Bad Karma – Vanagon Mexico Paint Job Part 2

At this stage I am still super excited to get the Syncro.  It was a bit of an impulse buy but I was excited.  I decided to have the engine rebuilt with gowesty AMC heads, 2.2 cylinder kit, new oil pump, new water pump and thermostat.  I also decided to add a front locker with vacuum system and full front to back cooling system upgrade with Stainless steel pipes and all new hoses.  Basically, I was in big.  Shane agreed to just pass through Geraldo’s charges with no markup and he even offered to split the cost of the cooling hoses with me.  I’m really excited to get a Syncro.  Really I have no need for 4wd but Syncros are cool and I am Van Nerd.  I mean who does not want a Syncro?  Maybe we are smart enough not to give in to the expense and complexity but from the heart, I think we all secretly want one.

The next issue is I get a picture of my Van and would you believe it: Shane did the black texture coating wrong?  OK, shit happens so I text him that it’s wrong and he agrees to change it.  He texts me the next day and he has remediated it already.  I don’t remember the exact exchange or the correct order but at some point here Shane called me up a little heated.  It’s about the black texture and black stripe if I remember correctly but he’s heated and says he wants “to avoid any more changes.”  This sentence made me mad but I rolled with it.  The texture coating and the stripe were not “changes.”   As I said I had given him pictures, verbal explanations, and articles.  I’m really not a fighter, I don’t like conflict and I did not want to be a jerk.  To really get to the kind of ruthless business Shane practices I’d have to be mad.  It’s just not me.  Whatever the issue was I think it was the footwells, I just told him to go with it.  At this stage, I was going to sell Osa my brown Van and keep Panchothe Syncro so there was no reason to force Shane to get things the way I had wanted them, the way I had emphatically described to him. 

In the back and forth Shane texted me about painting the front grille.  I’d never given it a thought.  I did not think you painted them but I thought Shane is the pro.  I said don’t worry about the lower one I am going to replace it with a stock one.  I had a gowesty lower S African Grille.  It was in mint shape having been replaced when I hit the deer and I had just replaced most of the mounting clips and screws in the months leading up to the paint trip.  Shane said hey if you want the stock I will swap you the stock one from Miki.  Miki is one of Shane’s personal Syncros.  He has several.  

There is no way that a stock front grille is the equivalent of a S African Front Grille.  The S African lower grille is not available and was $165 when you could get it.  A brand new stock lower grille is $60 bucks and you can get them for as low as $30 on craigslist.  I absolutely knew this but I’m the kind of guy that is willing to do people a solid so I said sure.  In retrospect, I am just the kind of sucker Shane loves.  He can make a margin every step of the way.  The grille story gets better later.   Hooking him up with a deal was apparently not enough.

Somewhere in here we went back and forth on the fabric for the seats.  I had sent him the sewfine fabric I was going to use had I had time but he is not organized enough to have that around so I sent it again.  I reiterate that you need to have a running document to go back to otherwise you are in “he said she said land.”  Shame on me and shame on Shane for not doing that.  I could go back through all the texts and emails but that is a major undertaking.  I’m not one to say “well Shane I provided you a picture of what I am looking for.”  Anyway despite some annoyed sounding texts from Shane where he said “if you can tell me what you want I can avoid going back and forth to the fabric shop” we found a fabric I liked and he got that done pretty quick.  The interior looks really good.  In particular, the front seats look amazing.  I don’t know about durability however because I don’t trust Shane at all so we will see.  

Again I am not exactly sure on timing but in the run-up to the trip to get my Van Shane tells me that they can’t do the AC and he does not want to take my Van to Geraldo’s for the suspension leveling because Geraldo’s always dings his newly painted Vans.  This all seemed reasonable enough due to circumstances so I agreed.  I was super bummed about the AC but I was still planning to sell Osa at this stage and I don’t think AC gets you more value in a Van.  Why are most of them disconnected anyway?

The day arrived to ride to La Paz with my buddy and drop off his Van, pick up mine, and drive back.  My buddy was in a hurry and wanted to do it all straight through.  Pick up the Van then leave to come back.  Honestly, I did not see an issue as while I may have expected some minor issues I had NO IDEA what I was in for.  If you fall for the livethevanlife instagram posts and work with him I would say that you need to plan to spend a week in La Paz or better yet fly down and spend a day going over your Van and fly home while they remediate.  I have no idea what Shane does for his money but it sure is not going over the Van to assure quality work and reassembly.

So let’s talk about the cost.  My charges from Shane are as follows on the paint job.

