Thanks for the information. Any recommendations for timing chain parts, head bolts and gaskets? I found a good looking timing chain kit on Turner's website.
https://www.turnerengineering.co.uk/...it-c2x29377550

 

Personally I'm going to go with land rover parts. I am doing all the work myself so I am already saving a ton of money doing that, I'm not going to pinch too many pennies on the parts. The Turner Engineering kit is at an extremely low price point, so it very well may be a good deal. I did speak with them personally and they said that it is made in the "Far East". I take that to mean it's made somewhere in China and I personally wouldn't put my engine on the line with its quality. To each their own though. If you go that route please do report back on your results.

Atlantic British has a land rover genuine set for around a $1000. It does inclued some pieces that are likely reusable, however, like the oil jets and certain hardware. I am going directly to an online dealer site and ordering only the pieces that I want to replace.

LR012004
LR012637
LR012110
LR051008
LR051011
LR051012
LR051013

These are the part numbers that I plan on buying directly from a land rover dealership. If you copy and paste that part number list into a dealer parts website you will see the parts and their prices. I am seeing them online for a total of around $750 for that list.

 

I didn't realize Turner's kit was made in China (or Laos). Thanks for the part numbers, you are a great resource. I'm glad I found this thread

 

Update on a slight delay. After disassembling the valve train on the 1st head and cleaning the valves, I was not happy with the condition of the exhaust set. After looking around at options for replacement valves, the price differential between after markets and direct landrover valves through the dealer was minimal. Decided to just put factory land rover valves back in. It's taking a little time for the dealer to ship these . Will hopefully see them next week and begin to move forward again. I did find time to clean the head at least.

 

Minor setback:

As I made further progress cleaning up the block in preparation for new gaskets, I vacuumed out the head bolt holes. I also threaded the bolts back in to check the holes, and unfortunately found that the center top hole on the passenger side has fouled threads. This is the same location where the bolt was loose when I 1st disassembled the head. This is also the same location where I see evidence of an adjacent head gasket leak. I don't believe this engine ever overheated, so I'm not sure exactly why these threads gave way. I'm guessing they just gave up due to fatigue, which ultimately allowed the head to lift leading to head gasket failure.

It may be unrelated, but it is also interesting that this head bolt appears slightly off color when compared to the rest. It seems slightly more fresh, as it was the only one bathe in oil. I found no other evidence of this head being worked on before, and the bolt is otherwise identical to the rest, so I don't believe it was ever replaced previously. Thinking out loud, the oil could have filled the hole after the bolt failed due to decreased head gasket seal in that area. The oil passage is just above this bolt hole so that would make sense. Since the head gasket failure is relatively recent, however I don't see how this would have change the appearance of the bolt. Alternatively, somehow the oil may have penetrated that both shaft 1st long before the HG leak, this may explain the difference in coloration as this bolt was bathed in oil for years, preventing it from aging. If that is the case I wonder if such a situation could have prompted gradual loosening of the bolt as it went through heat cycles as the threads were under constant lubrication?

Regardless, I now have to proceed with placing a thread insert. Looks like its time-sert vs NS300L kit. I like the look of the NS300L. In both cases the kit is relatively expensive due to all the drill bits, taps and jigs that are necessary. The insert themselves are reasonable. Does anyone happen to have one of these kits that they would mind renting or loaning me? I'll post this request in another thread as well. If not I guess I'll bite the bullet and get one and then offer it out to anyone else who follows this path.

 

I’m literally in the SAME exact position right now man.

I pulled my heads off and two of the center threads on the driver side head backed out.

im looking at this kit

https://www.huhnsolutions.com/jaguar

I’ll probably order it it and complete the job.

maybe if one of us orders the kit first we can split the cost.

once I’m done, or you’re done just ship the kit/payment

 

Chuck,

Seems to be a common problem. I actually just emailed Norm my order for that exact kit probably 3 hours ago! Are you working with the M10x1.5 head bolts?

 

yep same head bolts

 

So the more that I think about it, the more I am convinced that the thread failure led to my head gasket problem, not the other way around.

As the engine heat cycles everything expands, stretching the head bolts each time. The bolts are steel and designed to handle this stress. The steel bolts in softer aluminum with fine threads seems to just fatigue at the aluminum threads over time. Eventually the threads give way, the bolt no longer holds torque, and a head gasket leak develops. If this is caught early, the engine maybe saved, if not caught early complete overheating and catastrophic damage occurs.

This leaves me concerned with only fixing the threads that I identify as damaged now. Even if I successfully torque the head down after the repair, there is no guarantee that this will last. All of the other threads have been under the same stress over the last 100k miles as the one that failed. So potentially another could fail at any time. It may go for a while, but that is the kind of uncertainty that no one wants on the road or trail.

At this point my plan is to place steel inserts into all 20 head bolt holes now while everything is apart.

 

Yea you definitely don’t want to do just a couple.

I spoke to a machine shop out here and he says it’s common on these engines and that you need to do all 20 bolts.

if you don’t, you’ll be doing the job again soon.


and yes I’m working with the M10 1.5 bolts as well