Ben,

Don't use hightack. Don't buy silicone. Buy some right stuff. Use it for the oil pan, put nothing on the valve covers, you should have rubber gaskets. Put some just on the corners of the rubber end seals, top and bottom. Buy some permatex aviation form a gasket, place a good coating aound the water jackets on the head gasket both sides, that ought to take care of it.

Scott

Ben,
Hylomar is your friend.  Get it at Baxters.  Another good choice is Copper Coat, which used to be made by K&W but is now a CRC brand I think.  Stay away from any form of RTV, that sili-snot is the Devil's spawn.  I might catch hell for the opinion, but it's based on experience -- every engine I've disassembled that had RTV used for gasket sealant has had remnants in bad places -- like oil passages, water passages...  I know a guy in the Portland Alfa club that had a freshly rebuilt engine go up in smoke at a track day, AFTER proper break-in.  When they tore it down, it had a booger of RTV blocking the main oil feed to the crank.  It burned up the bearings in no time.

Ben,

Of course you will get different opinions from different people.   Land Rover gaskets suck. Period.  So, everyone has tried something different to get them last longer.  This method has worked for me for years with proven field results.  The water jackets are at the end of each head and run almost the entire height of the gasket.  Form-a-gasket is not silicone, it's a sealer, it will not plug anything up, use it.  Yes, even with composite gaskets.  If the composite gaskets were so wonderful Rover heads wouldn't leak like they do would they?   Coat both sides, trust me.  It will paint on with an applicator brush, coat the gasket, install it and once the heads are torqued, you can use a coat hanger, or mechanics wire and clean out the oil supply hole to the rocker shaft.  This is the hole above the water jacket on the gasket.  Land Rover rockers are oiled through the shaft not the push rods.  Cleaning the hole is a safety measure just in case anything got in while the repair took place.

OK, I got the Permatex Right Stuff in a can, The Aviation Grade Gasket Maker in a bottle with a brush, and I also picked up some High Tack Gasket sealer in a bottle with a brush because it looks like the valley gasket might do well with it.

You say to apply the gasket maker to the synthetic gasket itself? Both sides, but just around the area on the end where the coolant comes through, right?

Ben,

Yes, to the gasket itself. On the water jackets, which are at the ends, coat both sides. It will brush on thinly, more like a rubber cement than silicone.

Scott

OK, I'm reviving this thread because I am still getting no straight answer on the valley end seals from anyone at dweeb.

I was told to get the Right Stuff, Aviation Gasket Sealer, and High-Tack. I have all three.

I need to put the valley gasket in and the end seals.

All I need to know is what do I use on the end seals? For the life of me I can't make heads or tails of the responses I'm getting, it's worse than trying to grade 120 history research papers written by 8th graders -- and I should know!

DO NOT say silicone -- I don't have silicone. DO NOT say RVT -- I don't have RVT I just need to know what goop I use on which gasket.

VALLEY GASKET = ?
END SEALS = ?
VALVE COVERS = ?

Thanks.

Right Stuff on corner where heads meet block, covered by end seals. Only in the corners.

High-Tack on valley gasket.

Perfect Seal (av gasket crap) on cover side only of valve cover gasket. Stick gasket to cover and let set for 30 mins or more.

Ya... see... I forgot the right stuff over the coolant holes on the heads. Am I screwed?

And I didn't put high-tack on the valley gasket because I swear someone told me not to.

And I put the covers on with Right Stuff in the groove, then aviation gasket maker stuff on the flat side.

So, really, I just did this whole job, finally got around to finishing it, and I totally screwed it up didn't I? I was trying to be so stinking meticulous too. I'm not sure why I got this so badly screwed up! I even printed out all the advice people gave on these three things and I thought I was following it exactly!

Ben don't sweat it. The worst thing that can happen is you have some leaks. If so, you can always do some rework some weekend.

Of course, it will still leak. It's a Rover!

Started instantly... but...

1. Is air in the coolant system that still needs to be burped out going to act a bit like a head gasket leak? Like a pressurized overflow tank?

2. How do I make sure the oil is circulating fine after the engine being empty for so long? No oil light. But it seems like there is some noise coming from the passenger side valve cover, and looking in the oil filler cap doesn't do much good since it is brand new 5w30 -- couldn't see it anyway. How do I get the oil to start circulating if it isn't doing so correctly right now?

3. High idle. I think it may be the stupid spring on the throttle body -- I have no clue if I installed it correctly, and the RAVE is stupid too.

4. Should I expect some exhaust steam and a bit of rough running after the engine and half tank of gas has been sitting for 3 months?

5. Did I just do this job for nothing?

1. Possibly. I'd believe that until proven otherwise.

2. You packed the pump with Vaseline so it would prime, right? You might have some lifters not fully extended. Give them a little time before you worry. You could always pull the valve cover and take a peek. Make sure all your rockers are properly torqued, and that you didn't accidentally leave a sealant tube cap or something in there...

3. As long as the throttle plate is closing to spec (which is probably not 100%, they usually have a little gap so they don't stick or wear the TB housing), that shouldn't affect your idle. You can pull the intake boot and check that. You might not have the TPS quite in the right position, you might still have a vacuum leak somewhere. Did you pull the idle stepper? Did you put it back with whatever gasket it had originally? Poke around a little.

4. Yes.

5. No. Chances are, it will all be fine. No matter what, you learned something. And don't underestimate the value of the quality entertainment you provided to the Rover community at large!

I never opened the front cover. I pulled the distributor for access, but didn't go any further. I seem to remember that these trucks sometimes loose their prime when you change oil and don't get it put back together correctly or something?

The throttle... I didn't pull the stepper, I did forget to put the little vac hose back, and that seemed to fix 90% of the rought idle -- but then, I can't check idle very well right now since it is idling at 1000 rpm.

Well, on a good note... it started instantly. It runs smoothly -- even if it isn't getting oil! And it is nice and clean.