Hi Everyone,
Regretfully but joyfully, I never thought that I would, but the new addition to our family has made me realise it's time to sell my Syncro Westfalia. As you all would know a Syncro with '3 knobs' and a Westy roof is an extremely rare beast in Australia, this might be one of your only opportunities to own one. The swiss army knife of vehicles. Further rarity this is one of the last syncros, 1992 model with the double chassis, gear shift protector etc.
Heaps of work done to this van which started as a panel van. As you will see from the list below I was still in the process of even more upgrades, but its time for someone else to have that fun. So, where to start...
-Van painted last year with stone guard all around the lower section of panels.
-Gearbox rebuilt less than 20K ago, with tall 3rd and 4th gears for highway cruising and the south african oiling plates.
-Front and rear lockers and decoupler
-Super rare Westy Roof
-Custom buese shelf in the roof (look up on thesamba.com, great to have extra shelf space when cooking up a feast)
-1.5 year old new grey canvas with three windows from busdepot
-Westy rock n roll bed (everything engineer approved). Seats 4 sleeps 4.
-Ice cold aircon – another rare item on syncros!
-BOTH front seats swivel, autotechnica bucket seats with optional spare even comfier set of autotechnica bucket seats to be put in.
-Headlight relay upgrade installed and brightest legal bulbs
-Fiamma 2.5m awning, with middle rafter also.
-FOUR custom sliding windows with fly screens in the rear and excellent privacy tint. On a hot day camping, everyone wants to pile into the van, as its actually cool and shaded inside, only place cooler is swimming or airconditioned. Also have flyscreens for front cab windows.
-Insulated curtains
-Towbar
-National Luna 52L Weekender fridge AND freezer, so you can have ice cubes to go with your whiskey (or use a drill blender to make cocktails, that was a fun weekend)
-Huge 170AH slimline AGM battery custom mounted underneath the van, keeps centre of gravity low and doesn't take up precious interior space, no impact on ground clearance
-Late model caravelle rear view mirrors that don't flop and look good
-Custom VW Passat wheels, set of 5
-Van cafe spare wheel carrier
-215/70/16 BFG tyres, with 2 spare tyres
-Optional extra set of Tiguan rims I was going to fit
-Wheels arches modified during paint job, so could go even bigger tyres if you are keen with the sliding door mod you can get online.
-Custom made cabinetry allowing for huge storage in a small space, much more storage than many other campervan setups I've looked at whilst not feeling cramped inside,
-Huge sink, not a dinky little sink that so many campervan / caravans have. Huge sink = laundry on the road, also, late night, couldn't be bothered doing dishes, chuck them in the sink, close the lid, drive home to the dishwasher.
-Cabinets take 3 butane burners, by far the easiest cooktops
making it easy to cook inside or outside, with three burners you can be an
outback masterchef. No need to worry about illegally carrying an LPG bottle inside a vehicle.
-Large underbody water tank
-240v wiring with surge protector, double pole outlets etc.
240v to 12v 10amp ctek smart charger
-12v wiring with multiple outlets and CTEK D250S DC charger
-MASSIVE 300W solar on the roof, just need to finish wiring up 30amp solar regulator, will try to get it done but hard to find the time to play with the van with a newborn
-Everything FUSION stereo with performance 6x9 in front doors, underseat powered subwoofer. Plenty loud and good quality as it is, I also have additional performance fusion amp, 5.5 components and 4 inch speakers I was going to install.
-98% of water pipes in van replaced, including new stainless long pipes. Radiator replaced a few years ago.
-Gowesty full stainless exhaust system installed less than 10K ago with the hi flow cat and magnaflow muffler
SPARES
-Spare half shafts and CV joints front and rear
-New Gowesty gear reduction starter optional extra if you are staying with the 2.1 WBX. I thought starter was dying a few years back but it was the battery, starter battery replaced starts fine ever since.
-Fox shocks to go on, nothing wrong with factory suspension, though was going to do fox shocks / schwenk springs combo
-Lots of other tidbits, can't remember them all, all yours for the right price. Actually looking forward to how much garage space I’m going to have once all the spares are cleared out!
The Bad
-Indicator lights that show when diff locks / decoupler engage aren't working. A trip down to a guy in canberra who has the spares available to him should have that sorted in a day. Probably just the screw in sensors. Just don't have the time to go and get this job done.
-Engine is oily, needs a good clean and probably a seal or two. I was planning to do the subaru EJ251 conversion, and can include a running subaru outback doner vehicle if you would like – I was driving the outback around at the start of the year, then parked it when the rego ran out and now just needs a battery. The outback in currently parked outback at Canyonleigh, the syncro is based at Holsworthy NSW.
-It's an old vehicle. As you would know if you are looking at this van, it's a cult vehicle that is probably going to go up in value, though keep in mind it's age, it will need occasional TLC and maintenance to really get the most enjoyment out of it. That said, a club member has his up past 600K now, wow, they don't build them like this anymore. I'm not a mechanic, you don't have to be a mechanic to own one, but it helps if you know a thing or two, or have a good mechanic who will look after you. SOLD AS IS.
This van was my love affair, I've not counted the money spent on my mistress but it has probably added up. A few final touches like 'carpeting' the rear walls and this would be the ultimate off grid off road around australia bug out machine, that was always my big goal, though things change. I hope I’m making the right decision in selling, I do ask the buyer offers me the first right of refusal if they ever sell.
Asking for 39K ono, all inclusive.
Will try to post photos and ad on gumtree / ebay this weekend. Looks tough with the new light protectors fitted.
Sam
0414 737 587