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A quick follow-up to my post last night. I just ran out of steam and went to bed.
Lessons learned for this episode of working on my Beetle engine:
- replace cylinder heads in pairs. I would guess that the reason I got into this problem in the first place is that someone replaced the head on one side of the engine but not the other, so the heads were at different wear points. Replacing (or reconditioning) one but not the other is a false economy to make the engine run in the short term but severely sacrificing longevity.
- By the same token, if you buy one head from someone, buy two, so that you have a matching set.
- If you buy a set of heads (or whatever other parts) that aren't absolutely the stock part for your engine, know exactly what's different. BEFORE buying them, do a brief search and see how hard they are to replace.
- KNOW what the part numbers are for the things you're buying, particularly for major engine components. Know what engine(s) those parts are compatible with.
- Finally, when you buy something for a vintage car, no matter how small, KEEP THE PACKING SLIP OR INVOICE. You will someday wonder what something is, and where you got it, and how to order another one. I haven't done this, and before this week, it was mostly a matter of guessing and using the on-line catalog. If I'd had the invoice from VeeDub parts, this week's ordering process would have been much less painful. Due to the very weird nature of the part I ended up with, not necessarily easier as finding the part, but with the invoice I would have known for sure what part number (of theirs) I ordered.
I will put a folder in the bookshelves that hold my car manuals, and whenever I get a package, I will put the paperwork in that folder.
So it looks like I am going to be doing a complete top-end re-build to my engine. Stay tuned over the next couple of months for lots of photos of prep and assembly.