I think I've swallowed a valve.  Let me explain.

My bus is on my bad list right now. 
Last sunday I pulled over to help a guy with a '70 camper who was 
broken down on the side of I-15 just outside of Brigham City, UT.  I 
couldn't help him much (I wasn't carrying a spare engine, and his was 
thoroughly seized), but I offered him a ride into town.  My bus 
wouldn't start.  Karma Shmarma.  After a tow to get it off the 
freeway, several hours of troubleshooting, a new distributor, a new 
fuel pump, and a lot of frustration, I traced the problem to an 
intermittent short in my backup light circuit that was sucking all my 
power from the coil.  It would only show up when I used the starter. 
manualy turning the engine produced a spark, so it was a bugger to 
find.  I think the vibration from the starter was causing it 
to short under the car somewhere.  Anyhow, I pulled the wire 
off the coil and problem #1 dissappeared.  I was on my way home.  

Two miles down the road, there was a horrendous bang.  I killed the 
engine, and pulled over, praying that I wasn't on fire.  My sister, 
who was following me in her 225,000 mile Subaru (why couldn't VW 
build a watercooled boxer like that???) said she saw flames, big 
flames, shoot out 
the tailpipes.  I'm thinking one of my new ( < 5000miles) GEX heads 
swallowed a valve, but I'm hoping someone on the list can offer a 
more optimistic appraisal.  

I can't afford to be dealing with this sort of thing right now.  If 
it is a valve, I'll be selling the whole thing for parts, and buying 
somthing I can depend on.  I drive slow, change my oil every thousand 
miles, run my valves at .006, don't lug the engine, and love the idea 
of keeping my old bus on the road, but this is the wrong time for 
this to happen.  Any suggestions on a probable cause.  If I could 
just go out and look at it, I would be able to tell if it was a valve 
for sure, but the bus is in Ogden, and I'm 100 miles south in Provo.  
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
--Shaun Dustin

--Shaun