Mystery sucking/swooshing sound- constant

[ac78]

Although I would love to get the new reworked CS heads, I cannot afford it right now. So I am down to Headflow Masters($325 each) and Rimco($225 each) for stock rebuild. Almost every forum post about Heads includes Headflow Masters and few with Rimco. When I called, both said they could likely work with mine. So I am now torn. I could use the extra $200 going with Rimco toward the Mahle P&C kit.

I have searched through a lot of head threads and a couple post's said not to use Rimco(from older posts) and I have found no negatives for Headflow Masters. I know both companies have recieved different heads from everyone here, but does anyone have real mileage history or quality feedback from either? I need a push over the cliff on my way to UPS...
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[SGKent]

Either would be fine as they both have a long history of VW T4 work. RIMCO was sold back about 2 years ago when the owner was old and tired and just wanted out after many years. The new owner has really worked hard to hold up morale and keep the same staff who have the experience. I would not hesitate to use either but I think the price will be close to the same for both once they are inspected. We used RIMCO.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[ac78]

I pulled 1/2 tonight and this head looks very good compared to the other. It is a vw head and does not look reworked, but there were 2 interesting findings.

1. The No.1 Intake rocker screw was sheared to close to the arm and I found the missing piece when I took out the push rod tubes. I think that was a big part of my pinging when mashing the pedal??

2. The lower left head bolt had 2 washers, while the rest had one. My thought is that the stud didn't go all the way into the case and they needed more threads.

I also have a question about the plenum(It's still on). It appears that the 2 bolts that hold it on are through the case. I would like to take it off, but wanted to find out if removing them would alter the integrity of the case?

So far the only thing I wish I would have done prior to removing the heads, is degreasing everything. Other than that, this has been one of the most satisfying things I have ever done.

Thanks for your help.
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[busdaddy]

Go ahead and remove the bolts, as long as you retorque them properly when you're all done the case will be fine.
_________________
Rust NEVER sleeps and stock never goes out of style.

Please don't PM technical questions, ask your problem in public so everyone can play along. If you think it's too stupid post it here
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery!

Слава Україні!

[SGKent]

take lots of photos for yourself when you go to put things back together.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[ac78]

Thanks BD. That is the only thing left to take off before I wait for parts. I couln't find my snap ring pliers to take the pistons off tonight. Based on the oil high and low on the case, broken fins and my wet plugs, I am replacing the P&C's too.

I have decided to send the heads to Rimco and order their Mahle 94 mm P&C kit for $300, which is the cheapest I've found. I also want to replace every seal that I can get to. I was debating buying the full seal kit, but want to get the Viton pushrod seals. Should I just ala carte the seals I need? I have up'd my budget to $1200 from some craigslist sales.


I am going to clean up and try to paint the tins and air cooler though the weekend.

Both Heads had the spacer on the head vs. the bottom of the cylinder and flakey stuff where the cylinder went into the case. Is that what's left of the paper gasket or permatex?
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[ac78]

I took alot last night. I will admit I was a little nervous taking all the fuel injection off, but I feel pretty good about it with all the previous vacuum troubleshooting and there's no turning back now.

My main concern right now is just putting the heads back on like Jake did in the video. Everything I am replacing is stock, but I can't stop thinking about all the posts regarding deck height, clearances, hand lapping valves(I still don't know what that means.) He didn't really mention any of that and just put it all back together with no worrys.
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[Wildthings]

Nothing is really quite stock any more. AMC heads have a built in raised step that VW heads lack so there is a difference in how they must be installed. When installing AMC heads you need to take into consideration the thickness of this step when figuring deck height. As you probably know when using either head you need to remove the "head gasket" sealing ring and make up for it with a thicker cylinder base gasket.

If you have new heads or flycut heads along with new jugs you shouldn't have to lap the heads and cylinders to each other.

Assuming you have paid someone else to do your head work they will have done the valve lapping for you, so this is something you don't need to worry about.

[SGKent]

you will be fine. Just ask what questions you have on each step and we'll get you the answers. When you speak with RIMCO, they will flycut the heads a little to clean up the mating surfaces. Ask Todd to CC the heads for you and sell you stainless shims about what he thinks you will need. We used .060 on our mahle/RIMCO combination engine. That gave us 7.3:1 compression. The shims will go under the cylinders to make up for the lack of head gaskets per the TSB and also the material flycut off the heads.

I used a small paintbrush with copper coat on the tops of the cylinders to help seal them. Came back 24 hours later and retorqued the heads. They will loosen a little overnight. The stuff you are asking about at the base of the cylinders is gasket sealer. I used red high temp silicone. It doesn't take much.
_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[ac78]

Started measuring tonight and decided to stop after the first and ask some q's.

#1
50cc's
.40mm step(accurate as I can be with my feeler guage and index finger)
.55mm deck height
Based on the calculators this gives me 10.2:1

I have been scouring the threads on add the step or don't add the step. It appears most say add the step into the deck height. So that would put me at:

#1
50cc's
.95mm or .038in deck height
New Calculation gives me 9.7:1

Because I am so far away from 7.3:1, I was thinking I am doing something wrong or I'll need to a major shim. I was using pretty snug, as my reference since I didn't have access to a torque wrench tonight. What do you guys usually torqe them to?

Thanks!
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[SGKent]

are you cylinders sitting right on the case or do they have a shim under the cylinder when you measure deck height? You will need something robust to hold them on. Don't put anything on the cylinders that might nick them and cause a leak.

Here is a photo of a set Phil made. I used something similar but made of simple thick alumunim bars with holes for the studs and a long and short spacer to bolt it down. I used a depth mic to test the depth.

_________________
“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[ac78]

There is no shim at the base, just the cylinder against the case. I am using a 1/2" thick triangle that is smooth on the bottom and feelers.

I did notice that I had the arrow pointing the wrong way, so I was going to pull it and put it on #2. I wasn't gentle enough because the piston came out.

That was my queue to be done for the night... Is a spray carb cleaner a safe to use on a piston?
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[SGKent]

[Wildthings]

Are you running flat topped pistons or dished one? If dished you need to add the volume of the dish to the head volume.

[ac78]

They are dished Mahle. The newer threads show they should be 11cc. I'll see about a dropper to comfirm. Adding 11 cc to the calculation, should put me at adding a .06in shim to get 7.3:1. That's still seems big, right?

Is it better to set torque for consistency? How much?

Thanks.
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[ac78]

I finished measuring tonight and ended up with the same(to the best of my abilities) all around with a deck height of .55mm. I checked the step again and felt .40mm was still good. So based on the following, I need a .06" cylinder base shim.

Deck Height- .55mm or .022"
Head Step- .40mm or .016"
Head CC's- 50
Dish CC's- 11
-------------------------
Cylinder Shim needed .06" to get real close to 7.3:1

I sure was hoping I wasn't going to have to order anything else... I'll just have to tell her, this is the last thing and I really mean it this time!
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[Wildthings]

A .060" shim is going to give you a pretty ineffective 0.100" squish area. I am guessing that you are not figuring your cylinder head and dish volumes accurately. I prefer to use a 10cc or 20cc syringe and fill it repeatedly over using a larger syringe.

[SGKent]

[ac78]

The heads were cc'd when rebuilt and written on them. For the dish I used a 10 cc tube and once I got to 11, it could not take anymore without spilling onto the top of the piston. That seemed consistent with a lot of posts I read.

Skgent- you said you used a .06 shim, was that inches, just like I need? Was is a standard shim from Todd or a performance shim ?

Thanks!
_________________
78 Westy 2.0l hydr. FI

VW Campmobile
For people who believe a family's
car should be it's castle !

[SGKent]