Date:         Fri, 27 Jan 2006 11:16:24 -0800
Reply-To:     Blake Heinlein <blakeheinlein@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Blake Heinlein <blakeheinlein@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Head Retorquing On New Engine
Comments: To: Zoltan <zolo@foxinternet.net>
In-Reply-To:  <000e01c6236f$8beb6640$2f01a8c0@FirstLaptop>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Zoltan,

All I did was torque the head bolts according to the Bentley Manual (35
ft-lb??).  I found the bolts on the top of the heads were all loose.  I
recall tightening them one or two complete turns.  Most of the bottom bolts
were already tight.  I didn't loosen the bolts before torquing, I was afraid
of breaking the head gasket.  All I did was tighten.  It was pointed out
later that the bottom bolts may have been stiff and that they are still not
torqued correctly if I never got passed the break loose torque of the bolt.
It was suggested that I break them loose by backing them out ever so
slightly and then torque them correctly.  If I ever have another problem I
will do that.  It was that simple.  You do have to remove the rocker arms to
get to the bottom head bolts.  Making sure your pushrods are correctly
seated when installing the rocker arms is critical!!!
--
Blake Heinlein
1984 Westfalia
Sacramento, CA
blakeheinlein@gmail.com
http://www.home.surewest.net/heinlein

On 1/27/06, Zoltan <zolo@foxinternet.net> wrote:
>
> Thanks Blake,
> This was what I wanted to know exactly.  It is probably more common than
> one would think.  I have seen it too often.
> When you say, 'tightened the head correctly', do you mean that you just
> went ahead and did the tightening process as it is given in the book to 35
> foot pound?  Or did you do anything different.
> Did you find some of the nuts loose in the process?
> Did you loosen all the nuts first before you tightened them up again?
> Or is there anything else?
> Zoltan
>
>
>