My old boss in the USMC once told me " The two worst sounds you can ever hear are the sound of a .45 having its slide racked and the other is the sound of a 12 gauge pump shotgun having a round racked and you aint the one doing the racking!"
I'm going to add a third sound to that: " The sound of a Discovery head bolt first cracking and you have never done a job like this before!"
I got the heads off my D2 today and I want to thank everyone you chimed in with advice. It looks like the leak was a precursor to major issues and the passenger side was not far behind. My heads are so filled with carbon i may have to use dynamite to get them clean. I'm already 2/3 of the way thru a can of break cleaner and it looks like I barely made a dent.
Once again, thanks to my fellow rovers for you assistance.

 

Having just done HGs on one of mine, I went through 4-5 cans of cleaner lol and a lot of abrasive pads haha.

 

Matt, you should get a Bronze Star simply for having been on this board going on 11 years and not having had to hear a Discovery head bolt crack. I made it 11 months and decided it was time to do the headgaskets before they chose the weekend. Good luck with the rebuild.

 

Spray-on oven cleaner is great for cleaning heads. Don't leave it too long (like, maybe 5-10 minutes) or it will start to degrade the aluminium.

 

Ceramic scrapers work well too, if you are easy with them you will never damage the aluminum.

 

Take those beds to a machine shop and have them rebuilt. They will be gleaming when you get them back.

 

Knowing that l've got a hot load already resting patiently in the tube...gives me some comfort to hearing those two noises...since...l know l'm already one step ahead of them.

 

Deputy- if your name here has anything to do with your profession, then I get it.

 

Nope, the Deputy is the one sleeping on my shoulder...







He's been gone for just a little over a six months and not a day goes by...

 

Dogs are special and bird dogs are just a whole 'nother lever of divine.