Date:         Sun, 6 Dec 1998 16:56:19 -0800
Reply-To:     DeCristoforo <decristoforo@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         DeCristoforo <decristoforo@WORLDNET.ATT.NET>
Subject:      Re: RE-INSTALLING CYLINDERS?
Comments: To: vanagon@vanagon.com
Comments: cc: ROGunter@AOL.COM
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii

Russell O. Gunter wrote:
>
> Fellow Vanagon Nuts,
>
>   (I sent this message earlier but it was returned but here goes again, sorry
> for taking up the bandwidth with a repeat.)
>
>          I purchased an '84 Vanagon 1.9L engine recently.  It had developed the
> inevitable head gasket leak at 73,000 miles and the owner disassembled it
> hoping to fix it himself but got cold feet and sold it to me.  Unfortunately,
> he extracted the cylinder sleeves for some reason.
>
>     My question is this:  is there a way to re-install the cylinder sleeves
> over the pistons without either taking the rods loose from the crankshaft or
> the pistons from the rods?  Is there a ring compressor (or has anyone
> improvised something) that will get into that small space and facilitate the
> re-installation of the cylinders and heads without further disturbance of the
> pistons and rods?
>
> Thanks for your assistance.
>
> Russell Gunter
> Woodbridge, VA

Russ,

That happened to me and I was able to get it together with a lot of
patience, a bottle of mystery oil, a piece of banding wire and a small
pair of needle-nosed grip pliers.  Get a piece of banding wire to make a
ring compresser which is wide enough to cover the rings but is narrow
enough to allow the sleeve to completely push it off of the rings as you
tap the cylinder sleeve on.  Bend the wire at the ends and use the grip
pliers as the clamp.  Compress the wire enough to allow the sleeve to
fit over the rings but don't compress the wire to where the sleeve can't
push it down the piston.  Oil the heck out of the piston, the cylinder
and the banding wire with the mystery oil and patiently tap the sleeve
on.  The sleeve will push the banding wire off of the ring as it
displaces it.  Be patient and take your time.  You might have to reset
your compresser a few times as you may accidently move the sleeve
backwards after you have started to cover the ring with it.  It took me
a while but I was successful, and it saved pulling the engine.  I did it
at 130,000 miles and I now have 194,000 miles so it must have worked
without damaging the rings.  GOOD LUCK!!

Ralph
85GL
Spokane