11mm bolts for 1.9l head?

[vanagonturbo]

Other than head studs, is there a solution? I ran into a problem today on my Scirocco as I wanted to put the 1.9l head on and it turns out the block is set up for 11mm bolts. The 1.6l bolts are too short to work for this application. Does anyone know of anything that will work? I really need to get this car on the road again as I am driving my Vanagon that gets a mere 20mpg. Halp!

[jtanguay]

you could look for some high strength longer 11mm studs, or the solution i like best, tap the block to 12mm.  problem with going 12mm is that you can't go back to 11mm... but then again, would you even need to?  if you switched back to a 1.6 head the 12mm studs should still work, and provide more clamping force anyways.

does the motor have mechanical lifters?  if it does, you will need to block that extra oil drain hole (do a search to find out what others have done.  some have had success.. i believe Audi80 and a few others)

many people have tried putting the 1.9 head on a 1.6...  if the 1.6 has low compression, you will need to plug it in to get it to start in really cold weather.  good luck if you take the plunge!

[vanagonturbo]

Well I have a few TD blocks sitting around the shop so I think I will build from that. I really want the rocco back on the road so I guess I will have to settle for an OEM gasket for now while I build the hybrid engine. I dont really think tapping the block is worth it if I dont even have  aTD block in there right now.

The 1.6 has pretty good compression right now so I am not worried about it. It started fine today with the metal 1.9 gasket and some glue and some exhaust out of the coolant bottle lol!

I am going to go back to the shop tomorrow and slap a 1.6l gasket in there for now just so I can drive it while I build the hybrid. I also have a gt25r that I was going to use so I guess this would be the best time to try it out with the new engine.

Any CONCRETE solution to the metal gasket on a 1.6?

[rabbid79]

In case you're still interested in doing this, here's the response I got from Raceware on the very same question:

Thanks for your RACEWARE inquiry.
 
We do offer a special "conversion" RACEWARE Head Stud Kit that allows you to bolt a late style 12mm Diesel head on the earlier 11mm Diesel block. The Head Stud Kit uses an 11mm thread and shank as the RACEWARE 11mm Head Stud Kit is able to provide proper clamp force to prevent head gasket leaks in the Diesel engines.
 
The special kit is $209.95 USD plus shipping and is currently in stock.
 
Then I asked them what the difference is between the standard 11mm kit and special "conversion" kit:

The standard RACEWARE 11mm Diesel Gard Head Stud Kit won't work with the 12mm Diesel head because the studs are too short.
 
With (10) studs in place the head has very little room to move around even with a 12mm bolt hole head. We've been selling these conversion HSKs now for 10 years and no one has reported any problems, so I'm confident you will be fine.

Regards,
 
Randy Hubbard
RACEWARE Engineering LLC
12713 Universal Drive
Taylor  MI  48180
+734.947.9499
FAX +734.946.9913

[vanagonturbo]

Thanks Rabbid for the info. I am really not trying to use headstuds as this is a DD and I dont want to deal wiht retorquing studs. Yes, I know this is in much debate but in my experience, I have found that if head studs are not retorqued, they will leak and stretch bolts dont have that problem (at least on gassers that put out 500hp, VW of course). I think I will put the OEM gasket on tomorrow and build a 12mm block with a 1.9l head. FYI I found a freeze plug that fits the head perfectly from my local FLAPS. I think it was 5/8s. Metric comes out to 15.9mm.

[vanagonturbo]

UPDATE:

Ok, yeah Im a dumbass. turns out the head gasket that I installed yesterday was mispackaged and it was an AHU TDI gasket. Those dont work.

I did check my glue idea where the gasket overlaps for the mech engine with AAZ gasket and the glue looks like it would have been fine had I used the right gasket. I will report more tomorrow night after I get the correct gasket on and see what happens. I cant stand the idea of doing maintenance and not improving on the design.

[vanagonturbo]

update if anyone cares. so far the glue is holding up. 23psi, metal headgasket, 11mm bolts, mechanical head. fingers are crossed.

[shegel]

update if anyone cares. so far the glue is holding up. 23psi, metal headgasket, 11mm bolts, mechanical head. fingers are crossed.

what kind of glue are you using

[vanagonturbo]

Well I am only 100 miles into it so dont bet on it working as a permanent solution yet.

Its OEM VW oil pan glue for the MKIV.