Thanks Angus.  I saw this home made hoist - which I think Neil linked to on
the samba (unfortunately his hoist pics were broken links) ;
https://sites.google.com/site/wavanagon/87westfaliaenginework

Stuart, thanks.  Princess auto seems to have quite a few stands, not sure
if I could easily attach the VW adapter (or if it is needed)
http://www.princessauto.com/pal/en/Engine-Stands/1000-330-120-105-105.c -
but seeing as I'm not going to be able to roll the stand around, perhaps
buying an adaptor like the one you linked might be a better choice if I
fasten it to something of adequate strength.  I should look around some
more, or see if anyone in Vancouver is not mid-rebuild and would like to
sell or loan me one.

On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 9:09 AM, Angus Gordon <birdworks@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Tom, the 2x4 hoist is to lower the engine down to the ground, not to hoist
> it up into the vehicle. Lower it onto a piece of plywood and you can pull
> that around on the gravel.
>
> Angus
>
>
> On Thu, Sep 5, 2013 at 4:34 AM, Tom Carchrae <tom@carchrae.net> wrote:
>
>> Scott:  in terms of stand or hoist - I don't have a garage.  I've been
>> prepared to work on the heads without removing the engine, but if I am
>> going to go to the trouble of undressing the top of the engine, I may as
>> well pull the engine out and have a look at the clutch and so on, and it
>> sounds much easier to work on the heads if you can rotate the engine.
>> Good to know that I could rig up a 2 x 4 hoist, my drive is gravel, so a
>> hoist with wheels would be nearly useless.  I'm thinking a 2 x 4 hoist,
>> then slide it to the centre of the van, mount on a stand, and work away.
>>
>> And yes, there have been enough heebie geebies, although I have had
>> several
>> decent shops look at it and none have been sure it was a head gasket
>> issue.
>>  It might be a cracked head that farts under load... any which way, I
>> suspect the heads have had abuse and could at least use the JB beauty
>> treatment on their pockmarks, if not replacement.  They are AMC heads, and
>> I think they've been on there for less than a decade.
>>
>> ORR; too right.  I get awfully confused in metric imperial Canada.  I grew
>> up in Ireland, where the distances were in miles and speeds in KM/H - no
>> wonder they produce some good mathematicians.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 9:42 PM, OlRivrRat <OlRivrRat@comcast.net> wrote:
>>
>> >                 Tom
>> >
>> >         220�C = 428�F ~ I doubt very much that your engine would have
>> been
>> > able to achieve that CoolentTemp ~ pretty sure it would have seized &or
>> > blown all sorts of hoses off long before it got to that Temp' ~ If you
>> > meant 220�F then that's not really terrible ~ not good but not terrible
>> ~
>> >
>> >
>> >               ORR ~ DeanB
>> >
>> >
>> >
>> >  On 4 Sep , 2013, at 9:45 PM, Tom Carchrae wrote:
>> >
>> >  Jim: I guess I got lucky - no coolant drips.  But you make a good point
>> >> about what a crazy system that is and why it is prone to failure.
>> >>
>> >> Scott: I have tried a few blue caps.  I need to make a cap tester
>> and/or
>> >> run the van with a pressure gauge on the expansion tank when the van is
>> >> running.  (Test # 2 from
>> >> http://web.archive.org/web/**20050309065156/http://www.**
>> >> bostonengine.com/articles/**waterboxes.html<
>> http://web.archive.org/web/20050309065156/http://www.bostonengine.com/articles/waterboxes.html
>> >
>>
>> >> ).
>> >> I've previously done a test for exhaust gasses, but no CO2 detected.  I
>> >> have wanted to plumb a pressure gauge into the cooling system for some
>> >> time
>> >> now - I am not brave (stupid?) enough to put it in on the dash, but I
>> am
>> >> definitely going to rig up a temporary one to the expansion tank.
>> >>
>> >> When I bought the van, I took it to a mechanic, who said, "hey your
>> cap is
>> >> bad, we changed it" - and he did some work on my heads, what I am not
>> sure
>> >> although it involved valve adjustment to fix low compression.  After
>> this,
>> >> the cooling system started blowing up here and there and nearly $2k
>> later
>> >> I
>> >> was broke and annoyed and have not returned to that mechanic.  I then
>> said
>> >> screw this and have most of the work on the van myself since.  I drove
>> it
>> >> across western Canada and the cooling system blew up twice more on me -
>> >> after the first time, I changed the cap to another spare I had bought.
>> >>  The
>> >> second time was due to air in the radiator and a giant traffic jam (a
>> >> massive mud slide on Hwy 1) and the van actually overheated (went to
>> >> ~220oC
>> >> and it was full of water) and the coolant sensor popped off - its
>> >> whereabouts are still unknown.  Both times the van was pretty heat
>> soaked
>> >> and running at slow speeds - I learned a lesson there.
>> >>
>> >> So, yeah, it is probably due.  And I actually enjoy working on it, so
>> it's
>> >> not all bad.
>> >>
>> >> Btw, are there any engine stands and hoists that are specifically
>> designed
>> >> for working inside your van?  :)
>> >>
>> >> Tom
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 6:25 PM, Scott Daniel <
>> scottdaniel@turbovans.com>*
>> >> *wrote:
>>
>> >>
>> >>  PS to my last post.
>> >>> Make sure it's not the blue pressure cap. Try another one. They are
>> >>> notoriously flakey sometimes.