1. Vanagon Paint and bodywork. $4000.00 (He now charges $5500)
2. Ceramic Window Tinting $600.00
3. Vanagon Truck Bed Liner $350.00
4. Undercoating $300.00
5. GW Door Handle Seals $20.25
6. Vanagon Front Seat Upholstery $450.00
7. Rear Bench Seat and Mattress Upholstery $400.00
8. Jump Seat Upholstery $150.00
9. Shipping and Customs for GoWesty Pancho Parts $350.00

In addition to these prices, you need to budget for 2 one-way plane tickets to and from La Paz at about $300.   1800 or so miles on your Van.  $600 or so in Gas and at least 4 hotel nights or camping nights.  As I said you really need at least a week.

So the work is plus $1000 and likely more.  I looked around a little and found that California Westys in San Diego does windows-out paint jobs starting at $10k.  I believe Los Panchos in TJ charges $7k.  I can’t speak to the quality of either of these operations but I’ve heard more than a few horror stories about Los Panchos. Ca Westy has quite a few positive reviews on the web. I’ve spoken to the owner a couple of times and he seems solid.

I have heard that other shops further north start at $14K and Gowesty says $30K in their library.  If Shane’s work was as good as California Westy’s and spoiler alert it’s not, then his price is a good deal.  With his new price of $5,500 and knowing the quality of the outcome and experience I know it’s a horrible deal. That said I know it appeals because he makes it look like he does passable work.  If you do more than just paint then economies get even better.  I called a few shops to get a quote on Ceramic Window tinting and most shops don’t want to do Vanagons.  The one shop I got a quote for said they would do Ceramic Tinting in the winter for around $2K.  They said they were too busy in summer to do a job like that.  Damn it must be nice to have too much business! 

My trip down with my friend was a little less enjoyable because we were in more of a rush, it was ungodly hot, and the border and military checkpoints must have decided we were working with a cartel.  I got searched more on this trip down than on my previous 25 years of traveling in baja. If you decide to do this trip you need to take your time.  Enjoy the people and the country.  Mexico is a great country, sure there is the occasional carjacking or beheading but I’ve been going there for 25 years or more and had really only 2 scary experiences.  More on that in some other blog.  

Crossing the border in Mexicali we got pulled to secondary cause we had so many Van parts in the Van.  I was bringing a complete cooling system and stainless steel pipes down for Pancho.  Not to mention a full-sized spare tire for it.  I had some parts for Shanes Van and my friend had all the parts you need to replace when doing a windows out paint job.  We might have done a little better than the 19% import tax but not much.  It is the law though so expect to pay your taxes.  

My friend’s Van is not mine and he is not me.  That is to say 20 hours in his Van was riskier than 20 in mine.  Partway down he decided to pass the driving to me.  I was pretty excited to give his Van a go.  Vans are different and I was anxious to see what was what with his.  Tried as I might I could not get it into first gear.  I tried a bunch of times and my buddy got annoyed and fired me.  He got it right in and drove no problem at this stage but I told him something was wrong.  Maybe an hour later we decided to try it again.  I had the same result.  I could not get into first gear, only third.  So he jumps in and this time he has the issue also but eventually gets us going.  He can’t get into first and has to go to second instead if we slow down or stop.  A mile or so down the road he comments that the brakes are not working.  I text Shane and he tells me that we can get a tow if needed and approximate prices.  To make a long story shorter we limp into La Paz after some nerve-racking moments at stop signs.  The shift linkage or the clutch or more likely both need some love.  These will be top of the list for my friends Van.

We make it to Shanes and celebrate with some ices and lemonades.  It’s good to see Shane and my Van.  At this stage, I am still all in with the guy.  He shows around his two super cool Syncros including a unique diesel with a neat DIY interior from some prior owner.  Vans are cool and vans are fun.  Van people are too, usually.

I have not seen Pancho at this stage.  Actually, I have never seen that Van in person.  We were trying to get to La Paz before 2:00 when Geraldos closed.  At this point, the engine was still out though Shane had sent me pictures of it complete.  The cooling parts I was carrying were to finish it off.

Unfortunately, I somehow forgot the radiator in my garage in Oceanside.  That is an expensive mistake because shipping will be $100 plus the 19% tax.  I know because I had $350 in shipping on my Osa invoice to cover the engine parts for Pancho.  In the week after I return with my Van, I text back and forth with Shane to coordinate the shipping.  

