Date: Mon, 21 May 2001 11:00:17 -0700
Reply-To: steve@syncro.org
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Steve Schwenk <steve@syncro.org>
Subject: Hollister Hills Syncro Event - It was Great!
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Thanks to the efforts of all who attended, the second
annual Hollister Spring Syncro Event (soon to be
renamed) was a great success.
Including the five day visitors, we had 25 syncros and
5 syncros in attendance, and about 50-60 people. Most
of the attendees were from California, although Tom and
Adam came down from Oregon, Brian from Washington and
Andy from Nevada.
There were three Subaru conversions, including a 240 HP
3.4L six cylinder dream machine! There were two Audi
conversions, including Detlev's 2.6 (??) prototype
install of the deluxe engine they use in South Africa.
(I was lucky enough to test drive all of the different
conversions). The TICO that was supposed to make it
was not finished on time.
The display of exotic hardware and syncronaut
innovation/engineering was astounding. Nearly every
syncro there was exceptional...even the one shabby
syncro westy (owner's name i forget) day visitor that
was purchased for $800! Among the notables were:
Coyote's 15" syncro westy with 16" trailing arms, Betts
Springs, Bilstein shocks, Wessels custom axles, 15" SA
wheels, large tires, modified gearing (5.83 FD with
taller 3rd and 4th for perfect syncro ratios!), ration
rockers, modified chip, 15" brake kit, Front diff lock,
winch, bull bars, and too many other mods to list. I
was lucky enough to drive it and must say it is the
ideal syncro in terms of gearing, ride height,
handling, suspension. Everything works together and
the package feels more natural and right than any other
syncro i have ever driven. (Coyote received the
"Syncro Rookie of the year" award at the awards
ceremony for his contribution to the advancement of
Syncro R&D!)
'
John Wessels SyncroMog with Huge 15" wheels/tires,
23"+ of ride height, softer/taller stock springs,
custom bilstein shocks, custom axles with HD CV joints,
custom and really nice skid plates, modified front and
rear ends for more ground clearance, custom bumpers,
and much more. (John received the "Syncromeister
Achievement Award" for his engineering breakthroughs,
innovation and incredible machine.
Tom's 1986 GL with the "pneumatic drive shaft
disengager" (obviously not it's correct name!)
engineered entirely from VW parts and which can be
operated from the cab. It disengages the prop shaft
for highway driving so you can save your front diff/VC
and transaxle a lot of wear and tear. We are hoping
Tom will make this available to the rest of us
syncronauts. It is a clean and basically stock set up
that VW offered on only a handful of syncros, from my
understanding. Detlev also had a custom built
disengagable drive shaft that does the same thing with
really nice u-joints. I hope he develops this for sale
as well. We will all benefit from these.
Ben's 16" Syncro Doublecab with 1.6 turbodiesel.
Andy, Warren, Brian and Mark brought their engine
conversions noted above. Many of the syncros had
custom springs and OME shocks, and lots of neat
personal modifications too numerous to list here.
The 4WD action was pretty exciting, to say the least!
One syncronaut had to be lowered down a hill by cable
after encountering a rolled Toyota, another syncro
nearly rolled and had to be lowered by people hanging
on the custom bumper and using rope to pull it down
from it's near vertical resting position after it fell
partially into a hole of sorts. One syncronaut
received minor scrapes and scratches in the rescue
effort. Another syncro (the famous yosemite e-bay
syncro) encountered one hellish obstacle after another,
conquering them all, although with some difficulty in
places. As usual, other vehicle owners at the park
voiced their utter amazement on numerous occasions at
what the syncros and their drivers could do.
The camp events went well and included community camp
fires, a pot luck barbecue, a kids theater production
(on the camp stage with lights!), a hokey awards
ceremony, videos of the day's 4WD action projected onto
a screen on the camp stage, Tom's swap meet, and lots
of socializing, test driving, inspecting and BSing.
The camp was not crowded, there were hot showers, the
weather was really nice and the event just worked!
Even the kids had a fantastic time. Thanks to all who
attended, and for all of your efforts to make it such a
great event (and especially Brent, John, Coyote, Mark
and Peter).
Stay tuned for next year! It will be even better and
we will increase the number of Busses that can attend
to 35 or so.
Steve
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