Date:         Thu, 08 May 1997 00:33:57 EDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         busboys1@juno.com (Bus Boys)
Subject:      Re: 1.9L cracked heads

On Wed, 07 May 1997 09:41:07 -0800 Todd Francis <tbf@pacifier.com>
writes:

>I decided to put AMC heads on my Westy at 138,000. I am now at 173,000
>with no problems. I did hand lap the seats as you point out because I
>heard about this problem elsewhere. These are the heads I coated with
>ceramic coating to try to beat the corrosion. The test goes on.

I didn't do the hand-lapping because of reported problems with AMC heads.
 It's just something I've always done when getting brand new heads for
any of my Vee-Dubs.  Most of the time the so-called factory yo-yos just
slap it together and put it in a box.
  
Bus Boys Jim further wrote:
>> Leonard was very thorough in pointing out the
>> deficiencies on AMC verses a proper rebuild.
>   
> What problems did he think the AMC heads have?

The main gist of the show and tell with Leonard/AVP centered around the
AMC Type 4 Air Cooled 2.0 Heads in that crummy valve springs were used
(according to reliable sources, that has since changed in the past year)
and the seats, although very good material are poorly installed and I can
attest to that.  Hand lapping a valve on #1 exhaust required the seat to
be reground for the valve to seat properly about a year ago on a friend's
81 Vanagon where he had obtained an AMC Head from an outfit in LA.

As far as Wasserheads (AMC) are concerned, Leonard feels they are an
improvement, but could have done better in the seats and reinforcement
areas previously discussed

Jim
BusBoys1@juno.com