ON SAFARI IN A BRICK

There’s nothing better than packing your tent and leaving civilization for a few days, going on an expedition and experiencing true African bush. I wrote about our African adventures in our previous T3 in my last article (C&B April, 2022) but as we were just borrowing that one, we’ve since purchsed a 1989 Syncro with raised suspension, three petrol tanks, dual battery system, bull bar, roof rack, canvas interior, 215R15 wheels and a 2.0-litre Golf engine (AGG) conversion. It may not be the most powerful replacement engine, but one that is very reliable – and that’s exactly what you need when going into the bush. Beefed up engines just don’t work; totally stock with good parts availability is the only way to go.

I have to say, when driving the Bus for the first time, I immediately liked the typical ‘Golf-sound’ of the engine, a kind of scratchy, grunty noise. With nearly 120bhp it has more power than most T3s, so I thought we would be fine with it. You