Date: Sun, 2 Aug 1998 12:09:25 -0700
Reply-To: Lawrence Dongilli <buspilot@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: Lawrence Dongilli <buspilot@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject: Re: Lawrence Dongilli, Syncronaut!! (was: Check your grounds)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
Jim Davis wrote:
> Welcome to the international brotherhood of Syncronauts!!!!
> Do you know the Syncronaut's handshake yet?
> Just kidding.
>
> I always enjoy meeting fellow "Syncronauts" on the internet. I've "met"
> nearly 290 of us so far!
Thanks for the warm welcome. "Syncronauts", eh? That's cool.....I like
that! Our Syncro is quite a huge departure from the status quo for us.
Among the list of firsts are: air conditioning, fuel injection, liquid
cooling, power steering, all wheel drive and a brain in charge of it all!
Up to this point, I have dealt exclusively with the Type 1/2/3 with all the
variations of the Type 1 engine. Never made it to Type 4. The largest
single deviation was a '69 Porsche 911T I owned and rebuilt years ago.
Anyway, I've got quite a lot to learn here....this is a whole new ball
game.
> Is your 86 a "Camper" model? What model do you have?
What we have is an '86 Vanagon GL Syncro. It is the basic seven passenger
van (but I think ours classifies as a 'Weekender'......the rear seat folds
down into a bed and it has a pad over the rear deck....no side table,
though). It is silver with a blue interior, and had 115k miles on the
chassis, but the front differential unit was replaced at 62K miles and the
engine was replaced at around 90k miles. Most of the service records were
available....and a lot other stuff has been replaced too. I don't know if
the previous owners were hard on cars or what...but there is a _lot_ of new
stuff. I guess they weren't too handy with a wrench either, because they
did _nothing_ themselves. As a result, there are some big numbers on the
receipts. Our Syncro isn't perfect, it still needs some bits and
pieces....there are some bumps and scratches on the body...but it looks
like a very serviceable vehicle with normal wear and tear for a 12 year old
vehicle. We weren't looking specifically for a 'Syncro', just a basic
Vanagon to replace our 'flak damaged' '71 (took a direct hit in the sliding
door by someone in a big hurry trying to beat a stop light while my wife
was turning left). The Bus was still fully driveable, but the sliding door
and the surrounding body was trashed. There were enough other significanat
problems with the rest of the body (previous major repairs and much rust
setting in) that we decided to consider moving on to something else. Too
bad, because from a mechanical perspective, it is in very good condition.
We wanted another '71 (to hopefully transfer the engine/trans/etc) but had
no luck finding one with a _really_ good body after looking for about seven
months.....all the while dearly missing the full utility of the sliding
door....especially when carrying around our son, who is currently nearly 21
months old. If we were going to get anything, it had to be _really_ clean.
We were open to many possibilities, including some 'domestic' options.
Anyway, we looked at a couple of standard Vanagons, and they did not grab
us. Then, by chance we saw the Syncro advertised in a local
publication....for sale by owner. We looked at it....drove it.....and here
we are. We'll see how the Syncro does for us. So far we really like
it....it is sort of in an evaluation period right now. My biggest gripe at
this point is cost of parts. I have almost had several heart attacks
inquiring on prices of some (most) items from the dealer! Unbelievable.
Welcome to the world of the modern auto. I guess we were spoiled with
parts costs from the air-cooled lineage. Fortunately, there seem to be
enough vendors out there selling OEM parts at a far more 'reasonable' cost.
> Where do you live?
....actually, not too far from you - Lakewood CA. I work at the Boeing
plant (formerly McDonnell Douglas until the merger a year ago) in Long
Beach.
Regards,
Lawrence Dongilli
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