what price are you getting on vavles from TRW ?
there are two grades of exhaust valves I believe.............
whether they are sodium filled or not.......
and what country they come from.
I got some 'top grade' exahsut valves from my regular supplier a wihle ago - I needed to replace two of the 4 - I think they were near 80 bucks each - ouch.
Intakes cost much less of course.
I have an AMC head that ran on a 2.1 waterboxer engine for about 12,000 miles.
I'll sell you the thing cheap as a 'parts head' ..............or if you had it resurfaced plus turn down the area inside the compbustion chamber the proper amount ( this dimension affects how much the outer water retentioin gasket is compressed, or not ) 

I do not condsier AMC heads to be very good btw. I would much rather properly rebuild and 're-do' original type heads.
About that outer water gasket........you 'must' always test fit the head on the block ( with the metal rings on top of the cyldiner barrels of course ) and measure the gap where the watergasket goes.

I have seen them pinch the gasket too much, and it fails after a while.
I've seen them not compress the gasket enough, and it leaks after a while.
and i've seen them tapered and tilted' ..........i.e. not even all the way across !

I have measured and calculated the water gasket 'inner' thinkness at 3.5 mm, and I aim for half a mm compression of that gasket.
I also use Toyota black sealant on them, not the VW stuff. ( given how industrutable Toyota's USED to be............I figure they must make good sealant.  it's a bit expensive, but very good stuff ) 

I'll sell this slighlty used 'parts' AMC head for 25 bucks, plus shipping and paypal fees if they're involved.
I don't promise it's a ready to go on an engine the way it is.  But that it is what I say it is, and miles on it are not 30K or anything like that. 

you don't say if you are talking about a 1.9 or a 2.1 wbxr, engine. 
but i've read that AMC only makes one head for both engines. - which is odd, would me they have t compromise a bit on compression ratio for one engine or the other or both.

Scott
www.turbovans.com 

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Kim Springer" <kimspringer@RCN.COM>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Friday, July 11, 2008 8:43 PM
Subject: AMC Heads

> Hey Volks,
> 
> It appears that the coolant leak at the head nut on my truck may be a crack,
> but it looses so little that I've been driving it no problem and haven't
> added coolant for weeks now..but just in case...
> 
> I bought a set of low miles AMC heads. The guy said 40K miles or so. Hmmmm.
> When I had the heads stripped, 3 exhaust valve seats "going away".
> 
> So we pressure tested them, good. But they will need 4 new valves and 4 new
> seats and probably guides.
> 
> I'm deciding what brand of valves to get. Got recommendations? TRW seem
> expensive.
> 
> Kim