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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