Here we are at Shane’s house in La Paz and I am taking delivery of my Van.  I do a quick walkthrough.  I was way less thorough than you need to be.  He apparently has no QC checks of his own.  I notice there is something amiss with the pop-top so I raise it and tuck the tent in nicely the way I like it.  I closed it up and sadly did not look closer.  I point out a rather deep scratch in the texture coating on the front passenger side and look at the two dents I wanted to be fixed.  Remember these are the two main reasons I decided to get the Van painted.  The front looks good but they did not do the one in the back.  I ask about it and Shane says the equivalent of yeah we could not do that one.  I am disappointed but I roll with it.  I discover my aux battery system is completely down to which Shane says “we did not touch that.”  My rearview camera and my third brake light also don’t work.  I ask about this and Shane says he could not figure them out.

I understand that maybe googling install docs which are easy to find is out of scope and I know barring some complete screw-up on his part I can fix these things in a split.  I’m still not worried.  That said if he told me these things in advance they would not be surprises on pickup.  It would go a long way to proactively tell your customer “I was not able to fix this dent in the back and I could not get your brake light or rearview camera working.  Instead, these are all issues I have to discover.  Sadly for me, the discovery continues to this day. 

I stick my hand in the aux power bay under the driver seat and show Shane how it comes out coated in sanding dust.  I keep the inside of my Van clean and I can already tell that I have a major clean-up project coming.  I had taken almost my entire interior out and painted the inside of my Van with sound-deading insulator.  The inside was spotless when I dropped it off with Shane.  There is dust on the fridge cover and Its clear that livethevanlife.com does not mask during sanding.  They do a pretty low-grade clean-up after if at all.  There is white in nearly every seam on the outside of the van.  Shane tells me the white is just leftover from the guy who waxed it.  I’m thinking to myself I guess it’s my job to remove all that Wax but I am rolling with it.  The white is pretty extensive but I take Shane at his word about it being Wax.  This was another mistake.  A lot of the white is sanding dust and it’s everywhere but the white I found on the roof is a much worse situation.

My friend and I hop in my van and make ready to leave.  I turn the key and instantly I know there’s an issue.  My starting system is strong and my Van roars to life every time.  At that time I chalk it up to a crank battery that might not have a full charge from three months in a paint shop but the starter is not it’s usual self. It’s just not as strong as usual.

The next day we head out of town and I beep my horn in a little La Paz goodbye.  The coolant indicator light starts flashing.  It goes out and I beep my horn again and the coolant light starts flashing again.  This and the random appearance of my brake and seat belt dash lights tell me something is shorting.  The Van is running well enough but I know I have a short.  Should be able to make it home so I make a note and text Shane.  He gives me another “we did not touch any electrical.”  I remember putting my phone in my door pocket and having the interior door panel fall off right after reading this text.  Shane maintains that that is just part of getting a 30+ year Van painted.  There are going to be things to clear up.  That is at least partially true.

There is also a weird sound like whistling coming from the back.  It was a new noise but I figured I would get home and give the van a full go-through.

So we drive and drive.  We stop for tacos and generally make a little better use of the trip back.  We take an alternative track to cross the border at San Isidro and get more time near the coast.  The inland route is going to be around 110 degrees and 87 in Ensenada sounds dreamy.  Just after passing an 18-wheeler on a hairy bit of road a sudden and harsh slap slap comes from the rear driver’s side.  The Van pulls weirdly. I figured I had a flat, although my tires are new, and make a bit of a sketchy high-speed exit from the tight road.  The shoulder is a bit ugly but we manage to come to a stop safely.  I hop from the car expecting to change a flat, I have a full-size spare as you should if you are doing a 900-mile drive in Baja and I am not too worried about things.  Turns out the tire is not flat.  The wheel actually has all lugs loose and the noise was it slapping around in the slack of the bolts.  I tighten them up and then proceed to do the rest of the wheels.  Every lug is loose, the passenger rear is missing a lug and both rear tires are on backward.  My tires are directional.  At this stage, I am starting to get a little annoyed.  Come on Shane this is getting a little silly this lack of attention to detail.  About 100 miles later I check the lugs again to be sure they are still tight.  They are.  Shane tells me how lugs come loose after 500 or so miles and that he never checked them.  It was fine when I got it from the paint shop.  I am not doing business with a paint shop. I am doing business with you Shane, the guy who talks about his attention to detail and knowing vans on his website.  Properly torqued wheels don’t come loose.  

