Date: Thu, 31 Mar 2011 11:22:32 -0700
Reply-To: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Scott Daniel - Turbovans <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
Subject: Re: Ok to use one AMC head and one German head?
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Here's my thoughts on it ..
'by itself' ..no problem. The engine won't care.
and ...I had read online a long time ago that AMC heads were the same part,
whether for 1.9 or 2.1 (would be nice if you'd say which engine you have ) .
when I mentioned that on this list a couple of months ago , Jeff Salwa (
last name sp ? ) said there are two differnt AMC heads ..one for each type
of engine ( and of course, VW heads are a different part # for 1.9 or 2.1 )
.
But there are no part numbers or markings on AMC heads that I have noticed
..
so ..IF they are different for each engine .
then you should have the corretc AMC head for your engine.
if they are the same for either engine, then it won't matter. It's a matter
of compression ratio.
fwiw .I saw a 1.9 engine with a VW 1.9 head on one side, and a VW 2.1 on
the other side ..
and it ran fine.
What I find on AMC heads is they tend to squish the outer rubber water
gasket too much and pinch the rubber ...and it wants to leak there before
too long. That dimension is pretty important .
and is determined by how the head is manufactured ..what I call the 'step
distance' ..
the distance from where the sealing rings sit in the combustion chamber and
they water gasket surface ..
that distance has to be about right ( I go for 3.5 mm so the 4.5 mm thick
water gasket is compressed one millimter. )
I had one AMC head that I had bought new .....it sat on th engine
tilted...............badly pinching the water gasket on one end ....it
lasted about a year before it started leaking there. .
so if they did a proper and good job on it .
and it's right for your engine ...then your OK.
And ........ ..AMC heads are considered to be a better casting than the VW
heads ..
but the valves are somewhat cheap ..and the cool thing to do is put better
valves in them.
That's the bomber set up ...properly fitting AMC heads with new or better
valves in them.
scott
www.turbovans.com
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tom Lambas" <twlambas@GMAIL.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, March 31, 2011 8:53 AM
Subject: Ok to use one AMC head and one German head?
> Took my German heads in to be rebuilt, and only one could be re-used.
> The shop substituted an AMC head for the bad one.
> Anything I need to be concerned about or look out for? Both heads were
> pressure tested, and the shop does excellent work.
>
> Thanks, Tom
