get over my syncro lust

I’ve thrown in enough money to have just bought a Prius outright. But, at least I’m getting horrible milage.

I DO like being able to get refuge from a storm in it, crash out if I need to, change in/out of my wetsuit in it (easier than in a car!) but why do I need TWO syncros?

One of them has got to go, sadly.

last weekend, had one of the two or three most enviable cool things I saw…the die stamped “Syncro” panel.

Sheesh—the Joness are hard to hang out with.

This was so trick, I couldn’t take my eyes off it.

Syncro de Mayo is a yearly event held (duh!) on the 5th of May, or the weekend closest to it.

I’ve never been able to go, what with school, and everything else going on in my life the last half dozen years or so.

I do plan on being there in 2008, come hell or high water.

I’ve been to Hollister several times before, on Jeepster days, or an outting with several friends and their monstrosities.

I’ve only ever driven the course once, with my best friend, in my stock Suzuki Samurai. He got mad at me that he got stuck in his Commando with many after-market add-ons and I just went right around him and didn’t get stuck once.

I want to get my local syncro group to go with me, however…just in case I get stuck or have problems :D
(what are friends for, if not to pull you out of the sand, or help you put your vehicle back on its wheels?)

THE vehicle for post-apocalyptic mayhem.
This thing is worth a small fortune, but it would out maneuver a Hummer ANY day of the week.

It’s so ugly, it’s beautiful.

just ahead!
_{If we make it out of here alive!}

Heh

It sucks to be you.
I guess that nifty camo paint job didn’t help you out any.

D’OH!

we met at the gas station in Garberville, who was on his way to Mogfest in Oregon.

His email cracked me up, he writes:

“We broke a front outer constant velocity joint Sunday (Monday?)morning so I pulled the axle out and reinstalled the outer CV joint housing to keep the wheel from falling off and went on our way. That evening we lost reverse and granny gears. Went four wheeling the next day anyway-in two wheel drive and rear locker, no problems.”

“Someone in the group had a new front axle assembly so I borrowed it and put it in. Good thing too, as the next day we all went 4×4 on sand dunes (none of us in eight Syncros had done this before) After Mogfest we left the van with a Syncro man (south of Portland) and he is rebuilding the trans and adding a diff-lock to the front. Rented a car and
came home.”

(hmmm, a front diff lock, eh?)

Holy hell, How I laughed. I remember 4 wheeling trips with my best friend, Chris, back in the day, when we once punctured his gas tank, and had to drain it, find a screw that fit the hole and JB weld it in there so we could hold fuel out in the desert.

My friend Chris and I wanted to drive Paris-Dakar, and we also planned on taking a surf trip to Australia, buying a Defender 110 and driving around the Oz coast.

This is some fun stuff.
Even if breakdowns are inevitable.
I know you guys are thinking I’m crazy…but it’s such a blast.

Syncros are so rare.
VW Stopped production in 91 and in 95 began the craptastic Eurovan. (oh sure, it’s got a shower/hose spigot in the back to lure surfers and extreme off roaders into thinking “hey! I could hose off my dirty/sandy shoes/feet before getting in!” but the thing is a dog. (esp. the 95 and 96 years. Never buy the first generations of any new car)

So…I’ve been scouting around, looking for a syncro.
Apart from the usual places, I’ve been looking in syncro specific places (beyond craigslist and autofinder) and I’ve found a couple.

However, it’s not ever panning out. Maybe the cosmos doesn’t want me to have one at this time.

We found one that seemed great—Pros: no pop top, will therefore fit in my garage, camper interior, stove, fridge, bed, etc. Cons: it was red, and it was a home made camper conversion, so nothing was hooked up right, and every time we called him pretending to be someone else, he gave us a different list of stuff that was wrong with it, from the starter, to the diff lock not working, etc.

Then, he sent some pictures of it with more detail and I told my hubby forget it, it’s a mess.

We next started looking at one in Seattle which was a lot closer than the one previous (new hampshire!) but today it’s not listed anymore. (sigh)

I’m going to keep looking, but I don’t have much hopes for finding one in the condition I want, for what I want to pay.

I’m usually pretty lucky with this stuff…there doesn’t seem to be any love coming my way right now, however. All I’m finding are the jokers that have beaters but want top dolldar, and have been listing their franken-syncros for months and months to the extent that you can get on a chat room and say “hey, does anyone know this guy in this city with this color rig asking this much for it” and everyone starts telling you “Oh that guy, he’s been trying to offload that beast for months and it’s worth half what he’s asking”

I love syncronauts. They’re such a close knit bunch of folks :)

These folks really went on an adventure.

I can’t imagine this in an old V-dub (but I guess those are very available, common parts)

But in a syncro, on the other hand…

:)

that I think this is AWESOME?
lol
(bet she didn’t think it was so awesome)