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Date:         Sun, 6 Oct 2013 17:31:30 -0500
Reply-To:     Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Jim Felder <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: off with her heads
Comments: To: Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>
In-Reply-To:  <5251E03D.20803@turbovans.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Sure, they ought to be done at 80K mile intervals. Then you would never be surprised either in the garage or out on the road.

Jim

On Sun, Oct 6, 2013 at 5:12 PM, Scott Daniel <scottdaniel@turbovans.com>wrote:

> seems heat might have helped .. > as in oxy accetylyne torch used carefully to heat the aluminum head some. > > if the barrel gets removed by hammering sideways on it ..to tilt it until > it comes out of the head... > that could damage that sealing surface.. > where the green o-rings mate with the head . > > They sure can get stuck all right. > which is partly why I say do 'em every 80K miles/10 years. > > > On 10/6/2013 2:52 PM, Jim Felder wrote: > > Ahem, the USUALLY come off. I did about three of them with easy-peasy > success until the last waterboxer I owned. Then, I had to pull the head off > with the cylinder after days of trying and prying. I ended up standing on > the head with the driveway, swinging at the stuck cylinder with an eight > pound sledge hammer until it finally budged. Not fun. > > Jim > > > On Sun, Oct 6, 2013 at 4:17 PM, Craig Cowan <phishman068@gmail.com> <phishman068@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Pour some ATF into the cylinders through the spark plug holes. That helps > loosten the cylinders. The , with the head about a half inch off, hit it > HARD from all directions with a rubber mallet. > They'll come off. > > -craig > > On Oct 6, 2013, at 3:17 PM, Tom Carchrae <tom@CARCHRAE.NET> <tom@CARCHRAE.NET> wrote: > > > My head removal is going ok so far. (84 1.9L) I have spent relatively > little time on it so far, but am keen to get the job finished before too > long. > > Only minor exhaust wrestling - one broken stud (although with an ample > amount remaining to grip and remove). I will replace with all new > fasteners; I would love to get the van-cafe set, which seems like a deal > for $18, but the ~$50 shipping to canada makes that pretty expensive. :/ > > I have the heads loosened, but not fully removed. I'm now faced with the > typical cylinder stuck to head issue, and after some tapping and poking > with the tools I had on hand, I am going to buy a suitably sized pry bar > > to > > stick in there behind the tabs. That all seems pretty straightforward. > > On the driver side, I have not removed the water pump or thermostat > housing. Do I need to? It is attached to the head with a very short > rubber tube, that does not feel very flexible - I had originally hoped I > could slide the head off and that rubber would bend a bit and come off > > but > > I'm not sure about that. > > When I pulled the driver's side push rods, the bottoms of them appeared > > to > > have black stuff cooked on to the metal, not serious amounts, but the > > other > > side's push rods were all shiny and clean looking. Is that suspicious? > > What I can see of the heads looks a bit crusty, but hopefully I'll get a > better view soon when the cylinder sleeves are un-stuck. > > The rubber seal (looked like a thin rubber band) around the end of the > sleeves were badly damaged on one side. I also pulled out a chewing gum > sized wad of some strange blue stuff - looked nearly like blue-tack - or > maybe blueberry bubble gum?!?... There was also a lot of sealant around > the waterjacket seal, which seemed normal, but was a different colour > > (more > > white-coloured). > > The engine is still in the van at this point. I may drop it out, but > > will > > see how I go. I bought a VW engine bench stand mount just in case. As I > understand it, the worst part of leaving the engine in there, aside from > > a > > sore back, is getting everything lined up when it is vertical, and it > sounds like grease will work well as a temporary 'glue' for any gaskets > that don't get sealant on them - and probably a pushrod tube holder > (styrofoam and duct tape?). > > Enjoying the job so far. We'll see, I may be cursing a bit more when I > > am > > re-assembling. > > Tom > > >


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