Date:         Mon, 17 Jun 1996 13:04:32 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         thorsland@bigvax.alfred.edu
Subject:      More questions as the rebuild progresses.

Last weekend I removed all of the cooling tin and fan housing along with the
exhaust system.  I am now down to the heart of my bus and everything has gone
very smoothly.  The reason for my engine removal is to fix the low compression
found in cylinders 3 and 4.  They were running about 60# each while th
e right side cylinders (1 and 2) were up around 130# each.  
Here are my weekly questions, please feel free to answer as many as possible:

1.  Do I need to have any work performed on the right head while I am working
on the left one or can I just leave it alone since the compression was good.

2.  Should I throw in new rings all around?

3.  How do I tell if the gas tank is rusty?  I suppose cutting open the fuel
filter is a good start.

4.  How difficult is it to pull the gas tank out?  My bus is a '77 2L FI westy.

5.  The heat exchangers are in pretty bad shape but the muffler and pipes seem
OK, is there a way to prolong the exhistance of the muffler (ie. Paint, 
treatment)?

6.  It seems like it should be fairly easy to put the exhaust back on whilt
the engine is in the bus.  Is this true?  (remember '77 FI 2L westy).

7.  What is the best method for cleaning grease/oil/dirt from the cooling tin.
How about the partially disassembled engine block?

8.  Once I get the head off is there any obvious things I should look for as
possible trouble spots (that caused the low compression)?

Thank you for all of your time and responses,
Brett Thorsland