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Cobblers's VW T25 Syncro Doka


cobblers

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This was sold new in an area in Sweden where until recently at least they did not salt the roads in the winter. And the climate is dry inland climate so cars rust little there so this is a good buy! Østersund, Sveg and Strømsund are towns and villages where the dealer Berners had branches.

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5 minutes ago, Dyslexic Viking said:

This was sold new in an area in Sweden where until recently at least they did not salt the roads in the winter. And the climate is dry inland climate so cars rust little there so this is a good buy! Østersund, Sveg and Strømsund are towns and villages where the dealer Berners had branches.

Thanks for this info! - I had presumed it must have been something along those lines as it has no right to be such a solid van for something that had been used for 260000km. 

 

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And have a little more for you. ångermanålvens vattenregleringsföretag was the first owner and gets it in translation to and become a water regulation company. And it was stationed i believe in Strømsund. 

Hope you understand place names and such as I write as we Norwegians and Swedes have letters that are the same, but different in appearance.

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Yes, they're getting quite silly now - seeing the way the values are going it was definitely a case of now or never. I sold my Caravelle GL a few years ago for (iirc) £3k. Similar vans are approaching 5 figures now. 

When I started seeing them on album covers and stuff I realised that they were no longer the "only vw van I could afford" which is how I've always viewed them.

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10 hours ago, HMC said:

Presumably this body design is more refined than a “normal” T25 as the passenger compartment is more isolated from the engine compartment, if you follow me. 

The body design does lend itself to being a bit quieter than a panel van, but the tyre design puts paid to that! It's a noisy old bugger, and the syncro drivetrain does seem to transmit a bit more driveline whine into the cabin too.

These flat 4 engines are actually really smooth and even in a panel van, on idle you'd often be excused for not knowing it's running, and once you're moving it's quite a strange noise that I could only really compare to a large fan or something. It's actually really hard to judge the engine RPM while driving, to the point where I am making serious negotiations into buying a set of clocks with a revcounter, for a predictably extortionate price.

 

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On 8/14/2021 at 6:22 PM, cobblers said:

the "only vw van I could afford" which is how I've always viewed them.

That's how I always saw the LT, and even they are creeping up. Although I was never specifically after a VW, just tempted by the sound of the engine! Seems like they're accepted as part of the T25 'scene' now as I always get a wave (rarely from Bays or Splits).

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I went on some "off roads" today for a bit, and have got used to driving LHD stuff to the point where it only feels a little bit like I'm either having a stroke or in that episode of red dwarf where everything is backwards

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The fox suspension does seem to be quite tolerant of leathering it through big potholes and whatnot.

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I've never had a gripe with t25 brakes, they've always seemed plenty. IIRC the synchro brakes are even smaller than the normal ones for some reason, but it stops perfectly well. The tyres probably help if anything - they've got such a lot of rolling resistance that you barely need the brakes at all.

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I thought I'd have the ECU apart on this (because that's my thing, I suppose) and make sure it's healthy, plus add an immobiliser. 

It was a bit corroded on the end and had just the beginnings of water ingress:

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Someone has been here before:

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That's the transistor that drives the idle air control valve, if I remember correctly. I had to replace it on the last T25 I owned.

The aly casting was a bit grotty:

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So I spent a few minutes in the media blaster and cleaned it up nice, before etc prime and some nice grey paint

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No major horrors inside, a few minor dry joints and one very bad one:

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I went over anything suspect looking, 

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and added a remote immobiliser

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Not my neatest work, but it's very much a case of "Cobblers's kids shoes" when I spend all day making a real nice job on other peoples stuff (that they will never ever look inside) and then rush my own stuff because I've only got half an hour to get it finished.

Anyway the immobiliser just cuts power to the ECU internally after the ignition key has been off for more than about 20 seconds. A remote control button re-enables it. 

 

 

Jobs a goodun:

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Also I've been looking at truck bed cover things for this, so I can use it to go camping with some ease if it snows a lot ever again. There's just one for sale, it's £730, the pictures are shite, it's missing all the fitting hardware, the latches and hinges are fucked and it needs quite significant fibreglass repair and complete repaint

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I'll give it a miss.

I'll see if I can measure up to find one off something else that'll fit.

 

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