[Vwdiesel] Help - messed in the head...

[Jim Arnott]

Shawn, Gary;

The head doesn't determine the head gasket thickness, the piston 
protrusion does. You could cut 10mm off the head and not affect the 
protrusion a bit.  If it had a one notch gasket, replace it with a one 
notch gasket. (Or do it right and MEASURE the protrusion.)

Jim

On Friday, April 15, 2005, at 07:09 AM, Shawn Wright wrote:

> On 14 Apr 2005 at 20:18, Gary Shea <shea at gtsdesign.com> wrote:
>
>> It sucks how letting anyone else touch part of your car leads to that
>> part being screwed up :(  I'll never forget the place in Logan Utah 
>> that
>> did an inspection on my Vanagon, knocked the press-on drums off with a
>> sledge (before confronting the owner I quietly asked his son, who
>> innocently acknowledged it), warped them beyond repair, denied doing
>> anything improper, and when he finally agreed to replace them and gave
>> me a ride back to my office, agreed with me when I told him that what 
>> I
>> liked about Utah is how honest everyone was.  I could hardly keep a
>> straight face on that one...
>
> It's been a few years since I had any work done by a shop, but they 
> screwed that up
> too of course. In fact, I think at least half the shop work I've had 
> done in the past 20
> years has had problems, and I've always tried to find a shop with a 
> good rep.
>
>> I had my TD head valve seats and guides done recently... I brought it 
>> in
>> for the initial cleaning and had to come back later because I hadn't
>> brought them the prechamber inserts.  Huh, the sealing surface of the
>> head now has a big gouge in it... sigh.  Ok, so there goes the 1-notch
>> gasket I already bought :(  I did get semi-lucky though, the guy 
>> called
>> me when one of the prechamber inserts wouldn't stay in place.  He was
>> afraid they would get pulled up by the cutting tool, just as yours may
>> have.... he suggested we jbweld them in place, I gave him the go 
>> ahead,
>> it worked.  I haven't dared to look at them closely since then :)  Nor
>> have I had the courage to figure out the new clearance, if I can even
>> think of a way to do it... they couldn't give me the exact amount of
>> metal they milled off the head... it'll be at least a 3-notcher now
>> though, based on what little information they could give me.
>>
>> So I know just how you feel :)
>
> I do have a spare NA head, are the prechambers the same on a TD? How 
> do I
> remove them? I'm guessing tap them out with something in the injector 
> hole? I'm
> already at a 3 notch gasket, so I hope this won't be a problem. I may 
> try to measure
> the piston height, since I got them in last night. I was surprised how 
> much they stick
> up.
>
> thanks for the info, I will try gather as much advice before I talk to 
> the shop.
>
"We need a revolution."
"Keep saying that and we'll need a lawyer, assuming they let us have 
one."

Jan Steinman <www.Bytesmiths.com>