Club 80-90 Forums

Thought I would try to keep a proper build thread on here for this one.

As some of you know I sold my fire truck doka to Germany in April and have been on lookout for a replacement for quite a while. I really was looking for a rustfree and good condition bus to build on, but those are (very) far between as we know, at least for a reasonable price.

As things turns out a white Syncro Kombi came up for sale over here a week ago. I took the chance and bought it unseen knowing it would probably be far from the rustfree condition I was after.

Picked it up this weekend (a nice 1300km drive...):



It actually wasn't as bad as I feared. There is rust obviously, but hopefully managable. Worst part from what I can tell so far is the sill / b-column above the front jacking points. I'm sure there will be more...




Can you spot what's wrong in the last image?

So, It's a 1992 kombi, 8 seater.
200.000km on the clock
Rear diff lock
MV engine
Gearbox code is AVL (205/80r14 tyres originally)
For some reason there is no m-codes on the white sticker, even though it has the Schlechtwegpaket/bad roads package and the usual swedish options with heated front seat etc.
Not realy any other extras to speak of, a real basic budget syncro.

It will need quite a tune up, a few leaks to be taken care of, some new water pipes and hoses, new exhaust, fuel lines, brakes, CV joints taken care of and and and.. the list goes on. It's not running at the moment so will wait and see what condition the gearboxes etc is in, hopefully not too bad

The long term plan includes a multivan interior and a few other goodies...

So instead of a nice rustfree bus to put nice upgrades on I'm stuck with a bit of project... oh well
Stay tuned.

Engine tray seems to be mounted a bit low... otherwise can't see anything really.

Yep, proper botch job to make it clear the 2wd exhaust...

Last picture: the engine protection frame is mounted wrong, my old syncro doka had it mounted low like that to clear a 2wd exhaust but that does not look to be the case here.

Congratulations on a nice blank canvas!

That don't look too bad mate. Does it have power steering? Mine's a 1992 Syncro, pretty basic, rear locker, heated front seats, and power steering. Oh, and central locking, but this was fitted using an aftermarket kit.

For some reason there is no m-codes on the white sticker, even though it has the Schlechtwegpaket/bad roads package and the usual swedish options with heated front seat etc.

will be included in the type number 253 *** for Swedish market, ie they all had it as standard, same as over here mph speedo, double difflocks, rhd headlights are included in our type number and aren't on the m codes list - there were 21 M codes on Beaker as a standard UK market hightop syncro including drop down syncro wheel carrier by the end they included most stuff as standard and only things like big mirrors powersteering and twin square headlights were options and for last year twin squares seemed to be standard on most vehicles even the Devon minibuses had them

Looks good. Where did you get it - Sweden? I take it it's a LHD?

Look forward to seeing built

That looks like a good project - but as you know there will always be hidden rust - Hopefully there will be no nasty surprises!! Good Luck!!!

looks like a great project - i will be watching this with interest.....

will you be handling the bodywork yourself?

Thanks for the interest guys!
Not a lot of progress, waiting for parts to arrive.
Stripped out the interior yesterday. Will post up some photos when I'm home. A few new problem areas found, but no real surprises yet.

Mickyfin wrote:That don't look too bad mate. Does it have power steering? Mine's a 1992 Syncro, pretty basic, rear locker, heated front seats, and power steering. Oh, and central locking, but this was fitted using an aftermarket kit.

No power steering unfortunately. I'm looking at one of those electric kits.. any one on here with any experience?

Aidan wrote:will be included in the type number 253 ***

Thanks for the info Aidan! Didn't know that.

tforturton wrote:Looks good. Where did you get it - Sweden? I take it it's a LHD?

Yep and yep

desert rat wrote:That looks like a good project - but as you know there will always be hidden rust - Hopefully there will be no nasty surprises!! Good Luck!!!

Yeah, found some "interesting" repairs already so I'm sure there will be more Thanks!

guzzi wrote:looks like a great project - i will be watching this with interest.....

will you be handling the bodywork yourself?

I will do the parts that don't need welding myself. The rest I will leave to someone with more experience and skills to sort out! It's in need of a proper paint job at some point, not sure if that will happen this year though. I would love to be able to get some use out of it this autumn as well, so will probably only get the most critical bits done for now.

A bit of update
Most of the parts have arrived and have atleast managed to get some work done. Lots of rain this summer and no garage so things have been moving a bit slow.

The engine was replaced by a previous owner and is from a 2wd, and I unfortunately don't know a lot about it. Got it running and sounds ok. Will see how it holds up. I'm looking at a gearbox/engine out at some point. The tank straps will need doing and so on, and might go for a engine rebuild or replacement at that point but for now the prio is to get it driveable.

So, I have:
- Replaced waterpipes and hoses as needed. Still have a few more to do when time allows.
- Big service with oil and coolant, filters, thermostat + cover, rotor, spark plugs, HT leads and so on.
- Replaced the sticky throttle cable
- Replaced the exhaust, old 2wd/bodgejob. Not the easiest job, studs and bolt on the front was very rusty, but managed to get everything out without any broken studs/bolt with some help from the forum. New exhaust incl cat and lambda fitted.
- Cleaned up and treated some rust in the engine bay, and in and around the rear chassis rails. Lots of caked on dirt, oil etc all over the place.
- Replaced oil filler tube with shiny NOS part.
- Probably some other stuff that I've forgotten.

The tinware in the enginebay where toast so new/better parts are on it's way.
Found some nasty rust on the engine carrier bar so that will have to be replaced as well.

Next up is fuel lines. Rust have been doing it's job and clips at injectors are literally falling apart...
After that is brakes, rears looked pretty good actually but brake lines and hoses are way past their expiration dates...
Probably lots more after that

Engine bay before


Comparison of some of the old and new water pipes. The new one on the left was actually leaking so I'm getting the nice stainless alternative from Brickwerks.


Cleaing out chassis rails should really be on all syncro owners service routine...


New exhaust

That reminds me I need to put the Syncro tailpipes on the web shop...
Thanks for the reminder!

I'm already regretting that I didn't go with your stainless exhaust parts where possible

Where did you get that exhaust from?