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>>
>> >>> On 9/4/2013 4:37 PM, Jim Felder wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>>  The head bolts and the heads do two things simultaneously, and do
>> only
>> >>>> one
>> >>>> of them very well.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> They hold the aluminum ring that serves as a true head gasket; that
>> is,
>> >>>> that gasket confines the compression gases to within the cylinder,
>> >>>> without
>> >>>> leaking it to the outside world. The other thing that is going on is
>> >>>> that
>> >>>> the head also squeezes a rubber gasket between the head and the water
>> >>>> jacket on the block. This is imprecise. Normally, the compression
>> head
>> >>>> gaskets do not fail very often. That is not true of the outer water
>> >>>> gasket
>> >>>> which is held in place by the same head bolts. Think of it s a circle
>> >>>> (actually two circles on each side) of metal, with very precise
>> clamping
>> >>>> pressure to hold in the combustion gasses, surrounded by a rubber
>> gasket
>> >>>> which deteriorates, holding in the coolant.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Guess which is going to go first?
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Yep, the rubber. If your head bolts are tight enough to contain the
>> >>>> combustion gasses, but you are leaking water, you are not going to
>> >>>> affect
>> >>>> the rubber more than a thousandths or two by tightening the already
>> >>>> tight
>> >>>> bolts holding the compression gaskets in place. If you are leaking
>> >>>> coolant,
>> >>>> it is because your rubber gaskets have a breech somewhere, not
>> because
>> >>>> there is not enough pressure on them.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> It always makes me feel better to go through the procedure or
>> tightening
>> >>>> the bolts as you suggest, but, in the end, you will have to pull the
>> >>>> heads
>> >>>> and replace the outer rubber gaskets.
>> >>>>
>> >>>> Jim
>> >>>>
>> >>>>
>> >>>> On Wed, Sep 4, 2013 at 11:54 AM, Tom Carchrae <tom@carchrae.net>
>> wrote:
>> >>>>
>> >>>> I've put this off long enough.  I got a few trips from my van this
>> >>>>
>> >>>>> summer,
>> >>>>> but on the last day I drove it, it backed up the coolant in the
>> >>>>> reservoir
>> >>>>> (behind licence plate) three times in one day.  I would pull over
>> when
>> >>>>> the
>> >>>>> blinking low-coolant light turned on, drain the coolant out into a
>> >>>>> bottle,
>> >>>>> start the vehicle, open the hot pressurized tank, and pour the
>> coolant
>> >>>>> back
>> >>>>> where it belonged.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Yesterday I took the valve covers off and used a torque wrench to
>> >>>>> inspect
>> >>>>> the tightness of the nuts on the heads - well, all the easy to get
>> to
>> >>>>> nuts
>> >>>>> (so all but the two behind the air intake - I have only removed the
>> air
>> >>>>> filter box so far).
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> I have only done one side so far, but I found one of the bolts in
>> the
>> >>>>> centre of the head to be slightly under spec (37lb).  I recall
>> Dennis
>> >>>>> Hayes
>> >>>>> saying (email below) that this managed to solve head gasket symptoms
>> >>>>> 50%
>> >>>>> of
>> >>>>> the time if done soon enough.  I doubt I have been soon enough, but
>> how
>> >>>>> does one tell.
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> I am prepared to do the head removal but boy would I be happy if it
>> was
>> >>>>> as
>> >>>>> simple as tightening some nuts.  Would I be overly hopeful to think
>> >>>>> that
>> >>>>> this minimal nut tightening this late would save me having to remove
>> >>>>> the
>> >>>>> heads?
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> Tom
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> 84 Vanagon
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> On Thu, May 9, 2013 at 2:19 PM, Dennis Haynes <
>> d23haynes57@hotmail.com
>> >>>>> >
>> >>>>>  wrote:
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>> One problem with relying on the sniffer tests is that they are
>> looking
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>  for
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>  un-burned hydrocarbons. In order for this to work in addition to
>> the
>> >>>>>> leak
>> >>>>>> you also need a combustion failure in the leaking cylinder. While
>> >>>>>> cracked
>> >>>>>> or
>> >>>>>> loose heads may also cause a combustion issue you are in deep
>> trouble
>> >>>>>> by
>> >>>>>> the
>> >>>>>> point the sniffer tests pick it up. Keep in mind if those gasses
>> can
>> >>>>>> get
>> >>>>>> out
>> >>>>>> in some cases coolant can get into the cylinders. Antifreeze into
>> the
>> >>>>>> cylinders and then into the oil can cause some real damage. Long
>> >>>>>> before
>> >>>>>> antifreeze in the oil is visible the stuff becomes extremely
>> corrosive
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>  and
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>  can quickly destroy bearings along with crank and cam surfaces. It
>> can
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>  also
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>  destroy pistons by blowing out the tops and destroying the ring
>> lands.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> If the engine has ever been overheated, (even before a rebuild) or
>> has
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>  had
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>  the heads off for any reason loose heads can be the cause. I
>> probably
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>  have
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>  a
>> >>>>>> better than 50-50 success rate in fixing these issues just be
>> >>>>>> retourqing
>> >>>>>> the
>> >>>>>> heads if the problem has not been left so long that the head seals
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>  (inners)
>> >>>>>
>> >>>>>  or the tops of the cylinders have burned or pitted away.
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>> Dennis
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >>>>>>
>> >
>>
>
>