Ron
I think your misstating valve guides when you mean valves
I strip lots of cores some with AMC heads and I have seen this problem many
times and never with OEM
I replace all the valves just in case the quality of the valves Marnel is
currently using when they assemble the heads is still poor
I modify the keeper to create a positive lock on the valve stem to prevent
the keeper from wiping out the three grooves
and the modification takes time to do right
dont ask how I do it I give to much away already
I don't take chances and that includes no rebuilt heads on Boston engines
its always cheaper to do it right the first time and that includes the just
in case scenarios once burned and so on

 going faster miles an hour with the radio on
I remain
Boston Bob
all rights reserved

----- Original Message -----
From: "The Bus Depot" <vanagon@BUSDEPOT.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Thursday, October 14, 2004 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: AMC Heads (My views)

> As far as the valve stem issue goes I have been installing
> and selling these AMC heads for about 6 years now.  I have
> never had one have one single problem.  I know that other
> vendors have made much of this supposed problem.  It is also
> very convenient how they all have some magical fairy dust to
> sprinkle on the heads so that only their particular ones that
> they sell don't have this problem.  Some like Go Westy charge
> more for the dust, others throw it in for free (very nice of
> them).

And then others, like me, charge LESS for the ones with the magical fairy
dust sprinkled on them. :-)

Look, AVP, who does nothing but build Vanagon engines all day long every
day, is tearing apart every AMC head that they get from the U.S. distributor
because of this valve guide issue. Having seen the mushrooming problem
firsthand, they are afraid to warranty their engines otherwise. Why would
they go through this time and expense if there were no problem?  Maybe
they're being overcautious and 99% of the heads would be perfectly fine
anyway. But when you go to the trouble of replacing heads or an engine,
overcaution is a good thing. What's more, AVP's not the only one to
experience this. Go Westy has reported the same problem, and I've heard it
elsewhere as well.

The point is, why even risk it?  My European assembled heads, which do not
use the allegedly questionable valve guides, are actually CHEAPER than those
that do. Why would anyone choose to pay more AND take an unneccessary risk,
even a small one, for no reason? Maybe the valve guide problem is common,
maybe it's quite rare, or maybe it's nonexistent and AVP and others are
replacing perfectly good valve guides on brand new heads for no reason.
Either way, what's the downside to playing it safe?

- Ron Salmon
  The Bus Depot, Inc.
  www.busdepot.com
  (215)  234-VWVW

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