Did my head gaskets in a parking lot after work - and in the dark two years ago in Boulder CO.
I really enjoyed it.
I took it slow.
I used a spare battery and a voltage inverter and a CFC trouble light as there was no power in that parking lot.

Plenty of fresh air and no one bothered me except this nice fellow in a jeep who was curious.

He did not think it was crazy at all.

Take a look at the pictures.
You need 5/8" impact sockets to get the head bolts out.

Flickr: Landroverdude2's Photostream

 

Once you get it finished - you can take it to the car wash.
Or maybe take it BEFORE to get all the grime off.

I took it after..

here is the clean running engine after the head gaskets were replaced:

 

That's inspiring. I really hope that I end up with the same result. I'm sure it will be less daunting after I've done it once, but right now it seems like a nearing major surgery.

 

Nah.
It takes hours to unbolt all the stuff to even get to the heads.
Once you get in that deep well then you keep going.

If you don't know what you are doing you need to go slow.
If you have never worked on an engine, then this is not a way to learn.

 

I have swapped engines, added superchargers, etc in the past, but never worked on a Land Rover. I think I should be fine since I'm having a friend help who is a VW mechanic. I'm sure that it will be fine, it's just that this engine/job is new to me and since I just bought the Disco, I a bit anxious to do it right. Luckily this forum is full of useful info and members. Thanks again guys.

 

I can't seem to find any mention of having to remove the engine to use bolts, but maybe someone who has used them can chime in.

no need to remove the engine at all, just unbolt the heads as usual. insert all the studs except the last couple on the driver side put the head on and insert the studs.
the studs on go hand tight into the block, then the nuts are torqued down

 

There are two little aligning dowels on the block. Get the head in place and then insert the studs. That's how I ended up doing it, worked great. I have one of those Allen head sockets that have a ball shape on the end so you can turn it at an angle, that helped a lot.

For torquing down the back nuts I used some wobble extensions so I had just enough room for the torque wrench.

 

OK so - WHEN are you going to start the job?

 

I'll be starting Friday the 11th in the afternoon and hoping to be able to drive home Sunday night.

 

you're starting it on Friday and will have it running on Sunday night, and when will the heads be decked?