Syncro Doka Build Thread

[livethevanlife]

Hello everyone. Ive missed the opportunity to do a proper build thread on all of my other Vans, so wanted to take a few moments and try to do it right on this build.

This is my 1990 Syncro Doka that I just recently picked up in Massachusetts. I have been keeping an eye out for a decent Syncro Doka the past couple of years, waiting for it to be the right Doka and the right time in my life. I’m finally in need of a shop truck and around town/daily driver so I can keep my Camper Syncro’s for road trips and I think this is the one. It popped up for sale originally last summer when it was listed for somewhere in the low 30k’s. I guess there were a bunch of tire kickers but nobody bit the bullet. I think it needing paint scared people away at that price. A couple months ago I saw it pop up on here again at 25k. I reached out to the seller, and after a little back and forth it turned out that he was familiar with me from a video I have on YouTube… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d3yixyD9_ZE&t=226s&ab_channel=SpeedhutCustomGauges This video was of my old 2wd hightop a few years back, but apparently it inspired him enough to agree to sell it to me for the very fair price of 20k. He told me if it was anyone else, he wouldn’t go that low, but that he thought I was the guy that could make it its best version of itself, and so we agreed I’d buy it and work on getting it back to my shop in Mexico where I do Vanagon restorations. www.livethevanlife.com I don’t intend for this to be a rolling advertisement for my services, but figured id get that out of the way up front! Here’s some photos from the seller…

_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

Before continuing any further we should all pause for a moment and admire what this poor Doka once was...

Now i'm usually a "to each their own" kinda guy, but holy christ, WTF. Smoke stacks and all! This was, thankfully, mostly undone by the previous, previous owner, but the scars remain.
_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

Far as I can tell it was originally imported to Canada. Somewhere around 5-10 years ago it was imported to the U.S. in Michigan, where one of the previous owners did a fairly decent home-brew Subaru 2.2 conversion to it. The seller stated that it ran great, except for the occasional 7-10 second complete loss of power on the highway. More on that in a bit. With the deal inked and the deposit transferred, it was time to try to figure out how to get this Doka from outside Boston, Mass the 4,000 plus miles back to La Paz, Mexico where i’ll be overhauling it. I had a trip planned to Seattle to discuss some of my VentureLibre Vanagon products going into some of the Peace Vans rental fleet www.VentureLibre.com (not a rolling advertisement I swear!) and figured id fly up there, then fly over to Boston, grab the Doka and make a run at driving it cross country before putting it on a truck in Tijuana bound for La Paz.

While at Peace Vans, Corey in their vintage shop upon hearing of my purchase, brought me out back and pitched me on a set of 5 16” Passat wheels with BFG’s on them. The price was right, and the Dokas 14” alloys needed upgrading anyways, so I bought those, for the Doka I hadn’t yet picked up, and planned to ship those to San Diego where id pick them up and throw them in the back of the Doka for transport back down to La Paz for mounting. This was quickly turning into a bit of a logistical headache! 


Here’s a photo of me crashing behind the Peace Vans shop for a few days alongside Damon Butlers excellent Golden Westy in one of their rental Westy’s. It may not look glamorous to some, but I was right at home doing a bit of urban camping in a nice old Westy in industrial Seattle. No complaints here!

_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

In anticipation of flying out and driving it back, I asked the seller if he could take it to a local shop (at my expense) and have it all looked over. There was also a temp sensor on the fritz and so I asked for that to be changed out, topping off the trans fluid, and a oil change.

The truck got a clean bill of health, and according to the seller the shop even offered to buy it from him instead. Lucky for me, he honored our deal

With my business wrapped up in Seattle, I woke up at 3am to catch a early morning flight from Seatac to Logan...

When I arrived, the seller, Stephen, picked me up from the airport and we drove the 45 minutes or so back to his house, chatting most of the way about (what else) Vans.
_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

Stephen the seller, was a great guy, in all of my excitement (apprehension) I forgot to take the obligatory selfie of the two of us before I drove away.

Before leaving we discussed the driving issue a bit more, how it would randomly lose power for 5-10 seconds occasionally after 45 mins or so driving on the highway. I told him confidently "i'll figure it out" and with a wink and a smile drove off.

I had decided i'd try to make it at least a couple hours that first night, maybe stopping in Springfield Massachussetts and then trying for friendly territory, my hometown of Woodstock, NY the following morning.

A few minutes down the road, I began to hear the unmistakable clack of a CV joint. God damnit. Funny enough, this was one of the things I specifically told the shop to inspect for me, as I absolutely hate doing CV joints on the side of the road. As nightfall approached however, I decided it was good enough for now and soldiered on.

