Alright-
I can't believe this stuff. Last night in the middle of the night my wife
woke me up because she heard a jet flying over. Not normally something to
puzzle over, but I guess these things change life on alot of levels...

So on with the vanagon content:
1) I have been advised to use the same head gasket that I found on my diesel
1.6NA. It has three holes in it, which I assume equate to the three notches
everyone talks about? The PO was married to his sister and had 5 drunk adult
sons living at home, so I am not sure if this is the right gasket.

2) #2 Con-rod big end bearing was chopped up in little pieces and put into
solution in the oil. Reading the latest issue of "Excellence" (the magazine
about Porsche), I read that if bearings turn into shavings, that the oil
cooler and maybe oil pump ought to be replaced. At the very least, the guy
recommends x-raying to look for loose bearing parts. I know this isn't a
$10,000 engine, but should I worry about this stuff having fouled up my oil
pump or cooler? BTW, I won't x-ray in any case. It sounds a little
high-falutin for a V-gon diesel.

3) Vendor #1 has Grant brand rings for about one-fourth the price of German
made rings. Any comments?

4) Any extra advice on stuff I should be ordering ahead of time? Vendor #2
has a special on the compleat Engine Gasket Set, and I think I will get
that.

Daniel Snow
PhD Student
UC Berkeley

'82 Vanagon Diesel
'78 Puch Maxi Luxe Moped
'01 Xootr Scooter

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