hv's headgasket replacement thread...

[hvguy]

Sooooo... after waiting nearly... 9 months? I finally took the plunge and pulled the head, sure enough, the ring around the piston was pretty F'ed, valves had some deposits on em, so I knew that was the culprit.

I was hoping to pull the head with the injector pump attached... however that wasnt gonna happen since the pump is bolted to the block :(

on top of that I didnt set everything to top dead center... however I didnt bend any valves thankfully.

I ordered the gasket from my local dealer, the total after tax was 97$ before cost was 87$ like jason said... thats with a wholesale discount, they didnt seem to care.
NOTE: The headgasket I receiver was a cometic multi layered steel head gasket just to clear the air in case there was any misunderstanding.

My problem now is how to set the timing as if the factory were putting the engine together FROM SCRATCH... my green book doesnt say anything about it :(

If I need to buy tools, thats fine, just as long as the end product is running lol.

Any input, weather positive or negative is greatly appreciated.

[hvguy]

ALSO! When I pulled the head I noticed the pistons.... dont look like diesel pistons... as in it didnt have a bowl O_o

cummins piston that I know: from a 12 valve
http://www.competitiondiesel.com/forums/photo/data/500/medium/172-7209_IMG.JPG
piston in my engine:
http://i295.photobucket.com/albums/mm124/maxfax3/prothe%20piston/vw%20piston/DSCF2044.jpg

whats up with this? is there something special going on that I dont know about?

[ngoma]

Cummins is a Direct Injection, your Volvo (VW) is an Indirect Injection. Cummins DI squirts fuel into the piston cup, Volvo IDI squirts fuel into the pre-combustion chamber in the head.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diesel_engine#Indirect_injection

[hvguy]

I see, I had no idea.... I appreciate it!

now I just need to figure out how to assemble my engine...