Hi all,

after some more attempts to diagnose the problems with the diesel in my 82
westy, I'm pretty sure I'm suffering from a blown head gasket. The coolant
bubbles (a lot) when the engine gets hot, so much so that I can't bleed the
system. Also I noticed a trace amount of oil in the coolant and continuous
white smoke at idle. I thought the smoke was oil from worn rings, but after
taking a trip through the archives I'm thinking it might be water. The final
factor is that I have very low compression on 2 & 3 but not on 1 & 4. It's
all kind of moot because I really want to put a new motor in the thing.
Still, until that happens, it would be nice to have a running vehicle.

So the question is: how can I tell in advance (without removing the gasket
and looking at the notches or measuring the pistons,) which head gasket I
need? I don't really have a place to leave half-dismembered vehicles, while
I wait for the head gasket to arrive from busdepot or another shop.

any help would be greatly appreciated,

Matt