96 Van - Head Gasket

[rbolduc]

Van with 192,000 km with blown head gasket, otherwise not bad shape, driven in Ontario winters, worth fixing? Let's face it this is not the most reliable van out there but I like it, and you can't beat the plastic panels. But sinking that money into a vehicle that old is a gamble.
Comments please?

[LMP]

Yes...as '96 is last year you could have with plastic panels (with prone to failure 3.4 however), most probably you will have to go for rusting metal panels as a replacement
...however the underneath is not plastic and check for any signs of degradation an official inspection could bring attention to...I find mine ('93, though) has suffered much more that I would have anticipated and front jack pads falling off is not uncommon...Several have lost both, I lost one.
A head job must come with a warrantee as several had to return ...but properly done, some say it is more reliable than new. My brother had his 2002 Montana done 6 months ago..so far so good. Use new head bolts.

Anyway, I'll try to keep mine as long as possible, the 3.8 being less prone to hardware problems.