Date:         Mon, 18 Dec 1995 17:04:49 -0500
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         JonR40@aol.com
Subject:      Finally....(long)

Troubles started Thanksgiving Day... Loud Screeching Noise, short Bllaahhh!
and all my coolant is now spreading out from under the Van... pushed Her out
of the way... took the Audi was going to my sister for Dinner...
had to work the next Day... and Saturday morning... got home early enough
that Flaps was still open... Since I had been nursing the Damn Head Gaskets
for 40K, I decided to do it... got both sides... $72 a pop... along with the
muffler that knew had a whole in it...
and a torque wrench that I had kept putting off... so now I'm into this job
for $300 bucks... Great... a month before Christmas...  the only thing I had
going for me at that point was the Fact that my Dad was going to be out of
town for a coupla weeks, had his car to use as my Daughters Bug was without
motor... had to have at least two cars...

Thank God for that Heated 2-car garage... seems like the snow has not stopped
here in NH...

Heads came right off... minimal corrosion pitting... one tiny crack between
Valve seats on both heads ( VW says don't worry 'bout it...)

in the mean time, I'm working 40 hrs a week, another 20 or so fixing other
peoples VWs on the other side of the garage, driving my Daughter around to
her baby-sitting jobs( she works 4 nights a week & weekends) and trying to
house-train our new Beagle pup..

Dad comes home from his trip, now getting pressured to finish... wife has to
drive me to work for 5 am ( luckily it is only 5-6 miles away)...

spend 2-3 hrs trying to get the muffler in right ( amazing how many ways 3
bolts will line up...)  :-<

now 3 weeks later everthing in back together... start her up... Valves sound
like they're gonna explode....
shut if off... pull the Fuel pump relay, pull Dist-coil wire, let her crank
for a few minutes..
sounds better...hook everything back up. start, still clicking quite a bit...
pop off the Valve covers...  hhmmmm...

both rockers are secure... push on pushrod end of rocker arms...ahh!
both rearmost pushrods no pressure at all... pull the rocker arms off..make
sure the rod ends are in right... reassemble, close her up . start; okay
sounds much better... still a little clicking... take her out for a spin...
good power, no leaks....
take her out on the highway for 4-5 miles, by the time I got back no clicking
at all but power is down a little.. call my buddy who does the Mechanic thing
for a living... he says it just needs a valve adjustment... bring it by
tommorrow... now I can do a bug no problem... but never had any luck setting
Hydraulic Valves right...

Hope I never have to do this again... although I saved myself 'bout $500-600
over what Local dealer would have charged ( so we'll still have a small
Christmas..), it's not something I want to do every coupla weeks...

Hints for those D-I-Yers: get the whole Head gasket set, my FLAPS carry
"Victor Reinz" P/N# 025 198 012 B
this came with everything for one Head on either a 1.9 or 2.1 liter engines,
including the VW OEM sealer for the head and the yellow OEM type lock-tight
sealer for the Head cap nuts... even has the copper o-ring for the coolant
drain plugs... Very complete!


Moral: make sure you have extra Vehicles and a Heated Garage before you start
this Job!


              JonR

            NHVW club...