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Date:         Mon, 18 Dec 95 08:28:04 0800
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Steve Hoge <steveh@emu.com>
Subject:      Surprising Syncro Sighting Part 2

You syncronauts out there might remember my post of a couple of weeks ago about a white Syncro Crewcab sighted here in Santa Cruz.

The owner turns out to be this fellow Tim Silva, who I have been in contact regarding his V8anagon, listed for sale in my last post. Not only was I surprised to be talking to the owner of this rare '86 Syncro, but I was flabbergasted to hear that he had single-handedly translplanted a Ford V6 into it! ("I've always worked on my own cars" - yeah, right!) It's a 2.9 liter fuel-injected engine from an '88 Ford Capri; not quite as beefy as the V8anagon, but with the Syncro drivetrain it definitely is able to take him wherever he wants to go!

He's in the restaurant business, but is clearly one of these "car guys" (you know who you are); he's owned a couple of 911's and says he never even considered putting such a finicky engine in a Vanagon. The story is that he bought the Crewcab used in Canada, where they were regularly imported, and then paid the 25% duty (!) to get it into the US. He had it inspected and it passed all the DOT (ie, safety) requirements with no problem. But he says that the EPA (ie, smog) requirements and inspections were particularly heinous, and would have taken months to perform - all while the car is sitting, impounded, with a 150% bond on it!

So, somehow (he used the word "creatively", but declined to elaborate) he got the car into the states and did the transplant over the course of a couple of months, and *then* got it EPA certified (hey, that engine's made in Detroit, isn't it? No problem!) He says there was enough room under the existing deck and behind the transmission for the V6 without having to expand out, so it's impossible from outside to tell there's a V6 in there.(Sorry, I forgot to ask him about wear and tear on the Syncro tranny; I know that's been the subject of a recent thread here.)

I'll probably be in contact with him again about the V8anagon; I don't think the Crewcab is for sale, but if anybody out there has *really* got the itch, I could ask him about it :-) He mentioned another couple of Syncro owners here in Santa Cruz that I wasn't previously aware of - this area is turing out to be quite a hotbed of syncroholism. Gotta get these folks on the net!

Steve Hoge '77 Auto Loaf (FS!) '89 Syncro GL


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