Date:         Sat, 4 Apr 1998 09:15:35 -0500
Reply-To:     John Anderson <vwbus@MINDSPRING.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         John Anderson <vwbus@MINDSPRING.COM>
Subject:      Re: Head (gasket) fix
Comments: To: Austin <austins@IX.NETCOM.COM>, vanagon@vanagon.com
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"

>Dumb question, but I'm stumped.  Where does one buy the flat, woven, tinned
>wire that is usually used for heavy current grounding...I've seen it in
>various widths or gages or whatever actually on vehicles, but never in
>FLAPS, J.C. Whitney, Fry's, etc.   Where is this stuff???


Try a good electronics supply store, the kind of place where TV repair men
would buy their parts, should have grounding strap in various sizes, no real
reason for the tinned stuff, bare copper will suffice, solder the
connections.  But as I've noted, I'll doubt anyone is going to see this stop
their head corrosion, there simply isn't any difference in potential there
ladies and gentlemen, at least not on my '85 or '87, but hey anything helps.
On the other side, 1.9's are notorious for bad grounds, and as the factory
strap to the engine goes, the computer sensor leads starts carrying some
heavier loads than they should ever see, degrading, and you get mysterious
stumbling, etc.  2.1 is a bit less prone as it doesn't have all the grounds
tied to the block.  Good idea certainly to augment the ground there, and at
the same time, hell why not daisy chain it from head (stock ground location)
to case (upper through bolt) to head (stock ground location) diagonally
across the engine.  But don't believe the claims this will miraculously fix
your problem, sure current flow is always involved in corrosion but you'll
get it anyway to the jugs, head cap nuts, studs, etc.  The crevice corrosion
problem is as much a physical thing as an electrical, simply bad seal design
and porous castings.  And you'll always have metals of different (nobility?)
in there in intimate contact so your best bet is probably just to pray a
lot, will help just as much as anything.

John
vwbus@mindspring.com