Head gasket adventure
 

Thanks for this forum fellas!!
I've been working on my '97 disco 1. It began as a head gasket job, but as I began to remove so very much of the engine, I've decided to call it the Mechanical Test of my Life. I'm a noob's noob. So this job has been both challenging and exciting.
I do have a background of living off a logging road, gotta patch 'er up experience. However, I've never been this invasive on my own single source of transportation. I got stuck on the timing chain, and put the whole shabang on the back burner for a month. I've been using my buddy's beater pickup (Betsy) for the meanwhile.
The only reason I took off the front cover was to replace the gasket, and stop that oil leak. Timing chain is good enough. Heads are planed, and the gasket-block area is polished. Time to put the front cover back on and move in reverse.
This is where I got stuck again. Damn oil sump was stuck.
I took a knee. I Contemplated this problem on a jar of crown royal and a splash of water. Then I read a few old posts on this Bibli-forum, and got that oil pan out.
Back on track: it's time to get underneath and clean the sealant from the oil pan area. Then I will put the front cover back on. And see what comes next.