[Vwdiesel] heads and gaskets

[Sandy Cameron]

Color me stupid, I just made a discovery of something I never noticed before.
I thought I knew these engines prety well.

I have probably done about 5 head gaskets on as many cars (still all
running), and never noticed until the most recent, that there are
generically 2 types of gaskets (and heads) for 1.6 engines.

Now, since I have been moving engines around recklessly from car to car, I'm
not sure which, or at what age, this difference occurs.

Seems "early" 1.6s have just a single breather passage up thru the block and
head, between #2 and 3 cyl, while "later" engines have an additional ,
smaller passage up between #1 and 2

I did a survey of the iron in my driveway and found the following:

94 - 1.9, 2 passages

86 golf w 86 jettaNA engine (not original), 1 passage

87 jetta w 87NA engine (not original)  (hydraulic lifters) 2 passages
 
87 jetta w 82 turbo engine, mechanical lifters, 1 passage

Son's 91 jettaNA,hydraulic, 2 passages

When did this change occur, was it across the whole spectrum, or spred
across different models over time?

The wooden mallet struck me when I was recently setting out to replace the
gasket in my son's 91, and discovered the gasket I had was a one-holer and
the car was a 2....

Sandy