Thanks everyone for the info, much appreciated.

Some folks have shared their notes with me from their Disco 1 HG jobs...how applicable are they to Disco 2 jobs?

 

Same thing as far as heads mating to the block.

 

Disco 2 head gasket - I did it in 2012 in a Parking lot in Colorado.
Took me about 2 weeks.
But it was after work and my first LR2.
Was fun.

I took pictures.
These may help.
I have not posted in a looooong time so people probably forgot about these.

Here they are:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/76579732@N07/

 

jfall- I have your flickr bookmarked. Do you have notes or anything else to share? Thanks!

 

Here is all I got. Agreed. Disco 1 is same mating surface to engine.

I have done a D1 too and here is that write up:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/67396537@N03/

I also have general comments - but probably not applicable to the HG job you are facing:

http://jeffreyfall.com/landrover

Good luck to you.
Take it slowly and it will come together.

First thing is to unstack the engine and get all the stuff off -
Plenum and the alternator and all that stuff on top and the valve covers.
You need to get to the heads.

Don't take off the manifolds from the Y pipe.
Just take off the manifold bolts from the heads and let the manifolds just stay on.
You don't want or need to unbolt the manifolds from the Y pipe. Too much work and not needed.
Heads will come off with exhaust manifolds still on the Y pipe.

You will need a breaker bar probably.
You will need a long pipe for leverage.
You will need new head bolts and paint to paint the top of the bolts with a stripe
to figure out how much you are turning them.

Don't rush it and you'll be fine.

Look at the pictures and see where someone had beaten in the firewall to get to
the rear head bolts on my D2.

I was probably the 2nd head gasket change at 97,000 miles. If you can believe that.

 

Oh. And you need BLACK IMPACT socket - 1/2 inch drive.
socket is 5/8th. That fits the head bolts perfectly and is tighter than the metric.
You need impact grade and tight fit.
The force you need to put on these bolts is unbelievable.

You need a torque wrench too.

Wow memories!

 

Oh I met socket is 5/8 inch.

 

Not obvious tips:

- place piece of cardboard behind radiator to protect it while wrenching.

- label rocker assemblies left and right.

- use a shoebox or something deeper and label front, back, and sides. Punch 2 rows of holes and place pushrods in their corresponding holes. Put them in the box as you pull them with bottom facing down and tops up.

- make sure 6 point socket is fully seated on head bolts so you don't strip the heads of the bolts.

- turn crank to get each piston at the top of its stroke and clean piston head carbon off with this tool:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B000P...qQL&ref=plSrch
Careful to not grind on the liner lip of the cylinder. Wipe of dust with oil soaked rag. Try not to spray too much brake clean on piston heads as it will get dust/grit to pass the piston into rings.

- use large knife sharpening stone, fine grit side, and block sand the block side of the mating surface. Look for imperfections.

- most important of all is to thoroughly clean the bolt holes of the block. Buy at least 6 cans of brake clean and blow out each hole several times. Then blow out with shop air if available.

- If using TTY bolts make the 90 degree turns in one smooth movement.

Use this as a guide.

Engine Refresh (top end) | PaulP38A.com

 

Thanks everyone for the tips, still trying to get around to doing this, just been busy with life. You know what I can't really find anywhere? A step by step tutorial for the Disco 2. We come across a bunch for the Disco 1s, but not for the 2s. Wish there was something like that for someone like me.

 

Have you downloaded the D2 workshop manual (RAVE)? That'll give you a pretty good step-by-step on how to move the components all the way down to the heads & gaskets, and put everything back. A little jumping around the manual, but you could print everything off you need to have it at your fingertips. I'm fairly new myself, but the manual has already answered A LOT of questions for me. You can find the manual by a google search, and DiscoMike also has a link to it in his signature I believe. Planning to begin pulling my top end apart this weekend for the same job