I had the timing belts swapped last year, not long after my last post. Everything was ok at first, but the timing felt a little off. I needed to use the cold start lever for the first time to get it going on a morning. I took it back up to the garage back in April before heading off back to Norway, and they would have good time to finish it off.

I received a call a few days later stating that the van had conked out on the road during testing. Oh no, I thought. It's never ever broken down before with me. They got it back to the yard and had a tinker. It looked like the pump was playing up. It would rev and then simply die. They got a separate fuel supply and pump, and quickly diagnosed it must be the fuel pump. It's not done too badly for 30 years' service.

I had always been tempted to try and get a LDA fitted to the fuel pump to improve running and efficiency with the turbo being fitted. I asked about but this is harder to do these days. Diesel bob no longer provide this service as they cannot get the spares. I messaged AMP down in Leeds but they recommended it wasn't worth the effort, and they do a different modification these days, which is a lot more work. In the end, the pump was sent back to Diesel Bob for a standard overhaul.

Sods law, Diesel Bob was short on staff after the easter holiday and illness, so I didn't get the pump back until late May but it came back looking like a work of art! In that time, though, the garage where Syd was had to lay off the lad who was working on the van due to other issues, so he was left with no one left to finish off. It was just one issue after another from only dropping it off to get the timing adjusted.

I got the van towed back home in the end so we could fix it at home. The power steering hose hadn't been put back on so it spat the whole tank onto the drive when it came off the trailer!

The lad who was working on it helped out, and my good friend Iain did all the hands on work getting the pump back on. Thankfully, the timing was all set from before, so it didn't need much adjustment. The pump went back on no both and the fueling and idle was adjusted again to accommodate for the turbo. The idle sits at just under 1000.

I'm just glad the van is back home and running again.

 

Each time i'm back. I always end up down the gare. Its not quite the same now the blast furnace has gone but its turned out to be quite popular with motorhome these days.

Literally the last stump left of the old furnace!

 

Time to dig out the spare wheels and do some shuffling. The problem with the Syncro system is keeping all 4 corners within a certain working radius to stop the system from winding up and going pop!

I've had the current BFG's on for quite a few years now. They are brilliant! The fronts are down to 8.5mm but the rears were just over 10. The two spares are just over 11mm so to keep everything nice and even, the two front are coming off. Also, I've had a super slow leak on the back for a while now. Every time I get home, I'm pumping it up for almost flat!

Handy when your mate does tyres

He's got the same alloys but are diamond cut so they look amazing!

 

Eurgh! That time is coming again!

 

Hi Matt where did you get your headlights from?are these the same as what Turk is making?

 

Those are ProjektZwo headlights. Theres a couple of FB groups dedicated to them. No longer made but it was the basis of what Turk was trying to make. Its all Hella parts inside. Same headlights as an E30 BMW. I've just replaced the bulbs for LED and it passed the MOT no bother. The frames suffer from tin rot and the plastic adjusters crumble and need replacing but thankfully there is an eBay Hella specialist Bolt-on-bits that do all the spares for them.

VW T4 Projektzwo Appreciation Society

 

Carrier? 🍿

 

Still got a couple more bits to sort before that goes on. Might be later in the year for that. Watch this space

 

Back out for 2024!

 

It's only taken about 9 years but the magicians at Whelliams have worked their magic and made copies of the internal support brackets of the OEM spare wheel carrier. Won't be long now until it's finally fitted!

 

Some cracking stuff 😎 👍

 

And a few more

 

Made it to Busfest 2023. The weather was amazing. Almost too hot!

 

I finally got my hands on the new VC from Visco Kern. I've taken a long time to get around to ordering but it looks well worth it. I had an old spare VC that I posted a few months ago. I sent this back to Austria.

There is a choice of standard setup, sport, or sport plus. They don't recommend sport plus for normal use but the Sport VC sounded intriguing so the one I have gone for (that's the one with the orange relief ***)

It wasn't cheap and I had to pay extra for the UK inport duty (thank you Brexit!)

It comes with a seal kit too

All of this didn't arrive in time for me to fit this year. Its back off to Norway for now and hope to get an opportunity soon. I need to get the current VC off before that goes pop!

 

04:30 am start ahead of a trip to Busfest! Keep forgetting I fitted green side lights!

 

At home in "Sunny" Saltburn

 

I've tried new LED bulbs in the PZ lights. I love the look of them but the light I pretty poor even with the upgraded loom. Thankfully I've not had to drive in the winter much and the light bar more than makes up for them in the main beam!

My mate tried Philips units last year. They are a lot more expensive but the pattern is just as good as a standard bulb which you didn't seem to get with the early variants.

One challenge is to get a weatherproof cap that fits the back of the Hella lights. The heat sink is too big to fit at the moment.

 

Out and about in Whitby. I passed my driving test here. Up the Kyber Pass Syd made quite the impression down the amusements. Got eyed up by a few blokes

 

Syd refused to start a couple of times over the last few months. It's been intermittent which was annoying. The engine would turn over with no bother but wouldn't fire up. I had feared it was the common fault with the immobilizer. Over time it's a common fault on the AAB. It stops the fuel solenoid from opening and prevents starting like you'd expect from an immobilizer.

Sadly, the only way to get it off it is with a big hammer and chisel! You connect the remaining wires (purple to the SOV and red to earth on the fuel pump body. Starts first time now (although the glow plugs still need doing!)

 

Helping my mate with his new accessory. A howling moon roof tent.

yetithesyncro instagram

 

Looks pretty knackered

 

It was annoying AF! Its been like this for a year! God the noise was annoying when you used the door

 

Finally fixed the knackered door roller. It helps if you have someone to help!

 

I decided to ditch the little Pioneer SPH20DAB head unit. It seemed like a good idea at the time with it being app based but the connection always took an age to work and was proper fiddly.

I’ve fitted the Sony XAV-AX8150 which I fitted to my Smurf in Norway. I’d seen someone on Facebook fit the same and it works really well. You don’t need to cut any of the dash and it fills the gap over the temperature controls.

Its got all the creature comforts of Carplay which I’ve grown used to in my other car.

I can now ditch the little reversing camera screen under the diff-lock lever as its all inside the head unit. The reverse activation wire connects to K/8 (Blue/Black) at the back of the fuse box.

The wires are in here somewhere

(this is not as bad as it looks but it was a good excuse to tidy some wiring up)

 

I like the idea but they just stick out too much for me sorry Matt .

 

Aye not everyone's cup of tea as I found out on facebook. It made it worse when it had the brackets the wrong way on the spots so they stuck out more. I love them now. Even tempted to take some back to Norway for my smurf. Strands do heated mini spots for snow ploughs over there that look mint

 

The main beam isn't bad either now!

 

This is the final look with the additional loom finally fitted.

 

The lights are Rigid Industries Radiance Pods with the yellow / amber backlighting to try and match the Strands Siberia light bar. I wanted some Stands side spots but I couldn't find any small enough that worked out. These were on offer from their own site for £130.

The supplied brackets are reversible to they can sit high up or low and squat. I gave them a coat of the same load liner paint to match the lower brackets.

The cables are very easy to crimp in the bonnet so I've tries to route then down the side here