Date:         Fri, 05 Jan 1996 19:57:14 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         shea@xmission.com (Gary Shea)
Subject:      Type 4 engine: plastigaging rods

Has anyone actually _done_ this?  Arrrgh!

I don't get it... since the rods are somewhat pressed
into each other, and there is no nice way to disassemble
them (that I can think of... if I had access to a machine
shop I could make a puller but...), they have to be hammered
off, a little on each side, which inevitably leads to twisting
them around the crank a little bit.  After that it's hard to 
imagine the plastigage meaning much.  Mine is just a smear.  
Suggestions?

On my rods, once the bolts are tightened
a bit it's no longer trivial to get a socket on at least one
of the bolts on each rod.  I had to more-or-less hammer
a socket onto each rod bolt while disassembling the engine,
so I guess it shouldn't surprise me.

Should I go buy a little drill-mounted grinding wheel
and grind away around the bolts?  That's a little scary... 
or has anyone had this problem and found a socket with 
narrower walls?  Mine don't seem all that excessively beefy.

Suggestions welcomed!
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Gary Shea                                          Salt Lake City, Utah
shea@xmission.com                         http://www.xmission.com/~shea