Valve cover gaskets are supposed to be replaced any time you take the covers
off (per Bentley).  They definitely should be replaced when doing head
gaskets.  They are usually as hard as a rock and need to be scraped off of
the cover if they have been installed for any length of time.  You should not
have had to pay for this.

As for the coolant hose they should have been replaced when doing the heads
if they were old.  The one that probably failed on you was a $5 hose that is
near the power steering pump.  It is false economy not to replace at least
the engine compartment hoses on any van that is over 10 years old and has
never had them replaced (that is pretty much all of them!)

Check out the pricing on my website on the coolant hose charts I have setup.
You can buy all the coolant hoses in the engine compartment for the 2.1l van
for just a little over $100 and these little hoses are the ones that love to
fail.  Look it up for yourself on this page:
http://199.217.188.30/parts.htm
At present I have all of the hoses for the 2.1l Vanagon engine with manual
tranny in stock and ready to ship in case of emergency and I believe I also
have all of the hoses for the 1.9l Vanagon with manual tranny in stock as
well (have to double check).  I would just hate for you folks to join the
ranks of the many fried Vanagon engine owners for lack of a $5 hose.

Sorry about the preaching.

Thanks,
Ken Wilford
http://www.vanagain.com
John 3:16
Office (856)-765-1583
Shop (856)-327-0027
Fax   (856)-327-2242