Hey guys,

I am about to attempt this myself. I have never done this type of work before, although I have done some other repairs/upgrades including DiscoMike's 60K maintenance. I have ordered the AB gasket kit, head bolts, Bosche plugs and STI wires from BPUtah but I have a couple of questions I need answered before I begin.

(1) I have read several variations to this, but what should I use to lubricate the head bolts prior to replacement? Someone in another post recommended teflon tape with a dab of grease under the bolt head, but the majority of recommendations I have come across call for oil. Which is best?

(2) I live in Auburn, Alabama, and a local indy mechanic (who I used prior to servicing the rover myself) uses rebuilt cylinder heads (machined with cut valves) and swaps them when they do the job themselves. Their turn around time is just over a day if you let them do it (@ over $2,300 of course). I contacted them about swapping my heads as cores and they will provide the machined and rebuilt heads for just over $300. Is this worth it? Is there anything I should look out for? I have to admit I don't like the idea of swapping my heads but it sounds like a better option than trying to find someone in Auburn to machine them (and could save some serious time).

(3) Anything else I should look for? My '04 disco just rolled over 68k. Is it ever too early to think about timing chain/gears? I'm trying to give my rover the best treatment possible to keep it on the road as long as possible.

Any thoughts or recommendations are greatly appreciated, and I am sure I will be back in the next few days as I begin the job. Thanks in advance.

 

00&04 Disco and any others, I too, am about to attempt my head gaskets on my 2004. How tough was it dealing with and removing the SAI? Any tips, thoughts or comments would be appreciated. I am actually looking forward to doing the work, but the SAI makes me cringe!
Thanks, JF

 

I'm with ya! The SAI and exhaust bolts cause me the most concern. One recommendation I was given recently was to bring the engine right up to temp (good 5 to 10 mile drive), then soak the SAI nuts and exhaust bolts with WD40. The heat will help pull the penetrating oil into the treads.

 

My mechanic is going to do my head gaskets this weekend. He says it's unnecessary to machine the heads preemptively. He cleans everything thoroughly, mic's them all carefully and only considers machining if they're uneven. He says with an 04 at my mileage it's unlikely there will be unevenness, and thus machining won't help.

 

He is right, if they are flat, there is no need to mill, but they still need to be rebuilt. Will he be doing that?

 

I've done the head gasket replacement on my 04 disco and used the engine oil on the head bolts. The bolt closest to the firewall on the drivers side is a bugger to break since you have no room to work. I used a degree wheel on my socket for the torque requirement which was a pain to work with. Next time I do it (and I'm sure a next time will happen) after the initial torque I'll mar, the head bolt and use this as my indicator for degrees. You live you learn. Big job anyway you look at it.

 

So I guess I can save the $300 or so from swapping heads out if mine are flat when I remove them. As far as rebuilding them, it may be easier just to go with the core swap and kill two birds with one stone.

Thanks 0304Disco for the engine oil recommendation. I was a little suspicious of the Teflon tape thing, I think the logic behind it had something to do with engine oil "contaminating" the gasket.

 

he says "no, I will just be going over them"

 

That, I would question! If you have the heads out, forgo the mill if they are flat, but still rebuild them. At the very least, they need a good clean, new valve seals and the valves lapped in. The springs, rods and lifters should also be inspected and measured. To my mind, not doing this while they are out is lazy and asking for problems.

 

He's going to rebuild it and mill the heads for an extra $250, for $1250 total.

Said he didnt think it needed a rebuild, and that I wont be able to tell the difference, but it's my Xmas present so I said go for it.

Btw, Roverguy has rebuilt heads for $360 shipped.