Oh no Cracked cylinder head - is it terminal?

Just getting a couple of weekends use out of it and shall be putting in the capable hands of Jason at dubs and classics to take a look, will depend on the condition of the rest of the engine as well, but yes he did mention that

 

Spark plug was cross threaded on mine(no. 3 cylinder) pulled and helicoiled ,so far so good .

 

Mines a 1600 tp with a 32/36 Weber and managed an eye watering 80+ on the M6 once!.......................on a slight downhill run.

 

on the subject of 1641 v 1600 , it will make a very small improvement same as if you went 1550 cc v 1600 would make a very slight unimprovement .

I wouldn`t bother unless you were replacing B&P`s anyway

 

Thanks for this Zed, I've took your advice and asked for all the bearings to be done. I know this will involve extra expense and will mean splitting the case but it seems prudent to do it now rather than a few months down the line - plus it'll work out cheaper in the long run.

I went to the garage and had a look the bus in its sorry state and the first head he's taken off, there are at least 3 cracks on one side and one on the other, no wonder the previous mechanics had been unable to tune her properly!! Anyway after a long chat I've bitten the bullet and ordered this:

http://www.vwheritage.com/vw_spares...81064_lang_EN_country_GB.htm?crumbStartPage=1

A full top end rebuild kit with 1641's lets hope I've made the right choice as everything else I've chosen for the bus has always had major snags with it. One thing that did annoy me today, I saw the state of my twin carbs that are less than a year old. The previous mechanic has butchered them including attempting to cut off the air filter bottom with a angle grinder You live and learn - lets hope I've finally found a decent mechanic

 

Ah - I misread your OP and thought i was a newish engine, I now see it's the carbs been on there for 2000 miles.
Should be good when it's done.

 

I started my bus owning career with a 1641 and stock 34PICT3 carburettor running with EMPI twin quiet pack exhaust.
With the same bottom end and pistons, new heads (cracking, worn valve guides, near vanished exhaust studs with minimal thread and grotty spark plug threads) and a 32/36 jetted about right (no flat spots and mixture good across the throttle range) and a JK stainless single quiet pack I can tell the difference. Its not vast - more like being able to accelerate up some hills in 4th that would have needed 3rd.

Went up the Dart valley and via Two Bridges on Dartmoor last Thursday and climbed some 1 in 5 hills at 20mph in second gear... Which as a rough estimate corresponds to 50HP at the wheels. if the bus weighs 2 tons and is going vertically up at 4mph....