I think that the only reason you need to actually remove the cylinders
is if they get stuck to the head and you can't separate them without
disturbing the cylinder. Once that happens then in order to replace the
cylinder the piston has to be removed so that it can be placed in the
cylinder before putting the cylinder in place. I think that this would
be exceedingly difficult to do if the engine was in the van. In my case
the engine was out and the rings needed replacement anyway
Tony

Dave Baker wrote:

>Forgive my display of ignorance, but why does Bentley want those wrist pins
>replaced when all we're wanting to do is pull the head, fill any pits and
>make sure it's reusable, and put a new gasket on?  Is it just a "while
>you're at it" sort of thing?  Or is it really critical to the process?
>
>TIA.
>
>Dave in KC
>85 Westy
>4 days in to a head repair.
>
>----- Original Message -----
>From: Tony Thompson <tonyt_eye@NS.SYMPATICO.CA>
>To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
>Sent: Friday, May 31, 2002 6:51 PM
>Subject: Re: 84 head job update and questions
>
>
>>I just finished doing this without any special tools, the circlips can be
>>removed with snap ring pliers or a small set of needle nose pliers. It is
>>
>a
>
>>really good idea to shove rags around the piston bases so that errant
>>
>parts
>
>>don't zing off into the interior of the engine. I found the wrist pins
>>
>very
>
>>difficult to remove.
>>
>
>