My friend and I both have Sentri so we navigate the 20 twists and awkward turns that Mexico planning put into finding the lanes and get in line.  It’s a pretty short queue and we expect to be over the border in 10 Minutes.  For whatever reason, we got the slowest slow lane ever.  The agent was going so slow that when we were 4 cars out I turned the Van off.  No need to tax the cooling system even if it worked perfectly and the gauge had not risen.  This turned out to be a mistake.  When the car in front of us finally moved and I turned my key I got nothing.  No cranking, no lights, no signs of life.  I try several times and come to grips with the fact that things are about to get uncomfortable.  Breaking down in traffic sucks.  Breaking down at the border is shitty.  Breaking down in the SENTRI lane at the border could be a nightmare.  My buddy and I push the van.  My buddy more so than me because the lane is tight and I jump in a couple of times to steer.  We push up to agent, not in a hurry and he is kind of laughing.  “Ever had problems with this before?”  Honestly, this is the first time I have ever pushed the Van I tell him.  Anyway, he points to where we need to go across the lanes to work out a tow.  It’s going to be an exciting push to cross the lanes.  As we start my friend points out the open door buzzer is on.  He says “was that on?”  It clicks in my brain that whatever the issue was might be over so I jump in the Van and turn the key.  She roars to life, just like normal and we drive out of the crossing, get on the highway north and make good time getting home.

I’m a little mad at this point.  I know that these Vans are old and things happen.  This could be a coincidence.  But I also know there are too many signs at this point for me to not think Shane’s work needs a deep going through.  Of all the issues I have texted him about in the time around the trip I don’t think I even mention this one but it is suspicious. I blame the short and I do blame him for that.

It is worth noting the kind of Van owner I am.  I don’t like to break down.  In fact, I have only had to get the tow of shame twice.  One of those times the issue was the fuel pump.  I replaced the pump and the new one was cavitating.  To make a long story short I replaced every piece of the fuel delivery system so I would never have this issue again.  I replaced the gas tank, the vent lines, the fuel lines all the way to the injectors.  I pulled and sealed the vent tanks.  I replaced the fuel pressure regulator and the fuel gauge sender.  My fuel pump does not cavitate or squeal and my power is smooth and consistent with no bogs.  While I did this job I put in a fix for the fuel spill at the gas pump that is pretty standard for all 85s and older.  That is how I roll with my Van.  In the words of Captain Mal “My ship don’t crash,  she crashes you crashed her.”  

The other tow was due to a clutch system issue so I replaced the clutch master and slave cylinders drained and filled the system and bled the brakes.  I don’t know if these were part of the issue or just preemptive but I needed a clutch throw bearing and had that done too.

People may say I have thrown away parts that were good and that is likely true but parts, in the scheme of things are cheap.  My time or a mechanic’s labor are where the expense is.  I minimize variables and do things beyond right.  I have been rewarded with one of the most reliable Vanagons anyone has.

Near the end of the trip, I noticed a sticker on my front windshield.  I looked closer and it was a transponder sticker of some kind.  I believe it said Go Washington on it.  Now I am tired so at first, I was thinking why did they put a sticker on my windshield?  Pretty soon my dull brain put together that it was not my windshield.  Livethevanlife had put in someone else’s windshield that was in the shop.  I texted Shane and he offered to buy me a new windshield.  I am still with Shane so I did not see a reason to do that.  I said this windshield works it’s just not mine but be advised the guy’s Van who expects a transponder might be a little bummed.  I am really curious if Shane owned up with the other Van owner on the windshield.  I’ll put money on he does not and gives a “we did not touch that” when that owner asks about his transponder sticker.

The next day I get out to give the Van a going over and I start with the top because I know something is not right.  I quickly find that the pop top has a solid inch gap that did not exist before.  I get on the phone with Shane and while on the phone I find two pieces broken out of the top.  How would you take having someone physically damage your Van while you were paying them to do a job?  Is that something you would find upsetting?

In this conversation, I send a picture to Shane of the luggage rack.  It is missing 2 of 3 bolt covers and one of the bolts is not tight.  It’s just spinning.  There is also an unsightly black stain from what looks like epoxy on the rack.  I am spending a lot of time up there trying to figure out what is wrong with my Pop Top and why it won’t close all the way as it did when livethevanlife.com got it from me.

Shane tells me that tops don’t warp and that there has to be a problem with the linkage somewhere.  I go over the rear scissor links and the internal H bar for a solid hour and they look fine to me.  Around this time I discover that the luggage rack is broken off on 1 corner and cracked on the other.  I show this to Shane in video and in a phone call while I am on with him I discover that there is masking still all over the place on the pop-top. I’ll have to add that to the clean-up list.  I did mention to him in our numerous conversations because he thinks I am nit-picking, then put in your Ad that the customer gets the Van back full of sanding dust.  That sounds silly, doesn’t it?

