Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

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steevz
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Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by steevz »

Hey guys,

I've been reading up on this process. My 12mm head for my vanagon has a bent valve and I have a CR 1.6D engine and I pulled the head off of it. I found it was an 11mm head, I'm all ready to go but once on I noticed that the washers for the 12mm bolts are bigger then the washer seat in the 11mm head? What's the best option for this?

Grind down the washers on all the bolts, or are there 12mm studs available to make the process easier? Any point in the right direction would be great. Thanks.
92 Golf coverted to diesel.
the man 53
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by the man 53 »

never done it but I would think drilling the head out so the 12mm fasteners fit and then maybe milling the .5mm away from the OD of the head. That way the washers would fit no matter what you had in it 11 or 12. The other way of grinding washers you would have to do it every time you changed the head gasket. Hopefully that isn't much, but I don't like doing things more than 1 time if I don't have to. I am sure grinding the washers would be acceptable too.
steevz
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by steevz »

Well, my 11mm head had 12 bolt holes in the cylinder head (the corners on the manifold side) too small to even fit the bolts into, so I drilled them out a bit on the drill press last night at work and today I'm going to cut the 12mm washers off the bolts then slide the 11mm washers I ground out in the side of a tiny bit on the bolts and bolt it up. Wish me luck.
92 Golf coverted to diesel.
libbybapa
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by libbybapa »

Be aware of the one bolt hole that is also the path for the pressurized oil to the head. Make sure that hole is not tight. You'll need extra clearance for the oil flow.
steevz
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by steevz »

Well, I did notice one bolt was covered in oil when removing it from the head, must have been that one. I think it was #6?

I'm also in a pickle, my thermostat housing broke when removing it.. old and brittle my guess. Anyways, there are none anywhere and they aren't made anymore by VW. I have one from a golf 1.6 here but it's on a 45 degree different angle and the hole doesn't fit nicely onto it. Is there an aftermarket hose for use with this, or do I need to have the right housing?
92 Golf coverted to diesel.
steevz
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Location: Vancouver, BC

Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by steevz »

When trying to tighten the tensioner when installing the timing belt, my crank moves slightly so it's no longer tdc. I have cam lock inplace and pump lock in place.. Do I need to remove the camshaft from the sprocket? If so, whats the best approach in the vanagon with limited space to rap on the sprocket?
92 Golf coverted to diesel.
vwtyp133
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by vwtyp133 »

steevz wrote:... I'm also in a pickle, my thermostat housing broke when removing it.. old and brittle my guess. Anyways, there are none anywhere and they aren't made anymore by VW. I have one from a golf 1.6 here but it's on a 45 degree different angle and the hole doesn't fit nicely onto it. Is there an aftermarket hose for use with this, or do I need to have the right housing?
First guy I'd contact would be Jack, who owns this forum, especially since he advertises that he's got Vanagon Westy Parts to sell(!). If he's out of stock, you might look at finding a VW Dasher (or Quantum?) thermostat housing to compare the fit. My VW ETKA indicates that the Dasher's #056 121 121B is the same part # as the Vanagon diesel's.

Good luck getting it rolling again quickly.
J.R.
SoCal
steevz
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by steevz »

I found one at a local parts place. Aftermarket plastic one.
92 Golf coverted to diesel.
libbybapa
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by libbybapa »

steevz wrote:When trying to tighten the tensioner when installing the timing belt, my crank moves slightly so it's no longer tdc. I have cam lock inplace and pump lock in place.. Do I need to remove the camshaft from the sprocket? If so, whats the best approach in the vanagon with limited space to rap on the sprocket?
Before you tension the belt, you need to make sure that all the slack of the belt is in the tensioner area, between the cam and the crank. You can do this by rotating before TDC a few degrees and then returning to TDC going clockwise only. If the crank moves when you tension the tensioner, then you did not preload the belt properly and remove all the slack from between the crank/pump and pump/cam. The cam sprocket also has to be loosened from the cam in order to tension the belt properly. To loosen the cam sprocket, do not hit the sprocket itself, loosen the bolt a few turn and then use a punch through the hole in the metal shield that is between the gear and the head.
steevz
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by steevz »

Wow.. forgot to update. :P

Got it all together and timed and she ran great. Was a beast.. so I sold her. Now have an 84 Westfalia, wasserboxer.. that needs a diesel in it. :)
92 Golf coverted to diesel.
Fatmobile
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Re: Installing an 11mm head on a 12mm block..

Post by Fatmobile »

Ahhh the circle continues :D .
'91 Golf gasser converted to a 12mm pump, M-TDI.
'84 1.6TD Rabbit with a VNT-15 turbo, still setup to run on vegetable oil.
'84 GTI with 1.7TD pistons and intercooled.
2003 TDI wagon
2000 TDI Jetta.
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