Greetings All -

  Some of you may have experienced something like my current situation.
I bought the van (too haphazardly, admittedly) two months ago, a 1984
Westy, and one of the first problems I encountered (immediately) was a
slow coolant drip --- 1 gallon every 1200 miles.  It was (is?) coming
from the rear cylinder bolt on right head or thereabouts.  Took it to my
mechanic who sealed the bolt -- which he didn't find evidence of any
previous seal.  Later told me he couldn't find leakage after the seal.
After he performed this I took the van on a trip -- 350 miles altogether.
 I was noticing a drip still, from the same area, but much much less than
before, and sometimes after driving no coolant at all would drip.  Then I
ran into a pilot bearing issue and drove home in 2nd and the van has been
sitting for the last month without being driven, but I start it once or
twice a week and search for that coolant drip.  I put white paper,
cardboard, you name it  under the head and cannot find evidence of any
leakage.  I typically idle the engine with occasional revs for about 15
minutes.  Do you think I see no evidence of coolant leakage  because
there is no load on the engine?  The temp gague goes up to normal
operating temp.  I'm puzzled and have not had a Vanagon before, so don't
know what to make of this situation.  When I can save up for the clutch
job and do that will I be faced with the necessity of new heads?  That's
not far from buying a new engine ---- an impossibility for a budding
cellist.  I guess my question is this:  Should I wait and see and in the
meantime get the clutch job done;  or if the worst case is my case just
let it sit indefinitely, or are there other thoughts on this?

 If I have a cracked head and the problem shows itself as a tiny drip
(only when engine pushes van -- not at idle) could I live with this?
Would the crack get exponentially worse?

Thanks for any advice,

Les
'84 Westy
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