It's finally done!

A week ago, I started what was supposed to just be a head gasket job.  I
figured I would be wrapped up in two days, no problem.  I got some low
mileage used heads, and got them resurfaced/pressure tested at a machine
shop, so that I could finish in the weekend without having to worry about
getting mine checked out.   I had never done anything in the engine
compartment short of waterpump/thermostat/exhaust, so this job seemed a bit
intimidating, but no biggie, right?

Well... when it came time to pull of the heads (after hours of removing
everything else), the cylinder sleeves were rusted onto them too tight to
get them off, and no amount of banging/torching/prying would separate them.
Eventually I was forced to accept pulling the heads with the sleeves
attached.  Even with the heads out, it took a lot of work to get the sleeves
off... I think there was no chance I would have got them off in the van.

Now, there's the problem of getting the pistons/rings back in the
cylinders.  There are a few posts on the internet about doing this with the
pistons in the van, using crazy ring compressor contraptions.  I tried this
for a while with the band-style compressor they use for the air-cooleds (you
compress it with vise-grips) before deciding this was really hard and maybe
not the best idea.  Instead, I managed to remove the pistons (engine is
still in the van!) using a makeshift pin puller made from a threaded
rod/nuts/washers.  This was hard.  The toughest part is just removing the
circlips (on the side the pin will be pulled towards) from the piston pins.
I had 2 different circlip pliars, one with lots of different attachment
ends, and I used both/all of them.

Anyways, with the pistons out, I could get them cleaned up good and the
cylinders honed at a machine shop, and I got new rings to put on them.  Then
I got them back in the cylinders and then those back in the van (circlips
again!).  Finally, it's time to put heads on, then get everything back
together.  Yesterday I cleaned up the mess I made, filled it with fluids,
and drove!

I'm happy to have the van back, and happy that I was able to put it back
together right... right now I'm doing a "break-in" of the
rings/cylinders---lots of varying speeds/acceleration/deceleration, and I'm
keeping the mph below 60.  I ran a 10w30 for the first 25 miles, then
changed to a 10w40 (both dino) and I figure I'll change to my usual 15w50
synthetic after another thousand.  Sounds good?

The van seems to run great (except the temp sensor issue coming in next
post) and it even feels like it has more power, but I think I'm probably
imagining that.  Compression was already pretty good before, 170 front 150
back.  Hopefully it will be more even after all of this.  How long should I
wait before checking it?

The craziest thing about this whole ordeal, is that it all happened when the
list was down!  I need to give a major shout-out to Ken at Van-again, who I
got my head gasket set from.  Not only were his directions good that he
included with them, but he fielded many calls from me as the job spiraled
into more than I anticipated, giving very helpful advice.

Wes...
is back on the road again...
'83 1.9l westy