Yep, that is a record for original head gaskets.  I sold my '85 Westy with original head gaskets and 189,000 miles on the clock to a gentleman in Michigan.  For all I know that engine is still going strong.

Chris S.
'84 Westy -> http://www.knology.net/~vw/vws/hershey/
'01 NB TDI -> http://www.knology.net/~vw/Beetle.jpg

1-888-VW-PARTS <- Recommended Expert Vanagon Part Source

----- Original Message ----
From: Scott Daniel - Shazam <scottdaniel@TURBOVANS.COM>
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 6:45:33 PM
Subject: Re: 396,000 miles!!?? can anybody beat that?

That's a real record to me. Most miles I ever heard of, especially with
original head gaskets.
Ought to be in a museum or something.   I'm mildly skeptical the head
gaskets are original...
But it's possible.
Scott
www.turbovans.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf
 Of
JordanVw@AOL.COM
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2007 7:41 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: 396,000 miles!!?? can anybody beat that?

i have a '90 carat parts van here that has over 450k on its original
 engine
with the original head gaskets.  the van is a complete POS, but thats
 got to
be
some kind of a record. i got it from the original owner.. it was hit
(cosmetic damage) was never fixed and he kept driving it for years
 after
that,
finally stopped driving it because the original manual tranny started
 to
whine..

despite that, i still think waterboxer motors are junk.

**************************************
 See what's new at http://www.aol.com

      ____________________________________________________________________________________
Never miss a thing.  Make Yahoo your home page.
http://www.yahoo.com/r/hs