[Vwdiesel] Headgasket--Solvents

[Sandy Cameron]

At 04:32 PM 2/25/05 -0800, you wrote:
>Hello all-
>
>Gonna change the headgasket this weekend...
>
>Just curious about if any special solvents are
>recommended to do such things as clean off the old
>gasket material, bolt holes, etc.  I've got a can of
>carb cleaner laying around.

Use whatever you can find, and clean it well. 
I actually CAREFULLY, shaved the head with a single edge razor blade in one
of those blade holders used to de-paint window glass. To get some of the
nasty gasket crap off.

BE SURE to vacuum the bolt holes after cleaning to remove crud and solvent
that fell in.
I Highly recommend 2 or 3 rinses of the bolt holes with solvent,  and
chasing the threads with an old bolt with a slot cut down the side like a tap.

I had crud in the bottom of a couple of the holes in mine that I had to
scrape loose with a screwdriver. Then more rinsing with solvent till clear.

As my wife the nurse would say, "enema until clear"  :^)

Sandy