Club 80-90 Forums

Have my split up for sale so trying to figure out what syncro to get. I have years of experience with 4x4s.. Mostly in mountains an desert in western US.

Been surfing and reading everything I can find about them.

16" 89-92 looks like best to start with as it has bigger wheels, brakes, more reinforcement, bigger cv's, etc. making it better setup stock and less modification needed for offroading.

What modifications are advisable?

Buy an X-military or a civilian?

Transmissions: Granny and 1st are all the same, 2nd changed from 2.06 to 1.88 in 89, 3rd all same, and 4th .85 until 89, then some have .78. Locking rear diffs seem to be in most. Some have VC, some have locking and one (6ZA) had decoupler stock? Final drive is 6.17 on all 16"s? What best final drive for 16" on and off road?.. depending on what engine of course.

Engines: What's best? 1.9 or 2.1 petro. or 1.6TD?.. convert to 1.9AAZ or or 1.9TDI? Does diesel have bigger cooling system then petrol? Does diesel have better bottom end/torque for crawling offroad?

Kinda leaning toward an X-ambulance for the hi-top, but not really sure what is best.

Any information, where to find information and suggestions will be appreciated.

Lloyd

I would go for a 16" DJ Syncro factory hightop ex Finnish Army Ambulance myself. Oh, I did didnt I.

Come and have a look if you are passing Lloyd, and drop in on CJ and see what he has got. If you want to see lot's in one place it's worth driving over to Busman for the day. He is only an hour and a half from Calais.

I personally think that the factory hightop is the best, the extra strength in the roof makes so much difference. Even if you bin the low factory roof and put something else on I would still go with that. It just doesnt seem right to cut away all that metal in the roof without putting something back in, and the rim that you get in a factory hightop is super strong. The body on my syncro is super rigid, and does not creak and groan when lifting wheels like my old 14" Caravelle.

hi,come up and have a look,currently have 4 16" vans here and 7 14" vans so plenty to poke about at and have a look,cheers cj.

Simon, you have swayed me toward the 16" ambulance as you know. Busman is a long day from Brixham and over £200 quid in fuel and ferry, so want to know what I really want before going that far. CJ is less then an hour so almost no cost to visit.

CJ, I'm been wanting to stop by and take a look, but haven't. Will try and do it soon.

Thanks for the replys!

Lloyd

I have a couple if you just want to have a look at something closer. Got a couple of dokas and a van all 14", these are not for sale, for sale vehicles CJ is probably the best bet.

Save yourself a ton of cash and import one.

And if you're going to offroad it alot, worth bearing in mind how difficult it is to get decent parts for the 14" vans, let alone the 16"

The ex-military vans do appear to well looked after however.

Thanks v-lux. Yeah, all T3 syncros are/will be hard to find parts for. Hopefully most of the serious parts can be cross referenced from other applications. Big part of sway to 16" x-military/government is maintenance, but at same time some have been run hard.

Importing is good if I knew someone I can trust over there to help find and check one out for me. Otherwise it is quite expensive to check them out. And my not speaking any language but english makes it more of a problem. The conversion to rhd is no big deal, but making sure it will pass MOT can be an expensive proposition too. Again, a trusted person to do alot of work to help me find one.

I did import my split from US. Cost me £1100 before conversion to rhd, MOT, tax, number plates, etc. Legal on US roads is about £800 from legal here.

There's always this: https://club8090.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26270

Could be worth a look.

That is if the Syncro-nutz boys havnt snaffled it up already

I saw that and sent a pm and email to him. Haven't heard anything back

I'm really leaning toward a 16"... and have to get my spit sold before buying anything.

Thanks,

Lloyd

peasant wrote:link to German adverts page

Lots to look at. Some very interesting. Wish I knew someone there to check them out.

Question: Do 16" syncros come standard with power steering?

I have not heard of one without, but do not know for sure. It does make a difference. cj will know.

As for parts for the 16", the brake parts are more expensive, but on mine as it was ex military all the components seem to be virtually brand new, but they are woth looking at due to cost. Cj's got some drums and things on the shelf though.

The shocks are 16" specific, and no longer available, but identical in dimensions to the 14". They were just a heavyduty item designed for the extra weight of the larger wheels. Old man emu do an expensive replacement.

The cv's are larger but seem to be available no probs. The wheel arch spats are getting silly money, as is the rear wheel carrier, which again most 16" seem to have.

I just love the proportions of the bigger wheels, it just looks so right. CJ's single cab pickup in escorial green is one of the best looking VW's I have seen.

power steering was a option for 16",i carry all 16" brake parts on the shelf and have some other 16" parts in stock so nothing to much to worry about,ive a 16" high top ambulance arriving soon,cheers cj.

Front brake parts are the same as 14 exept discs.These are available from brakes international same as rear drums.(VW no longer stocks pads but there are plenty of aftermarket parts)Rear shoes are VW only at about £48.00 plus vat.Rear cylinders no longer available but were also used on other VW's and are still available for these(different part number)
16 shocks are still available from Vw at about £340 plus vat for a set.
Yes 16's are better as standard as 14's in some ways but are more limited for modifying than 14's are.There were lots of 16's without power steering(optional extra)Same as the wheel carrier was an optional extra for 16's and 14's.
Russel