2wd as good as a syncro!

[Cooper]

Is it possible to make a 2wd as nearly as good as a syncro?
With out spending a lot of money converting!

For example:

lifting the suspension and putting better suspension in.

Putting knobbly tyres on.

Whats better rwd or fwd?

Could i get a better vw for my money if a did the above to a 2wd?

Has anyone had experience with offroading in a 2wd vw?

[Russel]

No
A bay window is far better than a 2WD T3 off road.
Russel

[andisnewsyncro]

RWD versus FWD is pretty irrelevant really, you aint going to be doing that conversion I'll wager.

Get your car sold and have the cash ready - there's been quite a few decent Syncros suggested to you over the past few weeks.

Fiesta on ebay + cash in hand = easy to buy a decent van

[Cooper]

Ok cool. Yeh ive emailed a few guys on the mobile.de site
And a bloke on sambe but hes in greece.

The bloke who is selling his syncro annd wants a mini ive spoken to but they want a fully finished mini so it aint gunna happen there.

Ive tryed that bloke on preloved but stoped talking to me and then took his syncro off.

I have also tryed kampers and tristar syncro .co.uk but they havent got back to me.

[Cooper]

The only worry i have is cost if the syncro stuff goes wrong. Is it alot more cost than 2wd?

[lloydy]

I reckon to buy a van and get it mechanically perfect, and maybe squeeze a respray in if it isn't too rotten you will be looking at 15k. ( due to a few engine changes, mine is near that without the respray)
Now you could spend that money over the next 5 years or so, or you could be forced by breakdowns ect.
Don't fool yourself, syncro's cost a lot to get right. And for your price range, it will need everything doing. But once done, it's just normal running costs

[chuckle-bus-tom]

There are just more things to go wrong, so the cost increases accordingly. There are plenty of things to go wrong on a 2wd that can also go wrong on a syncro. The engines are essentially the same, and bar two panels the body is essentially the same. Aside from an extra set of CV joints (that cost more as they're tougher), some jiggery pokey stuff with fuel tank and the extra gearbox they are roughly the same.

Yea some bits cost more, but they're tougher and more bespoke. Your doing the right thing by choosing slowly and asking the right questions though. I jumped in a bit too quick, an this year has been costly.

All I'm trying to say is that any van will cost you money, but only a syncro is a syncro. You'll find your van mate!

[Cooper]

I cant afford 15k even in 5 years.
Im looking at a few online in germany. Do you recon i can get a decent one there?

Im just a bit worried that they will be pants there? Im not sure.

In germany do they have mots like here in the uk?

[silverbullet]

You don't have to spend quite that much IMHO but you do need to be realistic in what you get for your money, what you expect it to do and why you want/need one.

In my case, on a bus bought just before syncro 25:

£2900 for the van as seen (rhd twin slider caravelle with mot ,1.9 petrol, no toys whatsoever, arguably overpriced)
soon after £1100 transaxle rebuild inc. s/h crownwheel/pinion set,
n/s sill repairs, jacking point and replacement swingarm,
broken rear springs,
then a DIY engine rebuild (a few hundred in parts plus my own machine shop time and labour)

It still looks scruffy as the day I bought it and it now needs a Visco, which will be another £700-odd and fitted by me at home, when I have the cash to spare.

This is on a bus that has spent 99% of it's life on tarmac! Prices have gone up and will continue to do so. I hate to say this but it sounds from the above like you're desperate for the syncro look, but not realistic about the realities of purchase or ownership.

They are expensive to run and maintain; if you get a bad one it will cost you dearly if you don't have the skills to repair it yourself.

On top of all that, on the road they 'aint no Audi quattro.

[Cooper]

I can do the work myself or ask my brother in law too(mechanic).

Its just i need one that is mechanicaly good as it will be my only vehicle. I would need it daily. If it was a second vehicle then i wouldnt mind doing work on it.

I dont mind if the body looks pants.

Its not the look its the function of the syncro.

[lloydy]

Admittedly, you might not have to spend 15K, but i bet you will
German vans are the same as ours, just more of them and maybe slightly cheaper. their MOT's are tougher, but i think they are every 5 years?
but Ian if you added up all the man hours, materials ect that you have put into yours and gave those hours a cost.... i reckon you would be near 10k, then add your VC and a proper respray........ Now you dont have to respray it or fit a new VC but thats kinda defeating the point of having the syncro.
cooper could get one from germany for 3000euros and it will have syncro written on it, but i bet the box, vc, running gear and bodywork will be on its way out

[lloydy]

I can do the work myself or ask my brother in law too(mechanic).

Its just i need one that is mechanicaly good as it will be my only vehicle. I would need it daily. If it was a second vehicle then i wouldnt mind doing work on it.

I dont mind if the body looks pants.

Its not the look its the function of the syncro.

For a mechanically sound one, i.e. one that has had the engine, running gear refurbed i reckon 8k would be a fair price. Doka's are a bit cheaper

[Cooper]

Admittedly, you might not have to spend 15K, but i bet you will
German vans are the same as ours, just more of them and maybe slightly cheaper. their MOT's are tougher, but i think they are every 5 years?
but Ian if you added up all the man hours, materials ect that you have put into yours and gave those hours a cost.... i reckon you would be near 10k, then add your VC and a proper respray........ Now you dont have to respray it or fit a new VC but thats kinda defeating the point of having the syncro.
cooper could get one from germany for 3000euros and it will have syncro written on it, but i bet the box, vc, running gear and bodywork will be on its way out

How much would box ,vc and gear cost?

[lloydy]

gearbox = on average £1000+
VC = £550-600 plus fitting
propshaft = £300
CVJ are about £45 each apart from front outers which are 3 times that
then all the bushes, balljoints ect
obviously it might not need all this.

[silverbullet]

I really think you're going to struggle to find one that's had a full mechanical work-over only to be sold before the body gets tidied up within your budget.

The youngest of these is now 20 years old (for a '92 16" and thats defo out of the question for the £££) and most have been well used. You may get lucky at a car auction - it has happened - but you'll have to do the leg-work.

Beware of continental purchases, it's a minefield and some countries also grit their roads for longer, harder winters than we get, which is natural syncro territory. I know of one Tristar that came from Belgium and it's pretty rotten even though it had all it's papers.

To put it another way: I want want want an early Jaguar MK10 m/o.d. on wire wheels but I don't have a garage big enough, the kids would wreck the leather and I couldn't afford to run it even on lpg. So I don't go looking, because I have to be realistic in what I can own and actually run.

I would think more than twice about running a syncro as a sole vehicle and daily driver. Been there, done that and it's not all it's cracked up to be, despite the hype.