Good morning folks,
    I'll try to keep a long story short here.
    Brought my 88 GL to a local audi/vw place for some front end work,
having heard good things about them from a sychro owner, and asked them to
do a compression/leakdown test as well for good measure.
    Today, they come back with a pretty heavy laundry list, the most
troubling being leaky head gaskets both sides. Now, I'd known of a leak
since the cold snap this winter and had been keeping an eye on it- probably
topping off the refill tank every ten days or so. No overheating, boiling
over, or coolant in the exhaust, I had yet to trace the coolant loss to a
specific source, though by smell I know the rear heater core is bad.
    Now, by his estimation, there's no point in doing a compression test on
a 2.1 with leaky heads: if the heads leak coolant, your numbers will be shot
anyway.
    True or false?
    Not to make it more complicated but here's more info if you'd like:
-had a compression/ leakdown test back in August, reasonable values with
some weakness on Cyl. #1, probably rings.
-approximately 140k on original engine, heads re-sealed at 80k by PO
-the mechanic says, though a independent VW/Audi place, he "doesn't do work
on these engines". This in itself is confusing, compounded by his offer to
sell me a later model/lower mileage Vanagon. I truly wish he hadn't said
that, it makes me doubt everything he's said.
    So, once again, I turn to the list.

TIA
-Matt Sutton
88 GL
NYC