I dig Volkswagen and Audi. Always have. There is just something about them. For me, it’s the styling, stance, and performance. I don’t know; I have always been attracted to Volkswagens. But for me, Audi’s have always seemed out of my reach. They just seemed too expensive. But within the last ten years or so, as the older models became obsolete, they have become more and more attainable to the average person. Especially because no one wants to fix them. Everyone wants to part them out and not take the time and money to repair them. I will admit Audi parts can be expensive, so I guess that’s why people choose to abandon them rather than pay for the parts and labor to repair them.
I guess that can be said a lot about cars these days. Everyone wants everything cheap. No one wants to take the time and money to repair an old car. And let’s face it; the market is not in used cars; it’s in used parts. Or just parts in general. But thanks to Covid, we did have an upsurge in the cost of used cars, at least for a little bit. But online marketplaces have made it easy and available for anyone to buy and sell used parts. And no car is more popular than Volkswagen and Audi, especially with how universal the parts and platforms are.
The other exception is the General Motors Vortec LS engine. No motor is more versatile and dependable than the Vortec and LS engine. Not to mention the abundance of parts available, and for the most part, they are easy to maintain as long as you keep up the scheduled maintenance. That’s the reason I took on this side project. The customer stated that he thought he had a blown head gasket. The engine was overheating, and a lot of water was in the exhaust. Not a problem. This would be a simple head gasket replacement. Which I thought would be an easy project. After pulling the upper and lower intake manifolds, I thought I had discovered the problem. The gasket had failed and was leaking coolant, possibly causing the overheating condition. This is a know failure point for this engine.
I was already this far into the upper engine block, so I decided to go ahead and pull both heads. The engine had a lot of miles, and it was probably overdue for a top-end refresh. Since that was the initial plan anyways, to replace the head gaskets. My plan was to pull the heads, lap the valves and reseal the whole top end. But after I pulled the heads it got worse.
As you can see worst-case scenario, the cylinder head was cracked. And from looking at the cylinder, you can see the discoloration on the cylinder. This is most likely the cause of the water in the exhaust. The crack in the head runs all the way from the water jacket to the No.6 exhaust valve. After consulting with the customer, it was decided that replacing the entire engine would be more economical because the cost of the cylinder head would cost about the same as a used engine.
Fresh, painted engine going in.
Fresh, Vapor Honed top end plus accessories.
Before and after vapor honing.
