Hi all:

I'm kind of hung up getting the 2 Vanagon engines I'm rebuilding back
together and I'm hoping someone can give me some advice.

Here's the situation:

I took 2 pairs of heads to the shop for rebuilding.  One pair was AMC
heads I purchased probably 10 years ago and the other pair were VW
heads.

When I went to install the AMC heads I remembered that there were
instructions that came with the new heads stating that it was not
necessary to use the standard gaskets or shims between the tops of the
barrels and the heads.  I also remembered that, when I asked the list
why these shims were not used, someone replied that AMC built the shim
right into the head, while VW did not.

Out of curiosity I decided to compare the re-done VW and AMC heads to see
the difference for myself and.... the two sets of heads look exactly the
same!  That is, both of them have a little "step" right where the top of
the cylinder meets the head, as if they had the shim molded in place.

Trying to look at the combustion chamber in cross-section it looks
something like this:

---|                                      |---
   |__                                  __|
      |_____Valve__________Valve_______|

Thoroughly confused, I decided to call the shop for guidance and, not to
put too fine a point on it, they're not sure what they did to the heads
in terms of altering the original geometery, but I was told to measure
the distance between the top of the head and the top of the step and then
they could tell me if I'm supposed to use the standard shim on one or
both sets of the heads, or if I'm supposed to use a custom shim.

(The distance I'm talking about are the

             ---|                    |---
                |__      and       __|

sections in the above drawing.)

So, I'm going to have to go buy some sort of tool to measure this depth
and my questions are:

   1)What level of precision are we talking about here?  Will
     a simple ruled gauge (1/64's) work here, or do I need
     something more precise?

   2)What's this measurement supposed to be?  I'd love to find
     out I have "stock" (i.e., non-altered) heads so I can use
     the shims I have and maybe get these engines closed up
     this weekend.

Thanks.

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Tom Young               young@sherlock.SIMS.Berkeley.EDU
Lafayette, CA  94549    '81 Vanagon
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