Club 80-90 Forums

Wow, not easy to see with the naked eye!

I assume the head is cracked because of the twin symptoms of steaming from the exhaust and oil in the coolant, both of which have been cured by the replacement head.

Yep, it just seems a good idea to give new parts a gentler start in life. Interesting thing about the old head is that, after giving it a thorough visual check, I can't see any evidence of cracks anywhere. I could take it to work for a mag particle test or dye penetrant test but the crack or cracks ...

Well, I've run the repaired engine for 500 miles now and have finally uncrossed my fingers. I ran the new head in on petrol with lead substitute added to give the new valves a chance to bed in. When I fitted the new engine Elite, and Steve at Gasure, recommended this so I thought it was a good idea ...

All I know about this is that when I specified my rebuilt engine from Elite (now now, no engine snobbery please) I requested an uprated camshaft (272 degree duration instead of the standard 238). When the engine was built they realised that the cam they had been sent by their American supplier was f...

Itchy, I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree. Having read a number of accounts of doing the cylinder removal and replacement and what is involved in the task, I (and the garage that was doing the work for me) decided it was too much extra work to justify – especially with the engine still in the v...

Do you work as an engineer? I do. In the aircraft industry as it happens... Any engineer knows that compromise is often forced upon us. It simply is not realistic to expect the perfect solution all the time, especially not where cost considerations come into it. This doesn't mean a bodge is good eno...

Here's another article by 'a bloke' who doesn't necessarily replace the bottom seals... http://www.ratwell.com/mirror/www.bostonengine.com/articles/waterboxes.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; I think, like so many things, it all comes down to assessing the risks: How old...

Well, I hadn't removed the engine!

Well, the engine was built back up, without replacing bottom seals (which is NOT a simple extra task) and at the moment it seems to be fine. It runs smoothly, no unwanted steam from the exhaust or anything so fingers crossed it will be OK for a while. There are no obvious cracks visible in the old h...

Well, after much consultation, and considering of the advice received on here (thank you) I have ordered a new AMC head and gaskets from VW Heritage. Everything else looks OK so we are not going to disturb the liners and I've said I'm prepared to take the risk that all will be OK with the bottom sea...

Blimey....

Many thanks for all this info guys. Is it a lot of extra labour to do the bottom seals??

The symptoms are evidence of oil in the coolant, excessive steaming from a cold start which clears as you drive but returns after stopping the engine or after idling for a while. I think the garage diagnosed the problem by pressurising the cooling system with the engine cold then checking the cylind...

Well the local garage are experienced motpr mechanics and classic car owners themselves. They just haven't worked on many wasserboxers. I will ask them to check the oil cooler. They are aware of the need to be careful about the lower barrel seals and are sure they are OK and undisturbed. There is no...

Thanks for the advice guys. The van is currently in my local garage. They are very good but this engine is unfamiliar to them. They have replaced the head gasket (the metal sealing ring on one cylinder which was showing coolant leakage (well both on that side actually) but after reassembly it's stil...

In terms of performance, you can't make these vans perform well, they are just too square and heavy, and the gearbox is a major limiting factor anyway. I also have an Alfa Spider with the 24v 3 litre Busso V6. Every time I drive it I am reminded just how far the Type 25 is from performing well. But ...