I was also going to say, if you have low compression on one cyldiner and you
know it's due to the head or a slightly leaking valve, which is very likely,
doing just one head with the engine in the van can be a lot of gain for
minimal effort and tearing things apart. Lotta bang for the buck and time
spent. 
 Scott 

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
David Kao
Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 10:14 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: exhaust gasket question 2.1

Well, Yahoo did it again. I had to look into the list archive to see many
replies there but not in my inbox. This one was directly from you and was in
my inbox.

Scott, I think Bugformance in San Jose probably has exhaust gaskets for
Vanagons. If my 30k mile old gaskets are not reusable I will call
Bugformance.
Copper sheet may be not soft enough as a material for exhaust gaskets unless
the exhaust flange is perfectly parallel to the joint surface on the head.
So I will toss that idea now.

BTW, my 84 engine is not in a too bad shape. I could still speed it up to 80
MPH on flat highway. But I know the compression is uneven and one of the
valve
tip is kind of smashed a bit. My tranny broke last winter. I decide to drop
the engine first which makes it a lot easier to replace the tranny. I will
take the opportunity to rebuild the engine. I hope it will get another 80K
or more miles before I have to drop it again. If I don't do anything to it
now
I probably will need to do it within two years or even sooner. It's fun time
again. Any suggestions welcome. I may begin to throw questions to the list
as soon as the work is started.

David

--- Scott Daniel - Shazam  <scottdaniel@turbovans.com> wrote:

> Ah ha, harassing the list before you even know the facts !!
> Happens all the time, lol.
>
> I buy german aftermarket exh. Port gaskets 20 at a time, like in bulk.
> There is absolutely nothing wrong with them.   I would almost never re-use
> one however.  But flange flatness and being parallel to the head surface
is
> important.
> Scott
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> David Kao
> Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 6:50 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Re: exhaust gasket question 2.1
>
> My 84 engine was resealed (head gaskets all that came within the gasket
> set) 30k miles ago. I can reuse the exhaust gaskets but with the new ones
> I will get the nice exhaust sound like a new Vanagon. If copper gasket is
> a bad idea I think the other answer is to get OEM. I hate to go to any
> dealer. I think the ones come within the gasket set are not very good,
> although they do work fine. Copper is fairly soft so making a set of
exhaust
> gaskets using copper is not that hard. Just need to hear from people if it
> is actually not a good idea. Maybe I don't need to replace them at all.
> I will soon find out when the engine is dropped.
>
> David
>
>
> --- Jake de Villiers <crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Maybe you need to square and flatten your exhaust flanges.  The stock
> > gaskets last a long time for me - 8 years or more.
> >
> > On Mon, Mar 24, 2008 at 5:46 PM, David Kao <dtkao0205@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > > Is it a good/bad idea to make your own exhaust gasket using sheet
copper
> > > available from hardware store? Has anyone tried this? I will soon
begin
> > > to dismantle my 84's engine and replace the tranny at the same time.
> > > The engine will receive a set of new Cofap and a pair of used heads.
> > > I can anticipate need of a set of new exhaust gaskets. The gaskets
seem
> > > to crap out quickly and not cheap. I am seeking an alternative.
> > >
> > > David
> > >
> > >
> > > --- Mike <mbucchino@CHARTER.NET> wrote:
> > >
> > > >  Metal won't get stuck to what it's clamped against, but composite
> may.
> > > > Which part is easier to remove and scrape a baked-on gasket off of?
> I'd
> > > put
> > > > metal towards the head, for that reason alone............
> > > >
> > > > Mike B.
> > > >
> > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > From: "Jim Felder" <jim.felder@GMAIL.COM>
> > > > To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
> > > > Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2008 8:18 PM
> > > > Subject: Re: exhaust gasket question 2.1
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > > Thanks, all, as usual. Metal to the head it will be.
> > > > > Jim
> > > > >
> > > > > On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 7:01 PM, Jake de Villiers <
> > > > > crescentbeachguitar@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >> I've always put the metal side to the source of the heat whatever
> the
> > > > >> make
> > > > >> of engine but I remember a post not too long ago that espoused
the
> > > > >> opposite.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> In 35 years of hot rodding etc I've never had a problem when
> putting
> > > the
> > > > >> metal side to the exhaust port.   :)
> > > > >>
> > > > >> On Thu, Mar 20, 2008 at 4:44 PM, Jim Felder
<jim.felder@gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > > > >>
> > > > >> > My first question is why does a Vanagon full gasket set come
with
> > > only
> > > > >> > two
> > > > >> > head-to-pipe gaskets when it requires four?
> > > > >> > My real question is which side goes toward the head, the
> composite
> > > side
> > > > >> > or
> > > > >> > the metal side?
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> > Obviously I'm talking about the kind that's thin steel bonded
or
> > > > >> > crimped
> > > > >> > to
> > > > >> > a composite material.
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> > Thanks,
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> > Jim
> > > > >> >
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> --
> > > > >> Jake
> > > > >> 1984 Vanagon GL
> > > > >> 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> > > > >> Crescent Beach, BC
> > > > >> www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> > > > >> http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
> > > >
> > >
> > >
> > > __________________________________________________
> > > Do You Yahoo!?
> > > Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> > > http://mail.yahoo.com
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > Jake
> > 1984 Vanagon GL
> > 1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
> > Crescent Beach, BC
> > www.crescentbeachguitar.com
> > http://subyjake.googlepages.com/mydixiedarlin%27
> >
>
>
>
>
>
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