I got my head gaskets all swapped out. It was a considerably easier job than I expected. granted I spent three weeks cleaning and inspecting every part that I took off before I put it back on. but I did have a couple things i wanted to share that I found helpful in the process. One thing I used is citrus strip from home depot. that stuff will clean any of the heavy built up oil that is burnt into the valve covers or on the push rods. a little coat of wd-40 left on the piston tops will allow you to vacuum the carbon build up right off the top the next day...
I also picked up some electrical contact cleaner and autozone sells an aerosol can of dielectric grease. similar to what that canned "easy cheese" comes in. it is a permatex product. so I cleaned all my electrical connections and put grease in them as I reassembled the engine. I also use about two bottles of eagle one mag wheel cleaner. it is designed for non clear coated wheels, and it actuallly etches the aluminum and cleans it very thoroughly. as you can see in my pic the heads and manifold look like new raw aluminum.. I also found that duplicolor engine paint comes in a color called "racing green hunter" that I think is pretty damn close to rover green.. so I did my valve covers! I think it's cool.. [IMG][/IMG]

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Very nice!.So that's what it looks like under the protective oil layer.

 

yeah I eliminated the self lubrication system!

 

Wow that's purdy darn clean. Nice work, thanks for the eagle 1 recommendation . I'm going to get some

 

Quick - roast some meat on the fire to honor the Rover gods. Snug up hose clamps in about a week or two.