Entity Felder spoke thus:

> 83 diesel (maybe)
Argh! If it is a blown gasket you can shave the head and put a thicker
gasket under it. But if the combustion chamber is cracked and leaking you're
shot down and you should find a used head.

The process of correctly reassembling the engine is pretty demanding and the
stakes are high, so if you don't want to learn on the fly you should have a
mechanic do it. If you can find one. Most of them don't give a damn what
kind of work they do.

BTW, we have a diesel Vanagon group at:
<http://autos.groups.yahoo.com/group/Diesel-Vanagon/?yguid=147275560>

You might get more advice there.

-- Gnarlie
http://www.Gnarlodious.com/Vanagon/Vanagon.html