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Date:         Fri, 8 Nov 2013 08:44:15 -0800
Reply-To:     Tom Carchrae <tom@CARCHRAE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Tom Carchrae <tom@CARCHRAE.NET>
Subject:      Re: off with her heads
Comments: To: Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <02e801cedc34$2408a700$6c19f500$@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Scott - I'm not doing a full rebuild. I just don't have the time or space for it. I would not be changing the piston rings if I had not had to remove the cylinder sleeve. I know, I know, once you are in there, just a bit further... Someday, with a better space to work in and more time, it might be fun, but probably I'll be doing the engine conversion instead if I am not broke (in cash and/or spirit). Also thank you for the engine offer. It may yet come to that, but I've not given up hope on this one yet. Let me try and start this one again first.

Thanks Stuart - I hear you, although if I really want to cut my loses, wouldn't I just sell/scrap the van? :) I'm in. After I bought the van the first mechanic I took it to said he had a spare engine for $600 and this might be cheaper option, but he checked the engine out and said the heads were newish, and there was some life left in it (or perhaps life left in my bank account?).... nah, I get that it is a pain working on old vehicles, and also that there is a full spectrum of repair, from baked bean tin to stainless muffler, all with a different cost and MTBF.

My spirit is not broken yet - but yeah, I'm certainly not very inspired to spend a day chipping crap off a thermostat housing. I think I'm going to reinforce that area somehow and stick it back on - fix on demand. Thanks for confirming that this asbestos chewing gum is not standard issue. Probably effective at stopping a leak (or if you don't have a gasket handy - sigh) - but also meant that I couldn't remove the hose flange (#10 http://www.jimellisvwparts.com/images/parts/VW/fullsize/004016050.jpg ) to easily slide the head off without removing the water pump.

Anyway, the sun is shining today.

Tom

On Thu, Nov 7, 2013 at 7:39 PM, Stuart MacMillan <stuartmacm@gmail.com>wrote:

> Tom, > > It sounds like this engine was put back together with epoxy. > > There have got to be better engines in your area to work on than this one. > Cut your losses and look for one, or buy Scott's. > > Life is too short for this. > > Stuart > > -----Original Message----- > From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of > Tom Carchrae > Sent: Thursday, November 07, 2013 3:49 PM > To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM > Subject: Re: off with her heads > > Dear List, > > I finally got to spend some time cleaning the heads up today. They appear > in good condition; absolutely no pitting (they are replacement heads) and > as > far as I can see, no cracks between the valves (I'm aware that sometimes > you > can't see the cracks). > > I suspect the stuck head/cylinder is the one that was causing the issue. > Unlike all the other head/cylinder holes, there was a large amount of > carbon on the edge (rim?) of the head (where the sleeve slides in - ie, > above the compression gasket - which was also difficult to remove), > particularly on the bottom of it. Does this mean Dennis was probably > correct?... that tightening the head would have cured that - quite likely! > However, the same cylinder had a broken piston ring - but that could have > been caused by my failed prying efforts. > > Some questions: > > * I'm not sure what gunk they used on the water jacket, but it sure is hard > to remove. Any suggestions? I've been using brake cleaner on the heads, > which worked well on the carbon, but not on the gunk. I guess I need some > kind of heavy duty solvent, acetone or something like that? > > * I don't have any equipment to measure the cylinder or any special tools > for measuring the cylinder wear or piston play. I'm likely just going to > skip this. :/ Are there any useful checks I could do without any special > tools? I presume the main reason to do this check is to get an idea of how > much life is left in this engine. > > * I'm pretty sure the flywheel oil seal is leaking - or something down that > way (oil pump cover seal perhaps). I have the seal in a head gasket kit, > but then I read this: http://www.gowesty.com/library_article.php?id=535 - > is > this true? > > * I snapped the heads off the bolts (#12) on the thermostat housing > (annoyingly, these are bolts that I shouldn't have touched in the first > place). They are connected a plate (#10) which connects the short hose to > cylinder #4 (an 84 van). This shows #10 & #12: > http://www.jimellisvwparts.com/images/parts/VW/fullsize/004016050.jpg - > I've tried to pull the plate off so I can replace the bolts, but it is very > stuck on there with some kind of goop. When I peeled a bit of goop away > with a screwdriver, it resembles grey chewing gum and has lots of fibres in > it.... asbestos?!?... hmm and crap. One option is stick it back on > without > the bolts as it is so stuck. Part of me really does not like that but that > seems simple/easy/hopeful. Or, I chisel away at this asbestos/gum > material, > grip and remove bolt remnants, and then replace bolts and goop. Or I try > and source an 84 thermostat housing - boo - they seem rare. My current > thinking is to see if I can somehow 'creatively' add some fasteners to this > plate and then I'll fix when/if it leaks - not happy > about this. It also appears someone did some somewhat dodgy work on this > thermostat housing as I also noticed there was no yellow gasket seal where > the pipe that crosses past the flywheel goes - it looks like someone just > squirted a bunch of goop in to seal it... > > It seems one step forward, two steps back. But at least I am moving on. > Maybe this van will run before the year is out. > > Tom > >


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