The Doka drove fantastically, gobs of power from its Subie 2.2, which feels particularly alive in the lightweight Doka. I was happy, though a bit apprehensive because of the noisy CV, when like clockwork at 45 minutes, the truck completely stalled on the highway at 70mph. The 5-10 seconds it was shut off felt like an eternity in traffic on the mass turnpike as I slowed from 70-45mph and then it kicked back on again and I took off back to 70mph once more. Holy smokes, that was way more intense than I was expecting. Glad that only happens intermittently I thought to myself... It wasnt more than a minute later, that it did it again, and again, and again. Soon it was 30-60 seconds on, and 5-10 seconds stalled, over and over again. The trucks behind me thought I was being a jerk and I could see arms flailing and middle fingers flying as I repeatedly slowed to 45mph before accelerating to highway speeds again. With the sun quickly setting, I decided to try to push for the next town, Springfield, where I could hopefully make a harbor freight, buy some basic tools and try to figure out what in the hell was wrong with this thing.

_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

That night (up since 4am), I got to work tracking down what I was sure was an electrical issue. The wiring harness was a rats nest, and I thought the issue probably was there. To begin, I cleaned up all the grounds in the engine bay with a wire brush and replaced the engine to body ground.

I asked on some subaru facebook groups for wiring pinouts for the 1990 Subaru EJ22. The overwhelming consensus at this time, was that the issues was probably related to the fact that the Doka was running without a VSS sensor, and this was throwing the ECU into limp mode. Defeated, I hit the sack and reckoned id get back at it the next morning.

Since the issue didnt present itself right away, it was too soon to determine if any of my quick fixes worked, so I got back on the highway. I had 120 miles to go to my destination and a friendly driveway. A few minutes after I got back on the Mass Turnpike the terrible start stop began again in ernest. Could I make it? Was this stupid? Theres no way I drive this thing cross country. The situation on the highway was downright dangerous, and I decided to pull off at the next rest stop to gather my thoughts and gas up. As I opened the gas cap, hisssss. Shit. I knew right away, a valve or the charcoal canister was clogged, creating vacuum in the gas tank and cutting off the flow of fuel. I filled up, and to test my theory unplugged the vent line on the charcoal canister and (for good measure) left the cap off. The smell of gasoline was overwhelming as I pulled back onto the highway and held my breath. Did this fix it? I waited for the terrible stalling...that never returned. Woohoo! Vanagon master! I hadnt fixed it, but i'd figured it out. Easy fix. I made it the rest of the way to Woodstock NY, where I grabbed lunch at my favorite local deli and parked myself for a few days to go over the Doka some more and come up with a plan.

On closer inspection I found a charred wire under the dash (scary), and both of the (seller stated new) batteries were bad.

This might be a good time to remind everyone that you can be a good person, sell something, and have there be issues with it. Certainly there were things that were more wrong with the Doka than stated, but Vanagon ownership as many will know is a constant barrage of breakdowns and failures until you get the whole thing sorted. That doesn't make the guy or gal who sold it to you a horrible person, or even the garage who you paid to look it over for you incompetent. These are after all, perfectly imperfect vehicles.
_________________
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

[Crankey]

Boy you need some praise for removing that hideous bumper and sun shade. And the exhaust stack. Good luck going forward with your new toy.

[livethevanlife]

With the Doka finally safe and sound in a friends driveway, I could start to look it over and do a few little jobs on it. By now I had decided that it was a dumb idea to try to drive it cross country. Better to ship it and get it back to La Paz where I can get it up on my lift and go all over it. Could I have made it back cross country? Yeah probably, but my guess was the fun factor would have been low and the stress high as I slowly worked out the show stopping kinks. Theres fun adventures in a Vanagon, and not so fun adventures. Besides, deciding to ship it meant I could hang out with some friends in NY and drive the Doka around town for a few days, never a bad thing.

First things first, install a working radio and some speakers... Priorities.

The radio ive been installing in all of my vans is a Continental unit. Ive found it to be a great combination of modern functionality, and old skool looks. It looks great, and sounds great. Heres a link to it... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08D2R48HZ?ref=nb_sb_ss_...ntal+radio

You might notice in one of the photos above a Big Shot shifter. This was installed by the PO, I had one in my old 2wd high top, im not a huge fan of them, but its there, and it works so ill leave it be for now. Theres also a hideous trio of three gauges to the right of the instrument cluster, a non working coolant temp gauge (the cluster gauge works fine so not sure why thats there), a non working oil pressure gauge (on the list to be fixed in La Paz), and a voltmeter. When I get it back home ill remove that whole thing and instead install the oil pressure and voltmeter gauges in a two gauge pod I 3D printed which fits in the ashtray.

