Hi Bob,
Sorry to hear you didn't do your own work . . . now you don't know for sure if the shop re-used old springs, or how concentrically they seated the valves, etc. Did they cut new seats? Did they use swivel-feet on the rockers to protect your guides? What did the combustion chambers look like when they took the heads off? You can learn how well you've been operating your engine just from the colors and thus make operational improvements in the future if called for, or discover that you've got some imbalance in your intakes that could use some improvement . . . depending on what you see. Did they use Manley valves or some no-name dune buggy valves? Since they took the cylinders off to hone (I assume) the barrels and put new rings, let's hope they put it all back together with as much care as you would have taken had you done it yourself. Using Steve Bennett's assembly book and the KRNET archives, together with Langford's superb Corvair assembly and operation material which is on the net (equally applicable to the VW), there's a wealth of already existing material to learn from. Bob Hoover's material (he dealt specifically with the VW) surely covers break-in procedures. Apart from all that - if you're someone who would rather not waste time doing research (and you may very well have such demands on your life that you just don't have time, understood), I'm sure someone will be along soon to offer more informed suggestions than anything I could possibly suggest regarding your break-in question. If you've been running it on the ground "to get it tuned properly", you may already be well into the break-in period, hopefully using mineral or perhaps other oil specifically designed for breaking in a re-built engine. The only thing useful I can think of to suggest is that you frequently check your valve clearances during the first few hours of operation. Mike KSEE Mike KSEE ____________________________________________________________ Popcorn Does This to Your Brain (Shocking) clearstateofmind.com http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3141/5cf408bc9fcfb8bc1852st02vuc _______________________________________________ Search the KRnet Archives at https://www.mail-archive.com/krnet@list.krnet.org/. Please see LIST RULES and KRnet info at http://www.krnet.org/info.html. see http://list.krnet.org/mailman/listinfo/krnet_list.krnet.org to change options. To UNsubscribe from KRnet, send a message to krnet-le...@list.krnet.org