I've never been tremendously into cars and haven't done extensive work on them, but I'm sort of finally getting into doing my own work with a disco I. That said, a gasket job is no easy task for a newbie. Regardless, I'm determined to work it out myself with a buddy or two. Doable? And is there any really important guide or support source I should be using?

 

The "Rave", it's the Service Manual. You'll want to become very familiar with it BEFORE you tear apart the top end because when you go to put it all back together you need the torque specs.... and bolt sequences. The Rave is downloadable in the D1 "Tech Section" at the top of this model forum.

I've done many Rover head gasket replacements, I do them alone....... I make a call in advance to the machine shop and ask them what type of work load they have and how fast can they turn and burn a set of heads. Having the heads milled flat is very important and not to be omitted.

Takes me basically two days from stripping the heads off to starting the motor up. Those aren't full days either, I aint killing myself over a Rover motor. You don't have to strip the heads down either to have them milled, just remove the rocker shaft assemblies and the shop cleans em up and mills em. If I ask nice they'll clean up the combustion chambers for me.

Use only 6pt sockets throughout, an impact socket will not fit the head bolts (too fat) so a good quality 1/2" drive breaker bar that can be added to (I use a 1/2 speed bar on the end of mine) and good quality 1/2" drive socket (I believe 3/4 - been awhile). It'll take some oomph to get the front and back bolts free, the middles are almost always too easy. You just want to bounce the breaker bar until you hear a loud TICK! Then you can apply enough poop continuously to remove the bolt until free. The head bolts are not reusable so new will need to be on hand. I get mine from Rovahfarm (in my sig). Order the bolts, the valley pan separately, they're better quality than the "Kit" hardware. I use Felpro head gaskets, Napa has em, they are by far the best and I've used them all. I only use Felpro head gaskets on all of my personal engine work. You might also want to buy a set of valve cover gaskets if they haven't been replaced in awhile, best time to do them.

Everything on top is easy to remove. I take the intake off with the fuel rail and trumpets still attached and set it aside. That way your not breaking any seals between those and it's light enough to do so. That you might need a pal for. The rest is easy. You'll need a gallon of green anti-freeze too, you have to drain down the coolant below the heads. If you really want to get fancy you can clean the carbon off the piston tops.

 

Which gasket are you attempting to replace?

 

Head gaskets, mentioned in another thread........

 

Basic hand tools, shop manual, torque wrench, floor jack, jackstands, silicone, anti-sieze, and a budget and parts list is all you need.
A Land Rover is very easy to work on.

 

ihscouts is the alpha dog regarding head gaskets. He knows his stuff.

Here is a thread that looks back on his own job and attempts to share some lessons learned...
https://discoweb.org/showpost.php?p=784926&postcount=1

All the shop manuals can be found in the link in my signature.

 

Use impact sockets to remove head bolts.

 

Speaking of which..... my nickname at work is - Native American Names - Joke | eBaum's World