With that heavy lifting done and with Led Zeppelin blaring on the radio, I set off for some more road testing. This time with the gas cap back on and just the charcoal canister disconnected.

If you've never had the privilege of visiting upstate new york in late spring, add it to your list. There's few places better in late spring and summer. The Doka is parked above in front of the Ashokan Reservoir, one of several that supply the drinking water for New York City, 90 miles or so away.

It wasnt long after that the speedo stopped working. Upon further inspection the cable sheered off right at the back of the speedo unit. Another thing on the growing to do list back in La Paz, or maybe ill switch it out for one of those GoWesty GPS units if they ever get back in stock again.

It was during this time that my love for the Doka finally started to grow. Besides the clacking CV, and a couple other small things, its a ton of fun to drive and gets attention EVERYWHERE it goes. I think the biggest shocker to me was the big Diesel truck driving dudes who would come up to me and pay their respects. Never expected those types to fall for it, but they did, in droves. Hells yeah.
_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

My week of fun over, it was time to park the Doka and fly back home while I awaited shipment from New York to San Diego.

Id need to fly back up from La Paz to San Diego, pick up the Doka, drive it across the border and then load it on another truck bound for La Paz. The pick up and transport cross country took several weeks to plan and execute, but finally it arrived.

After pickup it I needed to drive to my San Diego mailbox where I had the wheels and tires I had purchased shipped to.

These are 16 wheels off a Passat, and 225/70/16 BFG K02 tires. Im thinking these will look mean on the Doka and should help give it a more aggressive stance. I have purchased 15mm spacers for the rear, and will need to install longer studs front and back. I dont think ill need spacers for the front, but we will see...

With the truck loaded up it was time to cross the border. Of course, they saw the tires in the back and stopped me for a obligatory cross border shakedown, but I was ready with my story that I was here for the Baja 500 and needed a spare set of wheels for offroad. After looking me up and down a few times, and probably thinking that my story was too plausible, he let me go after making me promise I wasnt selling them (im not).

Now in Tijuana it was time to celebrate with Tacos.

The next morning, I brought the truck over to my shipping guys, who will be loading the Doka in a container truck bound for La Paz. For those curious, the cost is $1000 down and $500 back. Reason being the trucks usually go down full and come back empty because we dont really have any industry sending stuff back north from La Paz.

The Doka should arrive early next week and I can finally get wrenching on this thing.
_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

Well, now that you have some of the background on the Doka, where its from, where its headed, its probably high time I talked a bit about my plans for it.

Like many others im sure, this Doka in particular caught my eye. I think its stunning. And ill likely draw inspiration from it for my own build. At the moment im a bit torn between this color, which is similar to Toyota Quicksand, or maybe Porsche Slate Grey. The Doka is a such a masculine looking car, I think it deserves a more masculine color. The dove blue just isnt manly enough for me. Am I compensating? Maybe.

I want this truck to be my daily driver, and work/shop truck. As im starting to do more and more restos in La Paz, and theres more of a need for me to haul things around, engines, transmissions, body panels, large packages, etc. Ive hauled most if not all of these things in my Syncro Westy Miki, but thats not really fair to that Van. Its too nice. Also a large heavy Syncro Westy isnt an ideal daily driver. Sure it can be done, and ive done it the last couple years with Miki, but really, in stop and go traffic, its too big and slow. This Doka, with its Subie 2.2 is pretty effortlessly quick in comparison. Additionally, this Doka is manual everything, manual windows, manual steering, IE less stuff to break. I want my daily driver to be as reliable as possible, and in my humble opinion it doesnt get much more reliable than a non interference Subie 2.2. Just the right bump in power over stock without stressing things out too much.

Id also like to add a crane to the back of it, for lifting and hauling those aforementioned engines and transmissions, and whatever else I dont want to break my back hauling around.

https://www.harborfreight.com/pickup-truck-bed-crane-with-hand-winch-1000-lb-capacity-61522.html

This unit by Harbor Freight is actually pretty well reviewed, and in combination with a winch will make for a nice combo indeed. Sure, theres probably fancier ones out there, but im not hauling THAT many engines around.

Inside ill redo all of the upholstery, door panels, headliner. Ill probably go for a fabric thats simple and durable, I want this Doka to look clean and to the point. No insane designs or graphics, all business.

Up top I plan to add a FrontRunner roof rack.

I also have a set of rock sliders for the sides.

In the front ill remove the round headlights and grille and throw on a set of square that I already have. I think the squares look right on the Doka.

