i have a pattern which specifies rowan (handknit dk) (thats double knit right?) do i have to use rowan or can i substitute for any handknit dk? rowan is a little pricey for me at ?4 a ball so any advice would be helpful thanks
Oh, absolutely! Rowan is what the designer had used (and who is sponsoring that pattern) and what Rowan is promotingBut there are no knitting police that will arrest you for not using RowanIn fact, you can use any colour you like! There are many people that believe you can only use THAT yarn and THAT colour!! Can you believe it? You won't even use that needle size eitherMy tension is a lot tighter than theirs, so I often have to use a larger needleYou may have to go up or down, depending on your gauge swatchYou are going to make one, aren't you? You can use any kind of yarn in any kind of weight you want, or have handy, or that you like the feel ofOf course, you need to do a swatch, because you will need a different needle to get the kind of fabric you want, and your gauge will be differentYou will need to make some adjustments in the pattern as wellThat is, you may have to cast on more or fewer stitches, depending on what you get with that yarn and those needles you are going to useIn most cases, I only use the pattern as a guideI am like EZ and am not a blind follower! I like the feeling, or the look of a design, and then I will do it whatever way I want to make it work for MEYour mileage may vary (ymmv)So you can go ahead and use any kind of crappy yarn you want, and it will be good enough for youOr you can use Rowan in the weight they have suggested and it will look very close to what is shownEach to his/her own.
you should be checking for a warped head when the engine is torn apartthat is a bit if a prevention ideaif the head is not warped, then you can replace the gasket and clean up every thing.
I don't think the heads are warped, just because it is an aluminum engine with an aluminum headI assume it started with overheatingWhen aluminum heads are on an iron engine overheating often leads to the heads warping because aluminum expands twice as much when it heats as iron doesThe head tries to grow longer but it is held in place by the boltsso the head bows upwardThat problem does not exist when iron is on iron (as in the olden days) or aluminum is on aluminumHowever, by the same token the gaskets are not as affected on an aluminum engine with an aluminum headI am concerned the symptoms (you don't mention why you believe the head gasket has failed) might be caused by a cracked head rather than a bad head gasketIf a head or head gasket failure has been diagnosed based on a block test for exhaust gases in the coolant, the heads will have to come off to see what is up with thatIf the diagnosis is based on coolant in the oil I would be thinking intake manifold gasket failure before I would suspect a head gasketYour 3.4 is one of those most affected by Dex-cool and the age is just right for intake manifold gasket failure.
If it got hot enough to burn a hole in the head gasket then the simple answer is yes it probably warped the heads but your in luck they don't need to be replaced you can take them to a good machine shop and have them shavedReplace the head gaskets put the heads back on and your good
I would be skeptical about the 60k or 100k+ figures on these enginesIt is just another used engine and but for the head gasket leak yours is as good or betterI would get the best price on the gasket job with milling the surfaces and also a specific figure just to remove the head for inspectionIf the head is cracked you might want to bailThe other alternative would be to get a different carIf it were a brand new engine, okay, but these engines are an unknown-most likely to the mechanic as wellWhen they start coming down in price based on the quality of the engine, you'd better run because you can get an entire engine at a picknpull or other junkyard for only a few hundred dollarsWhich is exactly what they will do, pocketing nearly the entire $2500-3000It all depends on just how good the engine was before the gasketDid it burn oil? You keep saying how dependable it was-but they're all dependable before they break down!
