Date:         Sun, 23 Jan 2005 20:31:30 -0800
Reply-To:     Jere Hawn <jghawn@EARTHLINK.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jere Hawn <jghawn@EARTHLINK.NET>
Subject:      My first time doing the heads
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Greetings all,

 

I started the job at noon and it is now 8 PM and I have one head off and I’m
cleaned up for the night.  I am using the rough procedures from Boston Bobs.

 

Here are my lessons learned:

1.       The procedures say to take off the intake manifold.  I did, I don’t
see why I shouldn’t have just taken off each side and put hose clamps back
on the tubes leaving the center manifold intact.

2.       The power steering pump has to come off too.

3.       The exhaust system from head to cat has to come off.  What a pain
(at leas 2 hrs and I even had to use my grinder to cut some of the bolts.)
On top of that exhaust is standard while the rest of the van is metric.  The
procedures say to use 6 pt sockets…  I finally called it quits when the head
just lifted off.  I looked on the floor and saw ally my metric both 12 and 6
pt sockets, 3/8 and ½ drives mixed with combination wrenches, vice grips,
hammers, road gravel, oil, coolant, cardboard, and my creeper and of course
all the nuts and bolts I had taken off.  Well mix my tools together and poke
me in the eye with a drift.

4.       I have NO CROSSION on my right head and I sure gave those spark
plugs a fright when the head came off.  The gas I use is the cheap stuff
(regular unleaded) with no additives.  The last time I had seen the heads (2
engines ago) they were as pitted as the moon with craters and one of the
head studs had been eaten away.  For the whole life of that engine I had
used name brand (AMACO) 91 octane gas.  I was quite surprised.

 

I am now looking for a good reference for reinstallation of the new heads.

 

More later

 

Jere

90 GL/Carat-a-version  <<one head off and parts everywhere!!!

88 GL

87 Wolfy (parts van)

220D MB this summer’s project