16v head gasket surfaces

[treed2@u.washington.edu (T. Reed)]

No, no, no! You guys aren't reading carefully!! :)

I *am* going to replace both the gasket and the bolts. I have a new 2.0l
16v gasket and new bolts on hand along with a buttload of other new parts.

I just put the old gasket on with the old bolts (*not torqued*)
temporarily so I can use the lift points on the head to lower the motor
out. The 1.8 head is still on the 1.8 block so I'm not going to install
the new head gasket now - I'm gonna wait until I bolt the 2.0 block and
the 1.8 head together.

Thanks for the advice about cleaning out the bolt holes. Didn't find out
about that until later last night when I was looking through old
rec.autos.makers.vw.watercooled posts and I came across somebody pointing
out that oil in the bolt holes can cause hydro-lock and keep the head from
torquing down all the way. I'm very glad I found out this information as I
was hesitant to spray degreasers all over the head because of the coolant
and oil passages. I guess now I -will- do that but just make sure that
they dry completely before re-installing the head.

In any case I have 3 days to fool around with this stuff and put in my
tranny seals so there's plenty of time to pay attention to detail. I just
wanted to know whether I should err on the side of clean head surface or
on the side of unscratched head surface.

Thanks,

-Toby

On Sat, 7 Sep 2002, Dave Ewing wrote:

> Well, actually the head bolts should be replaced too!  I don't mind reusing head bolts once when they are stretch bolts but only after they have been bought new and the ones that came out of your motor are probably original.
>
> Secondly, I agree, do NOT reuse the head gasket!!
>
> D, to answer your question on "how clean", it needs to be as clean as you can make it!!  As far as the head is concerned, you don't HAVE to surface it in most cases but you should at least measure for flatness if your not going to surface it.  I, myself, surface every head I disassemble because I've been there, done that, and I don't want to do it again!!  Upon installation, make sure that both surfaces are as dirt, grease, and dust free as possible.  Also, make sure that you clean out the bolt holes!!  Very important as I have heard of people cracking blocks this way!!
>
> If you have any other questions, go ahead and ask!!  HTH!
>
> Dave
>   ----- Original Message -----
>   From: Captnbr@aol.com
>   To: Scirocco-L@scirocco.org
>   Sent: Saturday, September 07, 2002 7:49 AM
>   Subject: Re: 16v head gasket surfaces
>
>
>   In a message dated 9/7/2002 6:03:42 AM Eastern Standard Time, treed2@u.washington.edu writes:
>
>
>
>     I put the head back on with the same gasket and head bolts (the bolts were
>     filthy..
>
>
>   Ohhh  Noooo!!!!!  Your gonna have major problems,  The head gasket is not re-useable.  The bolts you can get away with reusing.  But not the gasket.
>