63K mile Syncro Westfalia - Perfect!

1991 Volkswagen Bus/Vanagon Description

There may be many kinds of car owners, and here are two: users and restorers. I am the latter type, having spent many years fixing up German vehicles. This is my first foray into the Vanagon world. Those of you that are Vanagon-literate may recognize lots of these things that I have fixed as being chronic problems with these.

Before I bought this, it was a one-owner California Vanagon Syncro Westfalia that spent its life under a carport. When I first saw this for sale after looking at over 100 Syncro ads, I had to have this one. It was a one-owner, 60K miles Syncro with pretty much a virgin interior, paint and body. I have spent nine months fixing all the things previous owners overlooked. I will start with the big, expensive ones, and go on to the smaller things.

First, having the stock 90 hp. engine here at 7000’ didn’t cut it at all, so a 165 hp. Subaru 2.5 liter conversion was in order. A factory short block was used with rebuilt heads, and updated headgaskets. Also used were a rebuilt power steering pump, remanufactured alternator, new O2 sensor, knock sensor, and water temperature sensors. No more Digifant EFI system with its failing aftermarket support, the Subaru ECU works great and lots of shops can scan it. A Sachs OEM clutch kit was installed. Stainless steel coolant pipes were a must, so out with the old plastic ones, and in with the new SS ones. The engine is well inside its 18 month, 24K miles warranty. The guy that did the engine swap has done over 60 of these swaps.

With the engine out, it was a great time to get the transmission up to date. South African oiling plates were installed that ensure constant flow of lube to the fourth gearset. Vanagons, like lots of cars, spend most of their lives in fourth gear. A mainshaft thrust bearing plate was installed that overcomes what is potentially a design flaw in the VW transmission. Steel-caged idler bearings were installed in place of the plastic-caged stock ones. For an accurate shifting pattern, a shift rod bushing, selector shaft rebuild kit, and a shift lever bushing repair kit were installed. Shifting now looks like the pattern on the shift knob! Lastly, a taller .82 fourth gear set was installed for easier highway cruising.

While all this was going on, Old Man Emu shock absorbers replaced the pitiful stocker shocks. Upper front shock bushings were replaces with new ones. No more driving like you are piloting a waterbed – it drives like a car now, thankfully!

The last-generation Vanagon (’90-’91), of which this is one, had electric windows and mirrors. I replaces the window motor in the driver’s door as well as the switch. I also sourced another electric mirror switch. The mirrors and the windows work great now.

After the first good road test after installing the new engine/transmission, it was decided to remove and update the front differential – it was making noises that I didn’t like. Evidently, the lube in the front was never changed, and it fried the viscous coupling as well as the pinion gear. A new ring and pinion was procured, and a rebuilt viscous coupling was installed. Now it goes down the highway silently – everything happily rebuilt and living in new Redline lubricants.

Next was wheels, tires, and braking. The braking on a stock Syncro is pretty poor. Driving down my canyon road here was asking a lot of the braking system. 16” Enkei rims were procured and mounted with 215/60-R16 Continental Winter Contact snow tires. The spare lives where is should – behind the front bumper – and has the fifth Conti snow tire on it. With 16” rims on the Vanagon, now the South African braking kit rotors and calipers was installed. The rear drums were replaced with a set of Zimmerman drums. Oh, my what a difference!

The frig wasn’t behaving so I pulled it out. I put a new ignitor and thermocouple in the fire chamber. I bought a 4” diameter fan to replace the stock cooling fan. I also attached a piece of rigid insulation board to the back to act as a duct for the cooling air. The propane fires off immediately, once you run the frig on 12 volts for a while. From what I read, this is as good as it gets. I drove 200 miles at 65 mph on the highway with the propane cooling the frig – the flame never blew out! At the RV park, 120v worked just fine for the frig.

The sink was non-functional, so I bought a replacement pump as well as a variable-flow faucet upgrade. Things work great now. I cleaned out all the storage compartments – easy – they were hardly used by the previous owner!

I pulled out both the seats, and cleaned and lubed the sliding and rotating mechanisms. Also, I bought another ash tray and other bits using the wonderful TheSamba.com to tidy up the cabin area.

Lastly, I procured new, three-window poptop fabric and installed it, since the old fabric had been in there for 27 years and was tearing in one location. A new skylight kit was procured and installed to replace the old, cracked one that had been there for 27 years.

One can’t do all this work and not use the thing! I did take two trips with it just to check things out, one to Taos, NM from the Denver area where we live, and the other was to White Rim Road in Canyonlands (Moab, UT) for some light four-wheeling. After these two trips, the Syncro now has all of 62,600 miles on it. Everything works perfectly and should work for at least the next 100K miles.

If you are looking for the absolute best Vanagon Westfalia Syncro in America, this is it. Come check it out!