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Date:         Tue, 31 Mar 1998 14:05:52 -0500
Reply-To:     Bill Knight <bill@NS.ESC.STATE.NC.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Bill Knight <bill@NS.ESC.STATE.NC.US>
Subject:      Re: J.B. Weld Head Repair
Comments: To: Vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

Steve,

Preventative maintenance is one thing, but using JB Weld on your heads is a bad idea. If you are really trying to do preventative maintenance, and if your heads are pitted, have someone grind out the pits and fill them with aluminum welding. Then have them surface finished to the proper depth. This is the best approach for fixing the pitting on the heads. The idea of replacing the gaskets is very wise, given the mileage you have on the van. Those gaskets do eventually give out and leak. But if you are going to the trouble of pulling the heads and doing a valve job, why not have the machine shop fix the surfaces as well? Or, another way to go is to buy some good rebuilt heads from someone like Boston Engine or Mark Stephens, or any of the other good sources.

Bill Knight Raleigh, NC

-----Original Message----- From: Steven X. Schwenk <sxs@CONCENTRIC.NET> To: Vanagon@VANAGON.COM <Vanagon@VANAGON.COM> Date: Tuesday, March 31, 1998 2:07 PM Subject: Re: J.B. Weld Head Repair

>Ken: > >I primarily use my van for traveling/exploring. If I'm driving it, >chanes are I'm far from home...and sometimes miles up a dirt road and >hours from a tow truck...if they'll even come in. If there's an 80% >chance that my gaskets are going to fail soon (I have 94k miles)...and >could leave me stranded if they fail catastrophically, then it makes >sense for me to do a pre-emptive repair, especially when it would cost >far, far less than would a repair job on the road...and i would have >control over when it gets done. Not only that, piece of mind has vaule >for me. It seems i could do the job for well under $500 (including >having the valves lapped, etc.) and in two Saturdays' worth of work. > >Some questions remain, though. (1) What is the probability that my >gaskets will fail...now that I have made it to 94k mi. with no leaks; >(2) How soon are they likely to fail; (3) Will a preemptive repair using >JB weld and new gaskets last as long as rebuilt heads? > >With info from the current survey, I should be able to answer these >questions >much more accurately than I can now... > >steve > > >KENWILFY wrote: > >> I would not do this or any other thing to the heads as "preventive >> maintenance". My motto is the old "If it aint broke don't fix it!" >> Yes I do >> other PM stuff like oil, filters, tune-ups, etc. but with the heads; >> if >> they're not leaking why rip them apart? >> They will probably leak soon enough or you could be one of the few >> that gets >> 200k miles before having problems. When they leak then you can worry >> about >> repairing them. >> Thats my 2 cents. >> Ken Wilford >> John 3:16 >> PS God forbid that you should spend time and money fixing non-leaking >> heads >> only to have the problem crop up in another 20k miles 'cause the JB >> weld ate >> your gaskets. >


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