I appreciate your commitment. The first thing I'd do with the coolant leak is tighten every hose clamp, and replace any original clamps.

 

Thanks Mordo, Good Tip. I have replaced many already but there are still a few hiding on me.

 

pressure test the system while checking every hose connection

 

That damp carpet on the passenger side could be from a leaking heater core too. I remember reading that you bypassed it. Still bypassed or did you hook it back in?

 

Kman;
Gotta admire your determination! There is one happy side effect to this saga; when you go off-road, you will know that car extremely well if you need any bush mechanic work done...

 

Thanks for the bon mots and encouragement. Franco paks, I still have it bypassed until I can say for sure the leaks have stopped. Then I will replace the hoses (Which I found to be split and rotten when I bypassed lol) and see if the leak starts again. I really don't want to rip out the dash if I don't have to (Okay, I don't have to to get at the matrix, but it is still more a PITA than seeing Dr. Scissorhands, Proctologist) The determination here is kind of like my old Jeep that this replaced. Once you drive it and fall in love with it you can put up with and awful lot of crap before you get rid of it!

Again ... thanks and as always I will post when I have more news/information to share

 

Sorry so long but I am finally finished (about 30 minutes ago) with the beastor. Pulled the upper intake and noted a small puddle right at the back of the valley pan. couldn't see it from the top with everything together. also noted that one bolt at the back of the lower intake passenger side was loose. when I pulled the intake (had to put a flat nylon strap around the underside and use my hoist to break the bugger free) I saw that the bolt that was loose is part of the cooling jacket annulus in the head. I had already gone that far so I pulled the heads, looked like the gasket was passing between the cooling jacket and the back of the head, but not really easy to tell. Had the heads machined, dressed the block and put it all back together again. the only real bitch was I broke the CPS taking the drivers side head out, didn't realize the lead was bolted to the bottom back corner of the head.

After assembly, re gapped the plugs (new ones in the works, but not here yet so I put the old ones back in) and cranked for 20 sec to refill the fuel rail, let set and it started the second crank, runs like a top. Noticed there was coolant leaking from the front .... (damn hell crap .......) and realized it was the drain **** on the rad leaking, i didn't tighten it correctly, so I had to drain the system, remove a bunch of hoses and fix that. Once I reassembled that I filled and vented and let it sit for 20 minuted running at pressure, no leaks.

I took out all of the bypasses I had to put in (heater matrix and TB heater) and I used RTV to build a new gasket for the TB heater.

 

Rave is very helpful if you have never done this before, I printed out the requisite sections. The only difference is I never full removed the PAS pump, I just removed the bolts, the bracket and laid it aside. I put a sheet of cardboard between it and the rad.

Also had a brilliant McGuyver moment. I was trying to put some bolt in a hole that is impossible to reach as only land rover can do, and I did not know how I was going to get the bolt started. I took the finger off an old latex glove I had used and put it over the socket. Then I pushed the bolt head into the socket and it was enough to hold the bolt.