Shane does offer to come help me bend my top linkage and to buy me a new pop top seal.   Shane offers to pick the luggage rack up and take it to Mexico for repair.  I tell him to hold off while I assess what else is wrong.  

This is all going on over a couple days and I end up realizing that I’m going to have to spend my whole Saturday figuring out how bad it is.  I open up the engine bay to get a quick look and immediately see a hack job on my electrical.  I sent a video to Shane to show how his team just cut the wires for the side driving lights and my Gowesty reverse lights.  They then put them back together poorly with electrical tape.  This is not acceptable and this is how shorts happen.  Wires need to be terminated in insulated butt connectors.  That is the right way and I only do things the right way on my van.  Shanes answer to this, remember he first said we did not touch that, is I am now going to have a policy that we can’t be responsible for aftermarket electric items.  I thought your website said you know Vans?  Well, most Vans have after-market electrical items. Shane’s Vans do.  

The driving lights are not aftermarket and a little tape and a sharpie make putting things back together really easy. You get each wire in the right place maybe even the correct windshield in the correct Van.  It is worth noting that gowesty reverse lights are well documented and there is a perfect video from gowesty how to connect them.  Half-assed no matter how you cut it but would you believe I am still in with Shane at this point!?  In my video, on the electric I say I bet the short is fixed when I fix this bush-league electrical work and in fact yes the short is fixed.  My starter also seems to be back to full power.  I did find more paper for masking jammed up next to the starter and engine so maybe that was a factor. I doubt it but maybe.  Sure glad that paper did not catch fire on the way home.  I can just hear Shane saying these 30+-year-old vans, things happen.

After a couple of days I decided that the most likely issue with my pop top was not the pop top at all but the luggage rack.  Operating under the theory that he had not put the rubber spacers under the luggage rack I take it off.  This theory was also supported by the bolts on the luggage rack looking way long.  I had just taken my luggage rack off to put in a new seal, replace the hardware with stainless steel and add screens in the drain holes just a little while before the trip to get it painted.  This little project is on my Instagram but it was within a year of my going to Shane so I remember how it was.

I find that the headliner is missing a screw and is loose under the bolt that spins. That is the one with the bad epoxy job so they clearly tried to do something to get that bolt tight. They must have run out of beer and weed by then cause they just left it loose.  

(Picture of luggage rack bolts.)

I foundthat not all the spacers were not gone; they had been used on the forward mounts.  The rear of the rack was directly mounted to the frame which is probably why the corners had broken.  There are three of these rubber spacers.  One was missing but the other two were installed incorrectly on the forward mounts.  That was only the tip of the iceberg because they HAD NOT PAINTED under the luggage rack,or they did not do the polish coat. I don’t know but the roof of my Van is sanded, white, and scratched.  I guess they thought no one would notice and had they managed to get the rack on correctly who knows when that would have been caught.  I bet there are not many people who look to see what livethevanlife did under their luggage rack. Shane will say we could have fixed all this if we caught it while I was in Mexico but I have to say really?  How many of your customers are taking off their luggage racks to make sure you painted underneath?

To level set, I’m no longer happy with Shane but I am also still committed to working with him.  He has $20K of my money on deposit for Pancho the Syncro and I have $6500+ in additional parts with him for that Syncro.  At this stage, I believe that yes there are a few issues with my brown Van Osa but Shane is a good guy who may lack attention to detail but is not a crook or completely incompetent.  Minorly incompetent but not completely.

So between work, I do have an actual job that I need to attend to, I am spending time sending videos, texts and emails to Shane.  I included a couple of those videos.  To avoid what is a long story of back and forth here is the consolidated list of what I have found so far.  I’ll be spending a lot of time getting my Van back to where it was when I brought it to this hack fest so I am pretty sure I will find more things.  

For some reason, they don’t remove the Antenna and mask around it, poorly.  Here is a picture of how that looks as well as a post that showed up on Livethevanlife Instagram yesterday. 

I found a chip in the new paint at the wolfsburg logo.  This is minor and more in line with what I would expect to have to deal with after a paint job but I still think Shane should catch this not me.

They did not put my curtains in and stuffed them behind the cabinet.  I expect live-the-half-assed-life would just drill a hole in the track but I do things right so I have to remove and reinstall the rear cabinet which is a pain in the ass.

