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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!
Comments: To: "syncro-org@yahoogroups.com" <syncro-org@yahoogroups.com>,
          "syncro@egroups.com" <Syncro@egroups.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

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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