Bobbi shipped her Syncro Westy all the way from Florida. It had been converted to a VW Jetta "Tiico" engine, and she was not happy. Besides, it was time for an overall re-do...
Here is what we did:
- Completely disassembled inside, outside, and under
- Repainted back to original white color, including top
- New OEM 3-window pop-top tent
- New LP tank
- South African grille and headlights
- Every nook and cranny inside cleaned
- Under dash systems all rebuilt
- Nice stereo system installed
- AC re-worked
- All new brakes, with big brakes up front
- All fresh running gear
- Tiico engine replaced with a fresh GoWesty 2.5 liter engine
- All new exhaust system
- All new cooling system
- Full page of reliability-enhancing components preemptively replaced
- All instruments repaired and recalibrated
- Fresh transaxle and front differential
- Drive shaft decoupler and solid shaft instead of viscous coupler
- 5.43 final drive gearing, 12% lower which allowed for:
- 12% taller 225/70-16 BFG tires all around
- GoWesty lifting springs
- OME shocks all around on all fresh suspension
- Skid plate to replace small spare tire carrier
- Full size spare tire and wheel
- Carrier in the rear for spare
- Solar powered auxiliary battery system
- Original fridge removed and space turned into cabinetry (with our fridge delete kit)
- All-electric Engel freezer/fridge installed quick-release style
- High lift jack—stowed on front bumper
And more....
So, it came out perfect, right? Not quite....
Bobbi writes:
From: Bobbi
Sent: Friday, October 15, 2010 10:17 PM
To: chris@gowesty.com
Cc: S. Lucas Valdes
Subject:
Once again I have had a great experience with the shop at GoWesty!
The staff has a remarkable ability to impress with their knowledgre of the vehicles and their ability to repair them, all while maintining an air of hospitality that must be unequalled in the auto-repair world.
I bring my treasured vanagon syncro to them from the other side of the continent for service. And I have never regretted it.
Thank you all for continuing to make it possible for me to enjoy my Syncro, after more than 250,000 miles.
Bobbi Nan Rinker
From: Bobbi
Sent: Monday, October 13, 2008 9:47 PM
To: S. Lucas Valdes
Subject: testimonial
I wish that I could write that I had work done on my Syncro Westfalia at GoWesty and all was wonderful.
This is not a perfect world. There are many pitfalls along the way in restoring complicated old campers. My camper seemed possessed by a devil determined to try the patience of the very competent and well-intentioned staff of GoWesty, and of myself (the original owner of this 1991 van with 230,000 miles on it).
I had a complete restoration done for $$$. Some things got missed and Lucas went out of his way to make them right. He paid to have the van shipped back to GoWesty from Florida to do this. Then some weird little things went haywire - like the sink faucet coming on spontaneously and flooding the van. Again the GoWesty staff went overboard not only to correct the problem but to make sure that nothing had been damaged by the water in the van.
Then something else went wrong - a scored cylinder in my new 2.5 engine. They could have bulls--tted me about what was wrong and I never would have known the difference. I am a nurse, not a mechanic. But they were honest about the problem and immediately set to work to fix it.
I know this is a bit of a mixed review of GoWesty. But hear this:They do good work. When things go wrong they admit it and make it right. And they do it with good grace. Everyone on the staff is a pleasure to deal with, even under adverse circumstances. I would send my precious Syncro back to them in a minute for further work. They are not inexpensive. So they have to be very good, and they are.