With that many miles, it's time for a rebuild. A good rebuild will cost a 
few thousand dollars and should last you another 144K miles or so. I'm 
speaking in general terms here...

You might try the BarsLeak treatment and nurse your engine through a few 
thousand more miles while you save $ for the rebuild.

-Mark McCulley

----------
>From: 	Nathan Lebron[SMTP:lebron@sage.edu]
Sent: 	Wednesday, April 17, 1996 11:31 PM

=========================================================================
Date:         
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         
Subject:      Should it stay or Should it go?

Ever since it was confirmed that I leaking heads (about 2 months ago) I
have been pondering on what to do with this 85 of mine.
It has almost 144K miles, have not had any puddles of green stuff ( but
it does drip every once in awhile), and I have noticed to loss of power
or anitfreeze in the oil ( at least not significant enough for me to
notice).  Now come the questions:
	1. If I replace the heads, how long will it be before my engine
	   goes to hell?
	2. My VW dealer quoted me a price of $800 for replacing my heads,
	   while other VW mechanics have given me nothing less than $1200.
	   I'm no genius but I think I am missing something.
	3. Will an engine rebuild be better-How much? How long will it last?
Thanx to everyone on the list for your assistance.

Nate El Great
85 Vanagon GL Auto