[T2] Air-cooled 2.0L Vanagon heads (rectangular port) for sale, SF Bay Area

[Dennis Gentry]

Hi,

I hope it's still OK to post the occasional personal for sale item?  It
comes with a little story.

I had a tow truck driver destroy the engine in my 1980 Vanagon (2.0 L,
rectangular port heads).  I already went ahead and put in a new engine.

The heads had about 7,000 miles on them since their rebuild with
cryogenically installed valve seats.  If anyone is interested, I'd like to
get $100 for the pair.  The whole rest of the engine can come along for
free, but I'm not sure how much else is salvageable.  (The crank, rods, and
case are probably shot.)

-- Story Follows --

I was driving along I-80 outside of Fairfield, CA when I noticed smoke in
the rearview mirror.  I pulled over and there was a trickle of oil coming
from where the oil cooler meets the engine -- One of the two rubber seals
had slipped a quarter inch, probably because the oil cooler wasn't clamped
down as tight as it should have been, and when the trickle of oil hit the
hot exhaust, it smoked, pretty impressively for the tiny trickle.

Since I had AAA and didn't want to fix it by the side of the road (the oil
cooler is visible, but it takes a bit of digging to get to where you can
tighten it up) I called for a tow.  I left it with the parking brake set
but out of gear.  I told the driver it was rear-wheel drive and asked for a
dolly, but he didn't have one (or didn't want to take the time to use it)
and just hooked up by the front wheels.

Once it was all hooked up, we got in the truck and the driver pulled out
onto the freeway.  At about 55 mph, there was a bit of a lurch/tug on the
truck and you could hear wheels squealing.  I guessed right away what had
happened, and the driver said "Uh oh, I was afraid of that."  It left an
impressive pair of skid marks as the driver slowed back down and pulled
onto the shoulder.  The driver had put it in second gear, so apparently
VW's shift point of 38 mph is about 18 mph below where it will throw a
rod.  I was never able to get AAA or the towing company to pitch in
anything for the new engine.  They claimed that my engine was already shot
and I was just looking for someone to pay for it.  Sigh.

Anyway, if anyone is interested in the heads, drop me a note.

Thanks,
Dennis