The texture coating does not look right.  Its looks like its cloudy and not a solid black.

This is all going on and then we come to the straw.  The proverbial straw that broke the camel’s back.  I stuck with Shane and live-the-half-assed-life through:

The cracked and broken luggage rack

The wheels almost coming off

The Wheels being on wrong and the missing lug nut

The electrical short

The wax in every seam

The sanding dust and filth all over the interior.

The non-working 3rd brake light, backup light, driving lights and reverse lights. Update turns out that they had somehow blown up the backup camera system. I had to buy a new system at $300.

The chip at the wolfsburg logo

The bad work around the antenna

The Wrong Windshield

Not painting the roof but sanding it

White and cloudy texture coating

Not doing the bumpers as agreed

But this last thing is just unforgivable.

As I explained, I hooked Shane up with a swap on the lower grille.  While I working on the electric because a front driving light was out I found that they did not use the brand new mounting hardware from my lower S African Grille.  They just drove DRYWALL SCREWS through the stock grille into the body of my Van.  

I was apoplectic at this point.  Shane is barely apologetic for the drywall screw situation.  Apparently, he thinks I am being nit picky.  I can tell you with confidence you don’t want to buy a Syncro from someone who thinks it’s ok to use drywall screws to do anything on a Vanagon let alone mount a grille where I gave you the right hardware.  You must do things right with Vans and god knows what a guy who uses drywall screws through the body of a Van did to the rest of the build.  I can see myself on the side of the road with the Van in flames and Shane saying “things happen on these old Vans” or “we did not touch that….”  There is no way I am buying a seat cover from Shane let alone a Syncro and if Shane was a respectable businessman he would own that and agree.

At this stage I’m done.  I don’t want anything to do with Shane.  I tell him that I want him to return my deposit on Pancho and buy the syncro parts from me.  I tell him I don’t want to send any more texts and videos to you.  I don’t want to have to come to La Paz and make a career of getting your work right.  If you do this and someone asks I will tell them that we had some challenges with my paint job but you were willing to bend over backward to make them right.  I think this was a more than fair offer considering how poorly he did with my Van but more so the damage he caused it.

Shane tells me no.  Shane tells me that no he won’t do that and we are too far along on the Syncro.  He says I can fly down to see the Syncro.  They will put it up on a lift and then I can fly home while they remediate things to make it how I like.  Of course, Shane’s solution is for me to spend more of my time and my money on his shit show.  I ask him if he thinks that is right with the damage to the top, the damage to my roof,  the cleaning I will be doing and the drywall screws into the body.  He tells me he will work with me on all that and the Syncro.  He tells me he wants me happy or at least content.  Again Shane thinks I am nit-picking and he has done a fine job so I can’t be made happy.

I get off the phone with him and go out to my Van.  I spend an hr removing wax from one of the seams on the front of the Van – one of my daily activities since I got back.  I look at the front grille and the top.  I look at the white in the texture coat that won’t come out and I know I’m not going to Mexico to work with Shane.  I know that I will have to be as calm as I can to get all the money back I am able to.  

I call Shane back and he starts the conversation by saying “I just fired the paint shop I used for your Van.”  I think that is interesting because I am really trying to fire you Shane and you are making me pay you to do it.  I tell Shane “you send me my $20K and keep the parts.”  Of course, this is all it took and he agrees.  I am willing to bet money he puts my Pancho rebuilt engine in his Syncro Miki.  He’s thinking of a free engine upgrade.  I notice that he has upped the price on Pancho due to the spare tire and actually rebuilt the transmission but he has made no mention of the engine or the entire cooling system I bought for it. (Note since I wrote this that listing has changed several times)

Shane had the audacity to tell me he was not my enemy and that he is losing money on this deal too.  I’m curious why he thinks I should lose money?  All he had to do was what he claims his business is and I would be buying that Syncro with a grin.

Let me be a lesson to you.  I would not buy anything from Shane but certainly not a Vanagon even less so the already complex and expensive Syncro.  Maybe some of his overpriced Venture libre kit.  He just does not have the attention to detail or integrity. Him putting restoration in his signature is an insult to people who actually do restoration and care about their craft.

I am a real person.  A 18 year S Ca businessman with a family.  I do not blow someone up lightly.  If you’d like to leave a comment or to email me for a reference, a look at my van or more detail please do.  I want you to understand who you can trust and who you cannot.

“I treat every build as the most important one I have ever done” – Shane Jordan. How does he sleep at night?