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Date:         Sat, 21 Jul 2007 14:08:20 -0700
Reply-To:     Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject:      Re: Head machined or my way ...
Comments: To: Zoltan <zolo@FOXINTERNET.NET>
In-Reply-To:  <009b01c7cbd2$42642ae0$2f01a8c0@FirstLaptop>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

There is more to consider. If you lower the sealing ring face in the combustion chamber , you also need to remove a like amount from the other cylinder, and a like amount from the main bottom face.

The relationship between those two places....where the rings go, and the bottom main face... determines how much the head squeezes the 'water retention rubber gasket' (a joke design if there ever was one. )

If you just 'flycut' the heads, and don't also surface the bottom a like amount ........the rubber gasket will get pinched too much, and split and leak after a while ( I learned this the hard way once....on a new head no less ! ) .

What you should do is install the head over the barrels temporarily and measure the water gasket space. One vw tech told me to do that and 'if it's less than 4 mm try another head' ....!!!..which is a joke since it was a big breakthrough when they invented standard size parts in the 20's ..

( ...at one time each part was custom fitted for each engine etc.....at the 1922 world fair or something, it was a huge deal that they took 3 Buicks apart, and swapped around all the parts and put them all back together in different places and all the cars ran .....)

So when I heard that 'try another head' I really got a good laugh over that. I tried that on a head or two ...I found the rubber water gasket faces not parallel ...found it varying from 4 to 7 mm across the face.......what a joke.

How the barrels sit ( they could be tilted slightly ) ...and how far down the heads fit over the barrels affects that water gasket. So, if you really did remove much material......you should consider doing it to the other cylinder, and a like amount from the bottom of the head, you should to this 'dry fit' measuring.

Then 'next time' just put in a Subaru engine. They have head gasket issues sometimes, but nothing like the waterpuker joke system. At least they have 'real' , and flat, head gaskets. No rings and o-rings n' and air-cooled engine originated stuff like waterpuker, er I mean waterboxer engines have. It's barely a viable system.

Heck, even in the mid or late 90's you could nag VW of America enough over this silly design to get them to pay for the repairs, even though the van was out of warranty.

Scott www.turbovans.com

-----Original Message----- From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of Zoltan Sent: Saturday, July 21, 2007 1:04 PM To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM Subject: Head machined or my way ...

Although I have the tools and I can use a friend's machine, I elected to superglue a 500 grit wet-dry sand paper, cut it close around the outside and patiently went back and forth for an hour with it, until it was even and there was not sign of any scratch even looking it with a magnifying glass. Then I used the Permatex "Copper Spray-a-Gasket" to install the compression gasket. This way, I sleep well. Zoltan


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