87 Syncro Doka Build

Well I started my new VW project inspired by the building of a 68 VW bus a few years ago...love that bus. I miss driving the bus in the winter though it does pretty well in the snow the problem is that, well the heater sucks. I also live in a place where there are plenty of placed to explore and frankly the bus goes to most but it is only a matter of time before I put a dent in our beautiful 68 baywindow...and the wife that help restore it from start to finish would probably kill me. So a little less than a year ago we started searching the web for a syncro doka...loving the van but wanting 4wd and a truck the doka was a great solution.

March of last year we flew out to Portland to drive it back...the vehicle appeared to be a steal, and we were going to drive it back to Colorado. Well like any deal that is too good to be true it generally is. Well the truck didn't make it home...it kept over heating and with many road side fixes we just couldn't get it to run cold. So we flew home and shipped the Doka home. Bummed but not too mad we decided to do a full restoration becasue the quality of work that made the doka look great was already starting to show signs of fatigue. So off to the interweb to start the research.

The Plan

Pull the diesel motor and install a TDI ALH motor out of a 2000 Jetta
Tear down to the body and full undercoat and body paint
Add front and rear locking differentials
Restore all suspension and steering components
Do an overland multi purpose interior that is comfortable with the ablity to sleep in if the weather is bad outside.
Add camp kitchen and storage
Full Off road bumpers, lights, tires, winch, and 4x4 goodies

Basically spend way too much time and money on a build.

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Torn Down

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Dustless Blasted

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Cleaned up ready to go under the knife
 

Haf-E

Expedition Leader
What is the "dustless blasting" system you used? Something DIY or rentable?

Looks like a good starting point for a full build.
 
Dustless blasting has been around for a few years...there is a local guy Southwestern Dustless Mobile Blasting that came to my house to do the job. It uses water vapor and recycle glass as the blasting media. It is less dusty, but not dustless, so it is mobile or uncontained. They can't recycle the media so its cost a little more but the water vapor in the process keeps the dust down and keeps the panels from warping due to heat. You still have to get someone that knows what they are doing because you can still warp a panel due to just pounding the media in one spot. The process adds rust inhibitor so it doesn't flash rust due to blasting with water. Its a good procedure but next time I'm sure he is going to charge someone more to do this type of vehicle it took him two days or 10 hours.
 

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