Date: Thu, 3 May 2007 11:36:21 -0400
Reply-To: Dennis <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Dennis <d23haynes57@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject: Re: More crap on engine transplanted Van..
In-Reply-To: <000801c78d39$54328dc0$2219e442@dhanson>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Now that you have the head off, do you see where the gasket failed? Can
you determine why it failed? Abrasion, over compression, or delaminating
are the usual causes. If you can’t see an obvious failure on the gasket,
look for cracks in the head. If it did fail, you need to know why. You
need to carefully inspect both the block and head for straightness. If the
head is warped, milling it is not a proper solution. If it is warped, then
the cam tunnel is also miss aligned. The soon to be oval cam journals will
be low oil pressure and strange top end noise problems. Also, many of
these engine use torque to yield head bolts. They are one time use and
need to be replaced or you get to do it again.
As for that $129 cam it is a cheapie. Poor heat treat and may not even be
straight. BTDT. Since the cam is off, you may want to replace the
hydraulic lifters if you ever get any clacking at start up. Yes, these
lifters go bad also.
Dennis
-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
Don Hanson
Sent: Thursday, May 03, 2007 12:13 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: More crap on engine transplanted Van..
Ok, I am not the best mechanic. I figured an inline 4 like my 1.8 liter
Cabriolet motor would be pretty easy to work on, which was one reason I
jumped on this particular van. So today, having all the parts, I decided
to do the headgasket I have been putting off for over 5 k miles. Also,
decided to install a more powerful (say all the inline 4 freaks)
camshaft..that cost just $129 and uses standard everything else..
Even counting time to read and re-read the Bently for that motor, and
never having worked on one of these before, I got the head right off and
the camshaft out, checked everything for other damage and did it in just
3.5 hours. Easy, so far, and everything looks good to go back in tomorrow
am.. So, the little inline IS easy to work on. You don't even have to
mess with the intake or exhaust..just disconnect the hoses and the header
pipe and pull the whole mess right out the engine cover hole from the
top..
I did notice that in order to fit this 4 in, the PO had to enlarge the
engine bay a bit into the drivers side rear wheel hole...Looks like he
needed about 1/2" extra for the throttle body. I guess the 1.8 liter
heads are the ones that work best, having the intake on the left, or
'down' side (in a Vanagon). I like a 6 hour shade tree mechanic head
and cam change time...
Don Hanson
| 
