Please spare us the anti VW rant Scott. Problems with AMC aftermarket
heads are your primary condemnation point? VW did not make those.

My wife has a 1999 Subaru, 102k miles, combustions gases leaking into
the cooling system. Great modern design, really shows up those Germans.

Subaru auto tranny problems at 70k, CV axles at 80k, wheel bearings at
60k, yup way ahead of those Germans.

Mark

Scott Daniel - Turbovans wrote:
> oh man,
> do we have start a big debate here ?
>
> I'll just say .........
> the waterboxer is most obviously and purely a converted air-cooled design.
> If they had any brains,.......the would make the bottom of the head flat
> ......
> make the deck of the block flat, and put in a 'real' headgasket,
> not metal rings and rubber o-rings that get brittle and hard and can't seal
> anymore after a while.
>
> the waterboxer is the ONLY mass produced van or car type engine anywhere,
> with that silly set up on it.
>
> don't get me started - that outer rubber water retention gasket - how well
> that is compressed depends entirely on the dimensions of the head.
> I saw one pinch and leak on an AMC head after about a year in service.
> I checked with EVERYONE  about how that could have happened.
> finally ........a VW dealer tech told me ..........you put the head on
> without the gasket, for a test fit, and measure that gap, if it's too
> small,
> or too large, you try another head !!!
>
>.......................