anyone know this van

[terryvanman]

[andisnewsyncro]

Is that the one that was on fleabay a month or so back for £15,000 or there abouts as a classified ad?
If it is, the first ad said the difflocks were fluffed "a common problem on these, but nothing major" if I remember the description rightly, then it went on again a bit later as an auction but didn't make its reserve - no mention of difflock problems that time though - went up to about £5k I think. I remember someone on here mentioning possibly having a lok at it bit can't remember who...

[terryvanman]

thanks for that darling any more?

[cranman]

pretty sure it was on ebay twice and dont think it made the reserve both times, and andisnewsyncro is right no mention of the diff lock not working in the adds that i saw

[The BCE]

If that's in london, I've had e-mail communication with the "owner". Said his brother-in-law works in Germany. Kept changing his story as to what worked and didn't. Was advertised for £10.5k. I offered £8k which he said he'd accept if I did the import etc. Something didn't feel right. It might not be the same van, but it looks very similar.

Terry, I now have your old white syncro - loving it

[syncroand101]

Yeah, its on gumtree london for about 8.5k I think...

[terryvanman]

I've been to have a look at this van, it looks much better in the photos. the near side [drivers LHD] has had a complete respray and I cant tell if there's any filler under the paint...but the seams have been filled with something, the side door has the usual dents where someone has pushed the door closed with a heavy hand, there's a dent or two on the back door.
The inside is disgusting to be honest, but will clean up with some work. there are loads of extra dials on the dash for oil pressure and temperature gauge, I don't know what the rest are. There is a spare wheel that matches the ones on the van laying around in the yard and there's a spare wheel inside the bash plate under the front [don't think its the same as fitted on the van].
The man told me that it was owned by a mechanic and with the amount of extras fitted I would inclined to believe him, there was sand boards fitted to the sides of the high top [ surfboard style] as you can see the sun stains in the paint, It has done 220.000 k on the clock he told me it had 160.000 on the phone. If this was mint it would be well worth £10/12.000.. but sadly its not. He started up the van with a jump battery and it smoked a bit then settled down to a very loud diesel tick over, the diff locks didn't engage but he did say that they did before
I offered him £7.500 and he accepted so long as I paid import cost and MOT cost, but to be honest its a lot of work to get it up to my old syncro standard and to buy this to take off road is a total waste of a van that can be brought back to a very nice van. but at what cost?????????
I don't know enough about engines and gear boxes and technical stuff to comment. I think that a realistic price would be more like £6.000 and budget for a respray and allow for a new engine and gearbox and diffs and 2 weeks work on the interior and you would have a very nice van.
take a look at the paintwork from the side door backwards....then look at the front panel around to the side door almost different colours in real life, the front is almost flat while the side is gloss

Terry, I now have your old white syncro - loving it

yes a very nice van. this one is a long long way from anything like it, enjoy

terry

[The BCE]

I'm glad I didn't check it out now - he told me it was mint on the phone! (Glad I didn't drive up from the far end of Cornwall). We almost went for that one and then bought the blue galvanised one instead, which turned out to be too monster truck for us ... so we're now onto your old van, which the whole family love

[terryvanman]

I also looked at the galvanised one but it was too tall for the residents parking where I live3 inches too tall...
so I would have had to put it in storage till I retired in 3 years time so being galvanised would have been perfect.
I had the same idea with this high top one but its not what he said it was so the hunt goes on

[Simon Baxter]

All syncros were galvanised..
I don't get what all the fuss is about the "galvanised" one.

[syncropaddy]

I didnt know that all Syncros were galvanised......

[Simon Baxter]

See attached

[toomanytoys]

ha ha ha... yeah that explains why they all rot in the body and the doors are usualy quite good... not what I would call "galvanised" the "galvanised" one had the shell done too... difficult process as the heat can distort and if any panels are not vented correctly... nasty mess...

[slobbo]

I've got the Galvanised van now (and love it btw) and you can see some of the galvanised finish when you look in the vents etc. The bodywork is fantastic but still not perfect. Time and use always take a toll. I need to touch up the paint in a few places and was sweating matching in the metallic paint but it isn't a problem. I had to fix the front arch where the chap was ripped off (thanks Chiz) and the paint shop did a great job with the mix.

[The BCE]

This really is a small syncro world!