How do you turn off this grey background?  Anyway, I had my heads machined and so far no problems (30K since repair).  I had about .025"-.030" removed from the gasket sealing surface which virtually eliminated any traces of pitting.  However, my problem was leaking compression head gasket, not the outer water jacket gasket so it's possible that my pitting was relatively minor.  I was a bit worried about maintaining a good water jacket seal with less sealing pressure, so I gooped on a heavier goop bead and made sure head bolt torque was at least at the recommended level.  IMHO it's worth a shot before springing for new heads or what not, really not too much work involved in pulling the heads as long as your exhaust bolts aren't rusted.  Which reminds me of a good tip for everyone, I replaced all my exhaust bolts and studs with 13mm stainless bolts and nuts.  Makes future removal a piece of cake.

Mark
 

-----Original Message-----
From: Marshall Ruskin <mruskin@PANGEA.CA>
To: vanagon@VANAGON.COM <vanagon@VANAGON.COM>
Date: Tuesday, January 05, 1999 12:45 AM
Subject: Machining Cylinder Heads a Viable Solutuion to Wasserboxer Problem?Dear Readers: Is it possible to repair the Wasserboxer head problem by machining flat the head surface? I am wondering if this is the type of thing a local machine or head-repair shop could do. I did search the archives for this topic, with no hits. I guess I used the wrong keywords, as I am certain that this topic must have been visited before. Thank you in advance. Freezing In Winnipeg. Marshall Ruskin84 Westy (with a battery blanket, ahhhh)