Date:         Tue, 5 Aug 2008 23:52:35 -0400
Reply-To:     Karl Mullendore <groups@WESTYVENTURES.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Karl Mullendore <groups@WESTYVENTURES.COM>
Subject:      Re: Syncro buyers love rust?

Ha, I love reading the comments. Photos lie, really folks, this Syncro had
holes in unrepairable places. Holes under the back seat, holes under the
rear mattress, the slider door track rusted off at the front, footwells
gone, rockers shot, rear lid and slider both rusted out on the inner shells,
nose like swiss cheese...nah, this one ain't restorable unless someone has
nothing better to do that weld rust for the next year. Guess I'm just
weirded out because a sound body would be far easier to add a poptop than to
fix up this old horrible wreck.

Karl

On Tue, 5 Aug 2008 15:24:46 -0400, craig cowan <phishman068@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

>I'll say it again....
>"That syncro didn't look THAT bad!" It really didn't! Maybe it's just
>because i live in the rust belt.....but that's what's going to happen to all
>of them eventually. I put 3 days of effort into trying to get my rust in
>check......and it came through in 3 months. I have, as a result, signed a
>peace treaty with the rust based upon the terms that i get 5 years of
>dignified service, at which time the rust is allowed to claim the vehicle.
>It's a fair deal i think. It becomes a parts car, i win, the rust wins, the
>vehicle.....well who knows.
>You can throw money at it, or you can sign a peace treaty and enjoy it!
>And if you need to cut that little hole in your headliner but everyone tells
>you "NO NO NO", just remember the holes growing benieth the floors......
>
>-Craig
>Gutted '85
>Dead '80
>1 garage with most of 2 vanagons in it.
>
>On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 8:57 AM, Doug Fitz-Randolph
><fitzr@suscom-maine.net>wrote:
>
>> Not that I don't hate rust - maybe more than most - but...
>>
>> My syncro passenger van had some rust when I bought it - not quite as bad
>> as
>> the blue syncro on Detroit Craigslist, but enough to make a Californian
>> cringe for sure. That was in 1998. It does take some periodic effort to
>> keep
>> the rust in check, and ultimate defeat is inevitable, but I have no doubt
>> it
>> will last at least another 10 years.
>>
>> Also, until I got my '82 Westy last summer, I had no idea what I was
>> missing! It was after eating a lovely dinner for 4 in a Westy at Watkins
>> Glen two years ago that I really saw the light. IMO the pop-top makes a
>> huge
>> difference and really transforms the vehicle. Sure you could "just add a
>> pop-top", but, realistically, how many people are capable of or willing to
>> undertake a project like that?
>>
>> I think if you can get 10 years out of a $4,000 syncro Westy compared to
>> not
>> being able to afford a $20,000 showpiece, you should go for it. 10 years
>> from now we'll all be gliding silently along in hydrogen-powered
>> hovercrafts
>> anyhow, right? :)
>>
>> Rust sucks, but it isn't always the end of the world.
>>
>> Doug Fitz-Randolph
>> Freeport, ME
>>