The tinkerbelle project (2wd pickup to syncro conversion)

[jebiga41]

The Tinkerbelle project grew out of a syncro doka (the yellow one) which I purchased at the end of last year but upon inspection was found to suffer from doka disease (rotten loadbed which spread to the lockers) and attacked from underneath by sea air. Due to these factors it was decided to break her and strip her of all usuable components and body panels (many of the panels will be ressurected in Dougs new project) . Due to the bad state of her body she was named belle, the red pick up which was bought off the travellers by Dave, thus getting the name Tinker, she came to the project less a gearbox and with a dodgy engine but with a good body. A plan was then formulated to combine the two vans or what was left of them to make a light play syncro which could be used for rougher and more damaging offroading than the Campers and that could take a few hits without any major worries. Also havng read and studied a few threads on conversions it appeared to be a relatively easy process and would be good experience in the case of the camper getting totalled that one would be able to strip it of its parts and convert a 2wd if needed. A syncro gearbox and a proven 1y were installed in her and Tinkerbelle was born and she has been driven as a 2wd for the last year.
Lots of photos for you to browse here
http://s482.photobucket.com/albums/rr18 ... %20syncro/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Finally I have got round to Stage two of Tinkerbelles transformation to a proper syncro this weekend
The right tools for the job



First to strip her of her suspension with my dad giving me a hand



van cafe springs the dirty ones the clean ones are new suplex syncro

new bushes, discs, ball joints etc ( courtesy of mr baxter)

front diff and subframe ready to go difflock freed up


tomorrow cutting and grinding and more pics

[jed the spread]

What's that 1y like compared to an Aaz or a Jx? Hills? On the flat? Cruzing speed etc...

Jed

[jebiga41]

a lot slower to accelerate than aaz especially when it was in my camper but gets there eventually on hills not great but on the flat ok, because the pick up is a lot lighter can get away with it and performs well as regards offroading never had any problems when it was in the camper as regards to the jx similar on hills, as the extra torque makes up for not having the turbo but would probably be slower to accelerate if I drop the engine at any point will turbo it and would be tha same as the aaz just have to change pump and nozzles turbo is already hooked up

[jed the spread]

a lot slower to accelerate than aaz especially when it was in my camper but gets there eventually on hills not great but on the flat ok, because the pick up is a lot lighter can get away with it and performs well as regards offroading never had any problems when it was in the camper as regards to the jx similar on hills, as the extra torque makes up for not having the turbo but would probably be slower to accelerate if I drop the engine at any point will turbo it and would be tha same as the aaz just have to change pump and nozzles turbo is already hooked up

Thanks for the feedback, my mate Rob is thinking of popping one in his new Syncro as he has a 1y in his garage anyway. Just wondered what they are like in a Syncro.

jed

[silverbullet]

Where would we be without a bit of help from Dad eh? Mine even offered to help me remove the syncro gearbox but I think his belly would have stuck under the bus

[Dai]

good luck Paul sabout time you got your finger out

but isnt your dad under the wrong VW.....thought tinkerbelle wes the red one you came over in last year?

[syncropaddy]

.....thought tinkerbelle wes the red one you came over in last year?

It gets confusing Dai ..... it really does

[jebiga41]

good luck Paul sabout time you got your finger out
but isnt your dad under the wrong VW.....thought tinkerbelle wes the red one you came over in last year?

Touche Dai! , Tinkerbelle got a bit of a paint job in the summer rattle can black stonechip hence the black door

2wd suspension from yesterday

bits cut off

note the difference between the 2wd steering panel and syncro one (silver one)

All clear

even with a block of wood protecting the loom still managed to scrape the covering thankfully no wires were touched

another area to be careful of when cutting on the other side

subframe on just need to weld the plates on now

tomorrow will put on the steering rack panel and weld then install syncro running gear thinking of lifting her about 2-2.5 inches with a combination of van cafe springs and spacer plates and a few mods to do on the shocks. Do you think thats a bit too ambitious guys?

[jed the spread]

Whack a errrrrrrr horse in it..... eazy in it bruv

jed

[jebiga41]

Whack a errrrrrrr horse in it..... eazy in it bruv

jed

Is that a reference to f*** your Syncro Westy I've a horse outside jed ??

Anyhow back to the build welding today taking turns with my dad

all cleaned up and etch primed



Note that the 2wd steering rod is longer than the syncro one


Syncro one etch primed and waiting to be installed
all up just let the paint dry before tightening it up Install next

[jebiga41]

been working the past few nights and no sleep today so took it easy and stripped some front drive driveshafts 4 to be exact can almost disasseble them by touch aah the zen of cv joints oe not interparts andrew

[jed the spread]

been working the past few nights and no sleep today so took it easy and stripped some front drive driveshafts 4 to be exact can almost disasseble them by touch aah the zen of cv joints oe not interparts andrew

Hope you marked what ball came out of what position like recommended on The Samba ( I actually did this on mine ) I love doing them me...

jed

[syncropaddy]

Hope you marked what ball came out of what position like recommended on The Samba ( I actually did this on mine ) I love doing them me...

Do you have a link for that, Jed?

[jebiga41]

didn't get much done since last post but managed to change the seal on the difflock bar and reseal diff fill it and get it up on the subframe then had to go and see the girlfriend and now back at work but off from mon to thur so should have all the front installed by then anyhow some pics from Thursday morning
Cvs degreasing

Inside front diff locked

Not locked

Rod and sleeve and seal


Top tip knock the pin in a bit and use a thin Allen key to locate the rod in the right place before tapping the roll pin in

[jebiga41]

been busy the last two days
changed the nuts and bolts holding the subframe to 10.9s

had to redo front drive shaft outer cvs as washer was on the wrong way from this

to this

then push in the cv with a 30 socket to get the circlip in (top tip from aidan)

also modded a pinch pliers to do up the metal straps

monroe shocks and van cafe springs on

actuator on, speedo cable, brakes everything assembled and torqued up and wheels on 15s

she now stands at 21 inches from wheel centre to wheelarch at the front arb not fitted yet so maybe will pull it down a bit, my van is only 17 inches (standard) seems to be a huge lift from just the springs (no spacers)? maybe will settle down a bit
tomorrow the rears and some fettling on a controversial cross member