86 or 87 model year?

[Yukon Syncro]

This maybe a bit of a silly question but here it goes. I have a 1.6TD syncro tintop that I thought was a 87 but wondering if its an 86? It was brought over to Canada by a German fellow so these models were never available over here, only diesels were the 82-84's. Unfortunately he is not around to ask. Running the chassis # thru the brickwerks parts indicator it says it was built September 1986 (H code) making it a 87 model year I thought, but the report says the front grille is the Late type with 125mm badge, which I thought were the ones with square headlights but the ones I have are the rounds ones? (not the SA grill). Did this year come with the round headlights or I'm wondering if the previous owner switched the grill to round? Over here the 86 model year is when the rectangular lights were introduced. Since this is not a van that was sold over here it has caused some head scratching and I want to make sure so the parts I order are the right ones.

Cheers!

[lloydy]

round headlights were available for all model years, so you cant age one by that. What changed in vehicle spec between 86 and 87 that your worried about?

[Yukon Syncro]

Good to hear, I guess with having a model that was never over on this side of the pond I want to make sure there were no differences. Had ordered some mosquito door screens and they did not fit great and the switch for the sizes from Gowesty are between 86/87, so was wondering if the 87 I had ordered should have been the 86's and with shipping costs its not worth trying to exchange to see if there is a difference. My mechanic who has worked on a lot of these has been surprised by a few things, i.e. being a panel van with no seatbelt anchors in the back, etc. And this is my first T25 so just trying to educate myself and not be surprised by too much since I am starting to order parts and for the most part the only T25 diesel parts available over here are for the 82-84 diesels.

[AdrianC]

The rest of the world really doesn't "do" model years in the same way as North America does. Quite often improvements and changes will be just introduced into production as and when they're ready, rather than waiting for some big once-a-year fanfare.

I dunno about VW, but I do know that various other manufacturers often bulk-ordered a batch of vehicles to the old spec in advance of a "mid-year" change, so they could effectively hold it back "to the next model year" for the NA markets...

[1664]

You can find the manufacture date down to the month by the VIN number. Click on the link below, then scroll down and click on the blue "click here to find your van's birthday", then click on your 'model year' and compare the last 6 digits of your VIN number to narrow it down to what month. This is the month it was made, not necessarily the month it was imported/registered.

http://www.brick-yard.co.uk/VehicleSpec ... fo/vin.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[HarryMann]

I have a 1.6TD syncro tintop that I thought was a 87 but wondering if its an 86?

Is it also the change from fabricated to solid cast front lower suspension arms that concerns you.. being a Syncro. It was about this time, certainly 88's had them.

[Yukon Syncro]

Ya that was what I was thinking and that would make it harder to order parts. Cool thanks, it was made in September 1986 making it an 1987 model year as I thought. I don't think I will be trying to change that on my vehicle registration for awhile. The report says most things are late such as the Lower Arm being the cast type, except for the front suspension being the early Syncro with pressed lower arms and ambidextrous anti-roll bar drop links so knowing this helps, can these be switched out for the later cast one?

[HarryMann]

Yes, but you need the radius rods (drag struts) too

Unless the arms are corroded badly then I wouldn't bother, with the separate bottom plate and 3 bolt pattern, the fabbed lower arms are actually easier to work with