Date: Wed, 22 May 2013 07:49:59 -0700
Reply-To: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Alistair Bell <albell@SHAW.CA>
Subject: Re: quick and dirty head swap
In-Reply-To: <CAFNeVpFFF9bBzj-wjcG4Fcx_5okZ+4v8upcCqF94vfgCDj2=eQ@mail.gmail.com>
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I'm going to ignore Neil's petrifying pun :)
Tom,
I'm in the fortunate position of having a spare engine from which to scavenge parts, and a collection of odds and ends gathered over the years.
But here goes with an "off the top of my head" additions to your list:
(oh, one caveat - with my head swap, I am purposely trying not to get dragged in deep. You know, like doing some minor work on an old house....)
- engine coolant pipes - watch out for rusty pipes around engine
- engine cooling hoses - ditto on having a good look at the ones around engine
- head/pushrod tube plates - what ever you call them, the pressed steel protection under pushrod tubes. The tabs that affix to exhaust bolts might be rusted off. I need to weld mine up.
- exh manifolds and fasteners if needed
- water pump - right on cue, mine WP is making noise and has some play. I have spare sitting waiting.
- fuel line replacement - good time to do it of you haven't already?
- clutch replacement - see how the job expands?
- that conical gasket between throttle body and intake plenum is NLA up here. Looks like a job for some sealant.
- valve adjusters - the threaded feet on the rocker arms. Some of yours might be worn badly, might be a good idea to replace, or it might not be a good idea. I don't know.
- I have a tube of "The Right Stuff" sealant in addition to the Renszoil that came with the gasket kit. I haven't decided which to use on the head gaskets.
- degreasers - solvent of choice for tanking parts, brake cleaner or the like for getting sealing surfaces totally grease free.
The marble slab as a crude lapping plate worked quite well. I didn't take pics of a straight edge on lapped face, but it was pretty flat. Mind you I only lapped long enough to take the excess JB Weld off.
And parchment paper worked great. No sticking to the JB at all. Has a little more heft than wax paper.
And now it just occurred to to ask - are you going to try and re-use your old heads? If so, you should check the valves (need a valve compressor or use a make-shift set up as I did) which involves visual inspection and a little measurement (see Bentley).
I'm sure there must be more.
cheers
alistair
On 2013-05-22, at 6:51 AM, Tom Carchrae wrote:
> Thank you so much Alistair! You say 'quick and dirty' - but that looks
> pretty clean to me.
>
> I am still looking with fear at my van and have not yet had the guts to
> pull the heads off. I'm going to order a gasket set sometime soon. Aside
> from JB weld, the gasket set ( http://www.busdepot.com/025198009b ) - is
> there anything else good to have on hand?
>
> Tom
>
>
> On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 10:43 PM, neil n <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Marble-ous!
>>
>> I know. < groan >
>>
>> I bet this job will hold up longer than you need.
>>
>> Nice to see the detail in the images!
>>
>> Neil.
