Doka Syncro source for parts

[mobydick 11]

Hi , I was just the winning bidder on a 1986 Volkswagen Doka Syncro at an auction . Can you recommend a good parts source for this vehicle in the US or better yet Canada ? There is a good place in England , but that must get pretty pricey .Thanks

 

[Chuck1]

Nice, i like this one, don't spank the yota n jeeps to bad

 

[mobydick 11]

Nice, i like this one, don't spank the yota n jeeps to bad

View attachment 634011

That one may be the gold standard . Mine is rusty and does not run Yet !! Hard to find them .No jeeps will be harmed for a while ,Ha ha

 

[Betarocker]

There's a guy here in Whistler that does a lot of Vanagon stuff, parts and restos. Next time I see him I'll ask how to contact him. My neighbour has a Westphalia Vanagon and is in the loop of where to get stuff. He swapped in a Subaru engine last year, plus a bunch of upgrades to A/C and brakes

 

[mobydick 11]

There's a guy here in Whistler that does a lot of Vanagon stuff, parts and restos. Next time I see him I'll ask how to contact him. My neighbour has a Westphalia Vanagon and is in the loop of where to get stuff. He swapped in a Subaru engine last year, plus a bunch of upgrades to A/C and brakes

Great Thanks

 

[86scotty]

Samba?

 

[goldtooth]

Yeah head on over to TheSamba Vanagon section
The Samba

 

[b. rock]

Rocky Mountain Westy and Van Cafe merged a year or two ago, they were my go to place when I had a Vanagon. Mike has piles of odd parts in his collection if you pick up the phone and call too. Then of course there's gowesty, and to a lesser extent busdepot. Syncro stuff is hard to come by. Mr. Gas in CO Springs is pretty good at rebuilding the syncro transmissions, including modifications to live under higher HP engine swaps if that's your plan.

Congrats on the syncro Doka. That's the only model that *almost* tempts me to go back down that path. Almost.

Good luck. Parts sourcing for that platform is becoming more and more of a pain. Join every FB group you can find and ask around - the members are pretty helpful most of the time.

 

[mobydick 11]

Rocky Mountain Westy and Van Cafe merged a year or two ago, they were my go to place when I had a Vanagon. Mike has piles of odd parts in his collection if you pick up the phone and call too. Then of course there's gowesty, and to a lesser extent busdepot. Syncro stuff is hard to come by. Mr. Gas in CO Springs is pretty good at rebuilding the syncro transmissions, including modifications to live under higher HP engine swaps if that's your plan.

Congrats on the syncro Doka. That's the only model that *almost* tempts me to go back down that path. Almost.

Good luck. Parts sourcing for that platform is becoming more and more of a pain. Join every FB group you can find and ask around - the members are pretty helpful most of the time.

Thank you for your help . I am going to try and keep the waterboxer if I can . My thought is more HP will just be more broken driveline stuff .And I am old so not in a hurry . Thanks

 

[pnwkayaker]

Welcome to the addiction! (I’m the proud owner of a 1987 VW Syncro Westy). As mentioned before, join The Samba Vanagon forum, this is probably the biggest source of Vanagon information you’ll find in the web (there’re lots of super-knowledgeable and friendly folks there, and super-detailed projects write-ups) - my username is the same there.

TheSamba.com :: View Forum - Vanagon

Classified ads, photos, shows, links, forums, and technical information for the Volkswagen automobile

www.thesamba.com

Don’t be be surprised if after you introduce yourself the first piece of advice you receive is to change your fuel lines, they need to be changed due to age to avoid fire hazard risks.

I belong to a couple of FB groups ("Vanagon Owners", "vw syncro" and "WetWesties") but I truly dislike FB interface and search capabilities so much that I rarely check them (The Samba is way better).

Below are links for several places that I use to source parts (I'm sure there're more places) - contrary to what you might expect, the level of parts support for Vanagons is amazing (especially for a 30+ year old vehicle). It’s true that some OEM parts might not be available anymore, but I usually find after-market replacements and/or upgrades available (The Samba is a great place to ask/search for that information). A lot of the fun with these vans is doing mods and/or upgrades to make them more reliable/capable/fun.

I wouldn’t worry about trying to exclusively find parts locally (Canada or US), worldwide shipping charges (unless trying to ship a full transmission) are pretty reasonable.

