Welcome to the list Robert.

For ~ $300-400 you can replace your coolant hoses and fuel lines. Our list
vendors sell hose and line kits and Craftsman sells a hole clamp plier with
extension cable.

This will go a long way toward averting an engine related catastrophe.
 Sudden loss of coolant or an engine fire can ruin anyone's day.

Best of luck with your Syncro and have fun :)

John Meeks
'91 Vanagon MV
Northern Michigan

Vanagon Rescue Squad
www.vanagonauts.com

On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 2:28 PM, Robert Cazares <robertcazares@gmail.com>wrote:

> Hello Everyone,
>
> Introducing myself and our van.
> I've been on the list for ~six weeks and have viewed lots of great
> traffic, info, and camaraderie.
> Said Van and I (us) are currently residing in Seattle.
>
> Our Vanagon:
> We have a mostly stock 1987 Syncro which we've owned for about five years
> now.
> It's a great rig, and the chassis in in excellent condition, but
> unfortunately at this time it needs about 8/9K worth of maintenance
> investment (as laid out by our primary mechanics here in Seattle) to
> get'er up to snuff. It's a lot of money. If I had my way, I'd send 'er
> off to whoever those folks are that do rebuilds (Go Westy?) from the
> bottom up.
> Not sure if it's worth a major rebuild, or simply buying another that
> already has been though the process.
> Either way, it's a budget limiting idea at this time (must win the
> +$mil lottery).
> Snuff = being comfortable going x-country.
> Needs some big ticket items, such as new coolant hoses, exhaust
> system, tires, engine part replacements, heating parts replaced, a few
> switches, running lights suss'ed out, water pump, brakes, etc. I'm
> still in process of a maintenance schedule.
> Also would be nice to have some cosmetic details polished out (body
> creases, dents, interior flooring, dash components, etc, etc.). So
> far, we've been 'lucky', and not having suffered from having to wait
> by-the-side-of-the-road for AAA to rescue us.
> I can do some work myself. It's mostly a shop access and timing issue.
> I'm not currently a machinist, nor do I have a working shop (I do have
> a garage and some basic tools though), but I have played one in a
> previous life as a custom dome and space frame builder, machinist, and
> site technician for said projects. Dome East>Space Structures
> International in New York; no longer in business.
>
> I'm sure I'll have questions in the not to distant future about
> All-Things-Vanagon.
>
> Anyway, just saying hello.
>
> Best regards,
>
> Robert Cazares
> CSFA / ACE / ASMP
> (206) 650-0478 (mobile)
> Digital Forensic / InfoSec Analyst
> President / Webmaster, Student Chapter Washington State High
> Technology Crime Investigation Association
> http://edcc.wahtcia.org
> http://robertcazares.smugmug.com
> http://www.linkedin.com/in/robertcazares
>