My Syncro Build

[coguzzi]

PHASE 1

Long time syncro owner/wrencher here that has owned many over the years and sold his last one (#5-svx powered westfalia) a while ago to dabble in the "build your own sportsmobile" arena. somethings i loved about the E350, RB, 7.3psd, colorado camper van top, but i sold it anyway and got into a four wheel camper Hawk that went into the drop dead reliable 02 tundra that i already owned. we love that darn camper and it isnt going anywhere, BUT, i still will always have a soft spot in my heart for the VW Vanagon Syncro. I got one offered to me through a buddy who didnt have time for it, and since it was becoming my slow season for parts of what i do for $ (graphic designer for the apparel industry who would rather not be at a computer any longer and has opened a small motorcycle resto/service shop specializing in EU/japanese brands including custom upholstery), i figured--why the hell not build another one. I really enjoyed my last SVX build out afterall.

so, deal was made for a really solid 87 syncro tin top that had some character flaws, locker tranny was in good shape, drove fairly nice, motor i dont care about at all ran fairly well. still it was 3 hrs away and i decided to tow it home which allowed me to grab a westfalia roof section as well for phase 1 of my evil plan--build a Westfalia Weekender by swapping over the pop top. list correlates to the pics

1. van as i brought it home

2. prepping the donor roof section from an 86 westfalia. im doing it the way the westfalia factory did it (westfalia's were not made by VW afterall). 100's of spot welds i drilled out so i could swap the skin over to the van and weld it to the roof structure.

3. syncro tin top, which has a domed roof, not aware of its fate

4. created the worlds largest sunroof. the domed center structure need to be removed and replaced with the flat westfalia one

5. test fitting westfalia roof section, marking mount locations for the luggage rack

6. more test fitting, getting the cuts just right, this went on for a while

7. and finally structural spot welds every couple of inches

8. continued, and them rotating areas so as to not warp the metal with heat, seal the seam with a stitch weld

9. and then the long process of smoothing out the seam and body work, body work, body work

10. lots of body work later and in primer--finally

more in next post (10 pic limit)

 

[coguzzi]

11. got some paint on it

12. since the fall weather was so nice, i got the rest of the body work done and in final paint. i really didnt plan on this til spring--thank you mother nature

13. brand new canvas on the freshly painted westfalia top

14. TAH DAH, instant syncro westfalia weekender

15. looks good with the top down as well, all lines up well

16. i used the tin top passenger van headliner to finish out the hole. i had most of the westfalia interior pieces to use, but didnt really think it looked as finished and clean as this approach. need to build a shelf for the rear AC area, since: 1. im not an AC guy, 2. typical of the AC unit, its in poor shape and dont wanna reuse it. it also look funny using a passenger van AC tunnel in a a pop top IMHO

so that completes phase 1 of this build, which just finished and took quite a while, now on to phase 2 and 3 which hopefully happen somewhat simultaneously. goal is to have this van ready for Syncro Solstice in Moab which is early May

 

[mapper]

Who knew it was so easy Nice work!

 

[coguzzi]

Who knew it was so easy Nice work!

it only took 15 minutes to--ha. seriously, lots of details left out in the pics, like lining up the threaded backing plates under the skin for the pop top and getting welded in, measuring, measuring and measuring again etc. drilling hundreds of spot welds on the hottest day of the year is up there (lost 6 lbs in sweat). i mostly took this on to see which is easier, making a syncro tin top into a westfalia, or 2wd westfalia into a syncro that a buddy just did, jury is still out. body work or mechanics--pick your poison

 

[steelheadbum]

Looks great bud..
Buck

The Redneck Mexican
2002 E350 7.3 PSD 4x4 8inch lift pop top conversion....

 

[mtnbike28]

wow you made it look easy (and great) Nice work!

 

[DAV!D]

The more of these pop top conversions I see, more and more I'm tempted to go for it. Also nice to see another goldy. I just put some new treads and CLKs on mine and I'm just getting started on my build.

 

[coguzzi]

this is the 2nd goldie (savanna biege) that i have owned. a friend of a friend really wanted my last one like 10 yrs ago and has it parked at a property in mexico for his surf van when he goes down, at least she is living the good life. i have some 16" steelies with BFG's waiting to go on

 

[DAV!D]

this is the 2nd goldie (savanna biege) that i have owned. a friend of a friend really wanted my last one like 10 yrs ago and has it parked at a property in mexico for his surf van when he goes down, at least she is living the good life. i have some 16" steelies with BFG's waiting to go on

Nice, I had been looking for CLKs for a while but finally gave up and bought a set of Mercedies steelies. Was going to mount my tires on those but I looked one last time on CL and found a set up CLK rims. Now I have a set of steelies 4 sale.. LoL

 

[photogdave]

Nice work! Looking forward to updates.
Syncro Solstice is an awesome event - wish I could go every year!

 

[Kmrtnsn]

Can't wait to read about the Subaru turbocharged flat-six install next!

 

[coguzzi]

it will be getting a subaru as phase 3, undetermined which one as of right now, but its getting one. ive done 3 subi conversions. safe to say--im not a fan of VW's wasserleaker, i tried to like them for years, truth is--i dont

 

[coguzzi]

PHASE 2, interior upholstery

I've worked in the technical apparel industry for the last 15 years, and have gained a vast knowledge of sewing. i recently took some courses in upholstery and am loving getting my hands dirty (hopefully not literally) with it. been doing moto seats and some other VW's, so i was not concerned when i saw the seats needing some love in this van, bring it, update the look to make it more fresh

1. manky stock interior, and very 80's

2 fabric just wore out by some dirty hippies or something

3. bench and mattress were not terrible, but...., what happened in this van doesnt need to stay in this van

4. picked a chocolate vinyl to match dash and other smaller interior bits, with a chocolate tweed for bolsters and lighter chocolate with gold accents for the center. gold will be tied back in with the piping

5. bolster on foam, and serged around the edge. i got lucky to find this walking foot serger at a friends shop by accident, very rare machine here

6. seat bottom coming together

7. my work horse, fine german machine here

8. very happy with the results so far, first seat bottom

9. finished driver seat

10. onto the bench seat, quite a bit bigger animal to wrestle

 

[coguzzi]

11. bench bottom done, time to stretch it in and hog ring it down

12-15. finished and installed, so much richer, browns match, gold is still tied back in, nice durable tweed and nice foam to boot (some foam repair was necessary as well). cant see the mattress, but it was done as well.


couple small bits to finish in here, the onto phase 3

 

[bknudtsen]

Fantastic work! Love the colors!