I have had this Vanagon for a year or so now. It is camping season, and not having a bus to cruise finally got to me. Anyways, here is the run down. Last year, Colin and I did a quick diagnosis. and decided the engine had to come out to get a better idea. The engine would run, but there was some serious pre-ignition causing backfiring through intake manifold. Fast forward to a week ago. I pulled the engine, and started disassembly. When I took the heads off, I noticed they were stamped T.A.E? I still have not tracked down their origin. Every single other part on the engine was OG VW. I remembered Colin's many speeches about reuse the OG parts because the aftermarket stuff is crap, so that's what I did. I took the engine down to the short block, disassembled the heads, and found that 2 valves were so tight in their guides that there was no way they could open and close correctly, hold and adjustment, or let the lifters pump up correctly. We reamed out the guides ever so slightly to get a, "close to proper", clearance on the valve stems. I then lapped new stainless steel valves in, and cleaned up the rest of the engine and reassembled. The tin was the tightest fitting I have ever assembled. Nothing is missing, and It Is completely sealed. I reinstalled the engine today, and will start it up tomorrow. More to come. Here are some pics of the project in the meantime.
Scottie
![Image](http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1304844.jpg)
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OG Mahle Pistons and Cylinders.
![Image](http://images.thesamba.com/vw/gallery/pix/1478124.jpg)
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This last pic is of the various rocker assemblies that were installed. I now have all matching, correct rocker assemblies in place.