The head gasket kit is good, but I would recommend to swap the gaskets for Elrings. I have no science to back that up, other than the fact that Turner Engineering swears by them.

It's not advised to replace lifters without also replacing the camshaft.

Check the torque on all the head bolts? You can't really re-torque them as they're one time use bolts, but it may give you an idea if that was the issue. If it is, you can probably skip the decking (but still check it with a machinist straight edge)

It feels like an overwhelming job at first, but if you bag and tag everything as you go, and record a video of yourself, it will make things easier.

Once the heads are off, inspect the piston heads to see if any appear much cleaner than the rest.

They should be ok then

I just started tearing apart my engine for a HG job this morning! I have a tight deadline and I am hoping to get everything wrapped up by a week from Wed including machine shop time. We'll see though :dunno:

Gotta get a new torque wrench. I've watched the AB vids a few times now so I feel i know exactly what I'm going to be doing.. Just hoping that the exhaust mani's don't end up being a pain.

What if the piston heads are cleaner?

Scratch that, you have a top-hatted block. For original sleeves, if a piston head looks "steam cleaned" then that indicates a water jacket crack.

In your case, it's probably just the head gaskets that failed

I agree on new lifters and old cam not being ideal.
I also didn't know the OP's engine only had 28k miles on it.
If i was 128k miles, lifters are a good bandaid.
I would also think that head bolt(s) may have come loose, causing an external leak, especially a corner bolt.

Since you bought a short block from Turner, not a long one, whoever did your head install probably bunged it up. If you have the cash, the best peace of mind you can get is to also buy some heads from Turner. When I had my heads done (valve job), the machinist - AutoSport in Seattle, has tons of experience on these heads, and he said that LR had terrible quality control directly from factory (valve springs installed upside down, etc). I personally wouldn't put 100k+ mile heads (my assumption of what you have) on a turner short block, you may as well also get new heads. When you factor in the cost for a proper valve job from a machinist experienced in LR heads, hot tanking, decking, your time, etc, the cost of Turner heads is a no-brainer.

Agreed.

Just looked up the prices for Turner heads, shoot, I don't remember them being that expensive. $1,000 per head?? I could have sworn it has half that when I last looked, maybe 8 months ago.

Another option is to check with Abran, Will tillery, or Paul Grant, they sometimes have reman heads ready to go for about $400-500 a pair.

I got a refurbished set of 4.6 heads from Abran a couple months ago.
At that time, I think he had 2 other sets left.