframe in.

[DAV!D]

[livethevanlife]

Hi, realize this is an old thread but any updates on how the ecotec motor has held up?
_________________
www.LiveTheVanLife.com
www.VentureLibre.com
https://www.PeaceVans.com/baja
1991 Syncro Triple Knob Westfalia "Miki" 2.2WBX
1992 Syncro Triple Knob Tintop "Schnitzel" 1.9AAZ
1990 Syncro Rear Locker Doka Subi 2.2
1974 VW Thing 1835cc
1989 VW Carat

[DAV!D]