I'm right there with you on the engine tear down.... I was going to replace fuel injectors for p171/174 codes....decided to doo all cooling hoses and valve cover gaskets while in there..
Removed left side rocker cover and s3e evidence of coolant coming up from right rear bolt in inside of head...
Not overheated ever..
No coolant mixed in oil
So now I'm going to do the head gaskets. .
Hopefully block looks good.

 

If this is your end goal, rebuild it with pinned liners or flanged. Anything less is a patch job. I'm not being a smart ***. I just know from experience. Good Luck.

 

You can buy a set of genuine Bosch Land Rover injectors, remanufactured with a warranty, from several sellers on ebay, $65-$90 a set(all 8).
They work as they should, and you don't have all the miles gumming them up.
The engine will run better, and regain a small improvement in mpg.
Worth replacing for the money.

 

Lol, your right, the Disco is very easy to work on...in terms of working on cars.
Because, it is such a simple, yet good design, with room to work on it(just not the best quality or engine)
It seems like it was very well thought out, as if it was designed to be worked on(how ironic is that), most vehicles are not like that.You are at the mercy of how the engineers crammed it all in there.
I have a serious love/hate problem with my 04, as it's always something small and ridiculous causing me problems.

 

+1
Now that my engine is apart, I am pretty sure none of the liners in the block had slipped...but I pinned all 8 for piece of mind.
Cheap and easy.
There is a thread here with details, and what we followed.

 

Found out where my leak is, i used uv dye and found it leaking out of the front of the drivers side cylinder head, i also found out that my power steering pump is shot. so its gonna be parked for awhile until i get this mess all fixed up

 

I bought my 04 last July.
I parked my 04 last July.
I hope to drive it by this July, lol.

 

Haha ya, this ones gonna be parked for awhile too. I cant complain though i bought it about 7 years ago put 50k miles on it and its needed nothing but basic maintenance.

 

You mention replacing the front oil pump cover, if memory serves me right...the oil pan needs to come off. Oil pick up tube is connected to oil pump cover and can only be removed after oil pan is off. Had my 03 engine apart last year, you'd think l'd remember for sure...but when you've seen the inside of all different shapes and sizes over the last forty years...each ones specifics begin to get blurry.

Anyhow, good luck with your repairs.

Brian.