USA

GoWesy (https://www.gowesty.com)

Van-Cafe (https://www.vancafe.com)

Bus Depot (https://www.busdepot.com)

Vanagain (https://www.vanagain.com)

VanagonLife (https://www.vanagonlife.com)

EuroCampers (https://www.eurocampers.com)


Canada

Cip1 (https://www2.cip1.com)

Dr Bjorn’s Auto (https://www.drbjornsauto.com)


UK

CamperVan Culture (https://campervanculture.com)

JustKampers (https://www.justkampers.com)


Germany

Gunzl Classic Parts (https://www.vwbusshop.de/en/Westfalia-T3)

 

[mobydick 11]

Welcome to the addiction! (I’m the proud owner of a 1987 VW Syncro Westy). As mentioned before, join The Samba Vanagon forum, this is probably the biggest source of Vanagon information you’ll find in the web (there’re lots of super-knowledgeable and friendly folks there, and super-detailed projects write-ups) - my username is the same there.

TheSamba.com :: View Forum - Vanagon

Classified ads, photos, shows, links, forums, and technical information for the Volkswagen automobile

www.thesamba.com

Don’t be be surprised if after you introduce yourself the first piece of advice you receive is to change your fuel lines, they need to be changed due to age to avoid fire hazard risks.

I belong to a couple of FB groups ("Vanagon Owners", "vw syncro" and "WetWesties") but I truly dislike FB interface and search capabilities so much that I rarely check them (The Samba is way better).

Below are links for several places that I use to source parts (I'm sure there're more places) - contrary to what you might expect, the level of parts support for Vanagons is amazing (especially for a 30+ year old vehicle). It’s true that some OEM parts might not be available anymore, but I usually find after-market replacements and/or upgrades available (The Samba is a great place to ask/search for that information). A lot of the fun with these vans is doing mods and/or upgrades to make them more reliable/capable/fun.

I wouldn’t worry about trying to exclusively find parts locally (Canada or US), worldwide shipping charges (unless trying to ship a full transmission) are pretty reasonable.

USA

GoWesy (https://www.gowesty.com)

Van-Cafe (https://www.vancafe.com)

Bus Depot (https://www.busdepot.com)

Vanagain (https://www.vanagain.com)

VanagonLife (https://www.vanagonlife.com)

EuroCampers (https://www.eurocampers.com)


Canada

Cip1 (https://www2.cip1.com)

Dr Bjorn’s Auto (https://www.drbjornsauto.com)


UK

CamperVan Culture (https://campervanculture.com)

JustKampers (https://www.justkampers.com)


Germany

Gunzl Classic Parts (https://www.vwbusshop.de/en/Westfalia-T3)

Thank you ,I have been on the Samba site for a few Hours today . and yes lots of info there . I am still waiting for the auction house to contact me with my pick up appointment time . Holidays coupled with Covid , hard to get things done .Hopefully I will have it by the end of next week .Excuse my ignorance but what does Samba stand for or mean ?

 

[Betarocker]

What is a Samba?
Samba is the term used for the 23-window Deluxe Bus in Europe.

 

[coguzzi]

What is a Samba?
Samba is the term used for the 23-window Deluxe Bus in Europe.

thats where the name comes from, but its the most extensive VW forum out there--at least in the US. thesamba.com

that said, mechanical parts are not any different on a syncro DOKA than a normal syncro vanagon. unless your talking a factory syncro 16, or a factory diesel varient

 

[mobydick 11]

thats where the name comes from, but its the most extensive VW forum out there--at least in the US. thesamba.com

that said, mechanical parts are not any different on a syncro DOKA than a normal syncro vanagon. unless your talking a factory syncro 16, or a factory diesel varient

So lack of knowledge again .when they talk about 16 all the time ,are they referring to the length of the rear swing arm ? And did they make the 16 in 1986 ? I will have to measure mine when I pick it up to see if its a 14 or 16 . Thanks

 

[coguzzi]

So lack of knowledge again .when they talk about 16 all the time ,are they referring to the length of the rear swing arm ? And did they make the 16 in 1986 ? I will have to measure mine when I pick it up to see if its a 14 or 16 . Thanks

syncro 16" were special syncros, and they made very very few of them and kind of the holy grail. bigger wheel wells, reinforced body/chassis, longer trailing arms etc etc. but 16" refers to factory 16" wheels, most syncros came with 14", but in this day and age most have converted to 15" or 16", but that does not make it a factory syncro 16. faxctory syncro 16's are very hard to find and i would be really surprised if you bought one by "accident" with out knowing