Nice But Not perfect

We don't know who is the maker of the cabinets, it looks a lot like a Reimo but it's apparently not. On the nice side, it feature a Truma propane heater with what what seem to be a double size LP tank, a built-in portable toilet, a Westfalia like fridge but this one is external burning, 2 removable water tank and storage over the engine lid. This van can also sit 6 passenger via a second double seat. On the not so nice a miss matched grey/brown interior and i'm not a big fan of the way the pop top was cut.

I'm a woodworker/cabinet maker and quite picky on finishing so I will wait until the van arrives here, but I'm already thinking about redoing the interior. That would be 3rd custom camper interior on a T3 base.

On It's Way

http://www.2wglobal.com/www/wep//

Waiting for shipping in Lochristie, Belgium

We bought it in November 2009, after making sure we could import it even some major modifications were done in Germany. It use to be a Vanagon Multivan with no pop top ( at least that is what we think... ) petrol powered and 2WD. Then the former owner, witch used to be a mechanic for the german police, converted it to a 4wd, 1.9 Turbo Diesel, full camper.

We hired Wallenius Wilhemsen Logistics, a german shipping company to deliver it to Halifax.

The ship should be in Canada at the end of februray, then I will have to drive it here in Calgary.

Not Giving Up

www.busman.be

We spent hundreds of hours to find a replacement for our beloved van. We have been on just about every web site that could possibly help us to find a new van, The Samba.com of course, westfalia.org, autoscout.de, mobil.de, all around the world and we finally found it in Belgium. Buying in Europe sounds like a cool idea but who would you trust, an individual, a used car seller ? Mike Plumpen had one for sale on busman.be for a reasonable price and seem to be in really good shape. That was our solution.

The reason why we decided to buy this one, even if she was so far away, is because it has the"mid-roof",made by SCA in Germany. With this roof you can stand with the pop top close if you are less than 6'2", witch my case and Melissa's to. When you open it two more people can sleep, unlike most high roof and it's only a foot taller then a Westfalia pop top.

Almost Finish Until...

Moose Mountain, Kananaskis, AB.

It was a very nice day of september 2009 when me, Melissa and some friends went biking in Kananaskis Alberta. That day we've learn a good lesson... never lend something that is a big part of your life and so hard to replace. We were biking down the mountain when a friend was driving our van on a gravel road to pick us up at the bottom or the trail, and then it happened.

Our friend rolled our van on that road and totalled it...

It took just a few seconds to ruin thousands of hours of work.

Almost Ready

There is not much you can do to really improve the Westfalia interior, when you sit in the camper with a tape measure and you start thinking of ways of doing better you realize that Westfalia knew what they were doing. This said I always thought the rear heater was taking a lot of room in the middle of the rear seat, leaving only 2 small compartment that are rather small.

My solution was to move the heater to the right ( passenger side) and make a new front panel that would look original. I did it with 1/2" baltic birch plywood, grey laminate and white laminate on the inside. ( 1/2" plywood + 2 times the laminate thickness gives almost 5/8 so your close to what Westfalia was using ). That gave us a lot more storage, enough to put my high-lift and my tool box in it.

Then I used Richelite ( a new countertop product use in kitchens and bathroom that could be compared to Corian) to replace the middle seat track that were vibrating and becoming noisy.

We had the feeling this project was 98% done, lots of work and lots of smiles to.

Next Step

Mount 7 Golden BC

Janurary 2009 I got the GoWesty lift kit ( that I strongly recommend ) along with Old Man Emu shox, that has totally change our van, stiffer springs gave me better handling improved braking and of course greater ground clearance. I also installed the GW steel bumpers kit (that I also recommend...). And we were finally ready for some off road adventure. I made our "off-road" bike rack so that we can practice our favourite sport, Down Hill mountain biking, and shuttle us up the mountain.

1.9 TDI !!!

After about 6 months of hard work the van was back on the road. The final set up was the following; 11 mm fuel pump (got my engine from an automatic Jetta), Fratelli Bosio Power Plus 357 injectors (Karma TDI ), Chip from Mirko Tunning, removed EGR, 2.5" exhaust and stock turbo and intercooler. That give me about 140 hp and 225 lbs/torque and about 7 l/100kms. As you can see on the photo I also used the water bottle from an Eurovan for more volume, used a steel bar to attach the power steering fluid bottle, fuel filter and support the Jetta air filter box. We also had our transmission rebuild by Daryl at AA transaxle with taller 3rd and 4th (.77). The electronic was the toughest part, but once done that seem easy.

1.9 TDI

December 2007 I bought an engine from a 2002 Jetta with 210 000 kms at Blackgold Imports in Edmonton. Then with the help of a good friend Serge I spent the winter/spring working on the conversion. I choose to install it at 50*, there was no way that noisy engine would have it's valve cover inside the van. This mean making a custom oil pan, and that is ok, I don't like shortcuts anyway.

Crossing Canada

Then we moved from Montreal to Calgary, on the way to the foothills I was not really impress with the over all performance of my waterboxxer. That engine was doing is very best but it would burn as much fuel as a Hummer and was delivering 95 hp... For me there was only one solution; a direct injection turbo diesel engine.

In the mean time we bought a 2003 Eurovan T4 for our everyday driving and to pull our work trailer. This is a good second car when you have a project that take most of you free time. There is now 160 000 kms on it and we did nothing else than replacing oil,tires and brake pads. The VR6 even has a timing chain so you don't need to worry about replacing the belt.

First Step To Make It a Better Syncro

McLean Creek, AB


I'm a mountain biker and one thing I know about playing in the dirt; tires are really important, same thing for an off road van. First upgrade was to buy some tire that would allow me to have good performance on and off road, my choice BF Goodrich All Terrain. The size; 215/70 R 16 they were 28.5 inches tall, 4.5 inches taller that the original. I would have bought bigger but with a 95hp waterboxxer I had no choice. The Wheels were from an 1999 Audi A4.

Step By Step

July 14th 2006 4:00 pm, the first step in this long term project was done. My wife Melissa and I were the owner of a 1988 Vanagon Syncro Westfalia, coincidence this was also our wedding anniversary. Bought from Mrs. Olschner, an 83 years old lady that did not used it for 10 years, since her beloved husband died. We bought it for a good price considering that the van was 99% rust free, 143 000 kms and the interior was like new. They had covered the seats floor and everything they could with carpets and other protective fabric, just like older people would do.

Argentina

Argentina is the destination but the journey is long, 12 000 kms on all kinds of roads/ off roads but it seem that the biggest challenge is, life. Life can be so complicated that it's impossible to focus on only one thing. At least for me that it's the hardest part.

The Ultimate Goal

When I was 5 or 6 years old my mom & dad took me to the movie theatre to see a documentary on Argentina... I remember falling in love with that country that seem to so far away ( even if I had no idea where in the world that could be ). A couple of years after that I saw for the first time a beautiful Vanagon Camper, it did not took me long to combine those events and start what would become the dream of a lifetime; Driving to Argentina on a Vanagon camper, Syncro of course.