With all the work going on to prepare Recce for over landing, we decided that there was room for another truck in our lives… another route to financial ruin, a money pit. Meet Loki, the mischievous son of Odin, the trouble maker….
Loki is an ex Swedish authority 16″ Syncro Double Cab (Doka for short), with a 2.1 litre Water Boxer (WBX), flat four engine that runs beautifully. The 16″ refers to the wheel size fitted at the factory and indicates that it has an enhanced chassis, better ground clearance and was really aimed at the military, forestry, councils etc. With the extra height plus front and rear differential locks, it’s a proper off-roader. And quite rare. Being Swedish it has heated seats (broken), a (broken) engine block heater and a modification that allows you to keep the engine running in low temperatures, whilst removing the ignition key and locking up. The double cab is very pleasing to my eye and this one originally had a canvas tilt frame that leaked like a net, so now has a much more useful and weatherproof fibreglass Vindic canopy. Nothing on the dashboard works and there was about 20m of domestic wiring in the van, including live wires wrapped around the tow bar…
Sadly he stood in a field for several years and was neglected. As a result there was extensive rust in the panels, but many have now been replaced although the front and the windscreen surround still need doing. The gearbox is aluminium and magnesium alloy and was badly corroded and overdue a service. The play in the bearings meant that the G gear was very near to fusing with its adjacent cogs! The gearbox has since been stripped and rebuilt, the fuel tank has been overhauled and the tank straps, starter motor, clutch, clutch slave cylinder, fuel pump and brackets have been replaced and the rust that was revealed has been fixed.
Slowly but surely we are getting there and eventually we will paint over the Hamerite silver paint with NATO Desert Sand. Loki is great fun and provides us with a platform to experiment with, as I am trying to do all my own repairs and learning how to fix a Syncro in order to be better ready to fix breakdowns in the middle of nowhere.
The Little Red Bus 