1.6TD head gasket question

[Jubbly Bug]

Hello all

. I'm embarking on a diesel conversion on my vanagon (t25 ) in the UK .

I'm rebuilding a 1.6td that I got as a partly stripped engine and have noticed there are no dowels in the cylinder block to locate the gasket and head in place?
Is this normal or are they missing ?

I replaced the head gasket on my Skoda 1.9tdi a couple of years ago and that had dowels .

Thank you for your time reading this

Jim
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1971 Baja beetle
1987 T25/vanagon

[DanHoug]

if i recall, there are no dowels... you place the gasket and head down and wiggle things around until all the head bolts go in.

if you want to ease your life, get a set of the very expensive ARP head studs. they eliminate the "death snap" horrible sound when torquing down and seem to have a very good track record of fixing the leaking head gasket issues on the 1.6.
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-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[vwhammer]

A friend and I did a head gasket on his non-turbo 1.6 and it also had no dowels.
I think its normal and his has been running for nearly a year with no problems. Also, the last six months of that year was with a turbo.
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Pretty normal daily driver build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=708418&highlight=

4x4 build
https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/volkswagen-vanagon-4x4-conversion.162055/

[?Waldo?]

X3, no dowels on the 1.6TD.

For aligning the block, head, and gasket I have a couple used head bolts (they are single use) that I cut the heads off of and cut slots in the top instead. I thread them in finger tight into two opposite corners. Then place the head gasket on, then carefully place the head over the protruding bolts. After getting the other new bolts threaded in finger tight, I remove those alignment bolts with a flat head screwdriver.

Does your engine have hydraulic or solid lifters? If hydraulic, then use the AAZ gasket.

[RolandD]

I concur with Waldo on the use of old cut down bolts as guide pins.

Roland

[Jubbly Bug]

Great stuff thank you all for the info ,I thought it unusual not to have the dowels ,most cars ive delt with have had them .

Thanks again Jim

Ps Waldo its a solid lifter motor . Any advice on using spray hylomar or similar on the gasket or just as is? Ive never used it on a head gasket before .
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1971 Baja beetle
1987 T25/vanagon

[?Waldo?]

I use a very light coat of hylomar spray on both sides of the gasket, on the block, and on the head. It does a great job of preventing the pesky weeping oil leaks at the head to block drains and the pressurized oil connection to the head between cyl 3+4. Despite the manual saying to assemble dry, the factory used hylomar or something like it on the head gaskets for assembly.

[Jubbly Bug]

Ok great stuff Il be ordering some for the job.

Thanks again jim
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1971 Baja beetle
1987 T25/vanagon

[Jubbly Bug]

Ok so another question
ive got a solid lifter td . On selecting the head gasket it gos on the amount of piston protrusion. Now if I'm going to up the fueling and boost and push the little 1.6 would the thicker gasket be the best choice to aid the tune?

Thanks again jim
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1971 Baja beetle
1987 T25/vanagon

[?Waldo?]

IMO, no. Go with the correct gasket. Going with a thicker than spec gasket will lower compression which might be desirable for higher boost, but it can make cold starts worse. Other factors against a thicker than stock gasket are that it will reduce 'squish' which is important for appropriate turbulence and fuel/air mixing/burn, and will also reduce 'quench' which is the transfer of heat from the piston crown to the head (which is water cooled).

Make sure to clean all the carbon off the piston tops and clean the head gasket surface of the block meticulously. The carbon on the piston top is enough to skew the measurement from the thinnest to thickest gasket.

[Jubbly Bug]

Great stuff thanks again . Just trying ideas before I start on the engine reassembly. Will be measuring the protrusion and getting the gasket accordingly.

Jim
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1971 Baja beetle
1987 T25/vanagon