Head gasket reassemble
 

Hello all again from northern Michigan. After months of refusing to believe my head gaskets were toast the driver side let loose dumping compression between my block and head. I have sense removed the heads, had them shaved and cleaned, and am now ready to re install them back on. I have a few questions before I just start tightening bolts down. I have the head gasket kit from AB, there are some things in the kit that I did not remove. There are 14 or so grey and blue plastic like pieces with little springs that wrap around a tapered end and female threads on the other side. Anyone know what these are? Also the lower intake still has the fuel rail on it, I can foresee getting a torque wrench on these bolts will be difficult any ideas? I used a closed end wrench to remove them. Finally a while back I read a long post I thought was titled "No such thing as a better head gasket." where the poster explained how you should use Teflon tape instead of oil to lube the head bolts along with some other useful tidbits of info including specific torque values rather that the 90° twice technique. Has anyone else read this? The Rave manual has not done me wrong thus far and I do not wish to stray too far from the beaten path but I have heard the Teflon tape thing from another mechanic so was just curious as to what the forum goers think. I would not have been able to accomplish this without your help. Thank you and sorry I am at work I will fix my profile and signature when I get some time.
2000 Disco 2 165,000

I can't believe that you are now asking a question on how to put your engine together without even knowing what you are doing, where to buy parts and, oh yes at 165,000 miles you are not even doing a valve job.
Do you have a shop manual or Rave CD, if not you better get one.
You never use tape on head bolt, you use head bot thread lube.
If you want a suggestion stop what ever you are doing and do some shop manual reading and less forum reading.
If you do want some help, send me your number and I'll call and walk you thru where to start up from.
By the way, at your mileage, your cam/lifters are shot as is your timing chain set and oil pump, not sure how much you want to do and how long you want this to run , but food for thought.

1) the blue things are the valve stem seals and there should be 16. You should have taken these with the heads to the machine shop when you had it surfaced and cleaned for them to install. I would not try this yourself and if you still have the heads off then I would take the time now and take them back to shop for a valve job.

2) The fuel rail is held on by 4 small bots I believe and they should not be hard to remove. Your head gasket kit from AB also comes with 16 black o-rings (2 per injector) for your fuel injectors so might as well change them while you have it apart.

3) Mike is very correct about the oil pump and timing chain needing to be replaced with 165k miles on her. At about $200 for both kits it's a smart buy and there will never be an easyer time to do them then now.

4) I have not read anything about another way to torque the head bolts or about using tape instead of oil. I would just follow the RAVE step for step.

Here is a chart on how to tighten the head bolts (attached)
The head bolt chart is the same.

I am sorry if I was not specific. I do have and followed the Rave step by step in the removal process I have not posted a thread until now because every question I had was answered for me via other people's threads that I have read. My rover although at 165,000 has been well taken care of with all major services done with records. I have only put about 6,000 miles on myself. It was also painfully obvious that this repair had been done before ie non factory hose clamps, questionable torque values, and a "non rover" bolt holding the power steering pulley. When I took the heads to the machine shop I told them that I wanted a valve job as is stated throughout the forum. I received a call the next day, the machine shop saw no need for a valve job as everything was "immaculate" and that I should save the $275 or more. I, feeling that was a pretty reputable thing to do took their advice and took them home. There are many parts such as belt plugs and wires that look very new. I bought my parts from Atlantic British based on Disco Mikes suggestion from another thread. I am willing to go further but I am kinda in a pinch time wise and in the pocketbook. If there is a way to gauge the situation as far as cams, lifters that could be useful. Timing chain and oil pump I know should be done but I am wondering if whomever did the head job last time did all of that. I know I know not a place for penny pinchers. I value your opinion even though you think I'm a cotton headed ninny mugens.

Thanks for the additional information, sure helps us help you.
You have a couple of choices when it comes to the cam and it's wear, just replace it and throw in a 4.6 cam cause at your mileage, it is a given that yours is going flat, go read the sticky I posted on the LFO forum, in the D2 section on head gaskets and valve train noise which will tell you what to visually look for or go have the cam lobes measured which you can't do and is costly.
If you want to talk, send me your number and I'll call you.

I also have SAI. The Rave says to change out the adapters that screw into the head. My kit doesn't have these. Anyone know where to get them? I also need to buy plug wires. Magnacore I believe is what is recommended. Should I just go Atlantic British or is there a more local distributor. Do they come with the thread sealant? Is it OK to use an engine degreaser to clean up the block or brake parts cleaner or nothing but a plastic scraper? Should I clean the piston heads?

you dont need to change the adaptors unless there got screwed up removing the head, which happen a lot.
I prefer brake clean to degrease for something like this, because the brake clean dries right away.
"I" would not touch the top of the piston unless the are heavely carbon up.
I use BA because the stuff is on my door step the next day, but they are not the cheapest for Magnacores.
I used BA house brand 8mm wire because i know it wont be 12 years before they are replaced again and did not want to wait for tje magnacores.

BA is good, but when it comes to their prices, they are high in some areas, especially when it comes to the 8 mm Magnacor wires.
Do a Google search for them, you can get them for around $110.

OK, mine did not get damaged when I removed them, there is a fair amount of carbon buildup but I am more concerned with the thread sealant used to keep the heads from leaking. There are so many kinds I figure it should definitely be something that can handle the heat but I was hoping for something specific that Land Rover recommends. Found some wires for about 90 bucks.