The previous owner installed a bunch of LED lights on the front roo bar, ill probably remove those in favor of some more classic looking front lights, maybe a couple large round hella fog lights or something.

Ill definitely be pulling a lot of inspiration from my good friend Ben Quesnels 16 Doka in France.
_________________
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

[ScottShelley]

I kind of like the way it looked with the smoke stacks and visor

[rmcd]

[Crankey]

Problem with that crane is there's not enough structure under the bead to mount it like that without a lot more self made structure added underneath.
It's also limited to lifting / unloading from that corner.

[livethevanlife]

[outcaststudios]

i had a truck with a crane in it, and i use my trucks to carry large items as well. I found that the amount of time i actually needed the crane was far less frequent than the amount of time i needed the full bed to move stuff.i ended up just taking it out after a while, i mean unless youre moving engines to rebuilders like every week ,year round, it makes more sense to just buy a hydraulic table to load the truck with and have the full use of the already limited sized bed of the truck. fwiw.
_________________
'88Doka JX td
'69 westy
(rip)couple bugs
(rip)three type III"s
(rip) '81 vanagon
a bunch of french stuff,and 9 motorcycles.

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2573791

[Alaskaberrys]

Nice Doka! Great read so far.

Surprised we haven’t seen it’s earlier incarnation in the wall of shame thread. Ooof! It may need therapy….


Looking forward to seeing how the Passat wheels with the BFG’s look. Thanks for putting this together.
_________________
'91 Westfalia, Bordeaux Red Pearl 2.1L 2wd Auto
'91 T3 Syncro Doka, Escorial Green 1.9L TD AAZ “Gremian” (to provoke, irritate, exasperate, vex...)

[livethevanlife]

Here's a walk around video I shot of the Doka shortly after arriving in Upstate NY with it.



Link

_________________
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

[Crankey]

I expect to use my crane to hang a hammock, mostly.

Any plan to install a giant sunroof like the ecotech doka ?

[livethevanlife]

The Doka finally arrived in La Paz this morning after a 4000 mile trip back from Boston, driving to New York, Shipping from New York to San Diego, driving it across the border from San Diego to Tijuana, and then trucked again from Tijuana to La Paz. Its been a lot of work, but its here and time to get to work!

First things first, I parked it next to the rest of the Syncro fleet, its the runt of the litter right now, but that wont last long!

Just for some context, Miki my blue Syncro on the left is a 91 Westy Triple Knob with a 2.2WBX, Schnitzel is my 1992 Yellow Tintop Syncro Camper in the background is ex Austrian Mountain Service with a 1.9AAZ Turbo Diesel and Triple Knobs, and finally the Subie 2.2 powered 90 Syncro Doka with rear locker. I rather like them all having different motors and configurations, it keeps each of them with their own personality and interesting to mix and match.

I noticed that the brake fluid reservoir cap was cracked, so I swapped that out for a good used one that I had in a parts van (it was cleaned before installation).

Next I removed the grille. The Doka has one of the pretty rare OG round grills with the large emblem. My other blue Syncro Miki was rocking a repro round grille from CIP1, which admittedly is pretty poor quality in comparison. Ill be swapping in a set of square headlights and grille to the Doka.

Heres a side by side, the OG grille on the left and the reproduction on the right.

And the OG grille installed on my Syncro Westy Miki.

Later this afternoon i'm going to attempt to swap the wheel studs and get the wheels and tires mounted. Fingers crossed that goes smoothly.

Manana ill get it up on the lift where ill be working on cleaning and repacking the CV's and starting some of the other mechanical checks and repairs needed.
_________________
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

[livethevanlife]

With the brake fluid cap replaced, it was time to mosey on down to my good friends at Geraldos VW's, perhaps the best VW shop south of the border and get some replacement wheel studs installed, and the replacement wheels I bought for the Doka installed.

I purchased 15mm spacers for the rears, in the hopes that the new wheels, 16" Passat wheels if you recall, would clear the rear trailing arm. Welp, they didnt clear the rear trailing arms so a plasma torch and a grinder were employed to shave back the pinch welds for enough clearance. Fortunately with that done (still need to weld up the trailing arms post op, but the day was ending), the wheels all mounted up with, so far, no clearance issues.

Theres probably few things short of paint, that you can do to transform a look of a Vanagon more than upgrading the wheels and tires. This combo, the 16" Passat wheels and 225/70/16 BFG's looks absolutely badass. What a huge upgrade. And were just getting started...

The eagle eyed observer might notice that theres a stud missing, we were a couple short, one on each side. Its a risk i'm willing to take on my own vehicle while I wait for a couple more to ship. Its only around town driving here, no long trips or highway driving.
_________________
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