Date:         Fri, 16 Feb 2001 07:56:49 -0700
Reply-To:     Blake Thornton <thornton@MATH.UTAH.EDU>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Blake Thornton <thornton@MATH.UTAH.EDU>
Subject:      DIY head gaskets & heads
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

Well damn it!

While pulling my bike out of the house to ride up to school today, I
noticed a puddle under the engine of my van.  Knelt down and felt it and
it looked and felt like my antifreeze (brownish, oily).  I guess I've had
this coming having not flushed my cooling system for several years.  Maybe
I had it coming anyhow.

So, I know this comes up a lot, but I still have some specific questions
about this mess.  And, of course, I still need to make sure the leak is
from the heads.  So here are my questions, especially for those of you
who have done this yourself:

1- How can I find out where the leak is coming from?  Can I Pressurize the
system and look for some cooland leaking out?

2- How many hours have others spent putting gaskets on both heads?

3- What special tools would I need?

4- Quite a while back, I saw a write up on putting this stuff back
together.  Does anyone have such a description or such a link?

5- And any of you started this process yourself and then regretted it?

I am not the most experienced mechanic, but I've heard some of you have
done this with little experience too.  Could be a good learning
experience.

Thanks, and I'm sure I'll be asking more questions along these lines as I
discover what the problems are.

blake
SLC Utah