Head removed and liners level with block face .. Advice please

[Mogmike]

Heads off and not as messy a head gasket as I imagined.. mind you the rocker cover gasket clearly overheated. First check is the liners..the tops are all level with the block face. Don't know if this is normal or have they dropped..? I note that the club info on gasket replacement states that the new multi layer gasket should only be used if the liners are at least 3mm above the face.. That puts me inline for the existing elastomer again.
On a brief check of the head there's no real measurable distortion..so that's a relief. I don't know if it's worth fitting the strengthened oil rail..and advice please whether I should take the valves out and replace the valve seals..?
I shall replace the cam belt and water pump as a matter of course.. Any thoughts on liners position and other advice is very welcome. Haven't placed the repair kit order as yet.. Thanks for help and comments to date..

[rrobson]

First off, what have you measured the liner heights with? The liner heights should be 0.003” to 0.005” or 0.075mm to 0.125mm. You should measure this with a straight edge and feeler gauges. They may appear to be level, but may in fact be slightly proud.

If your going to do a proper job I would recommend the following
- remove all the items from the head including the valves and inspect for damage
- lap the valves in as there will certainly be pitting on the valve and valve seat sealing faces
- replace the valve stem seals if necessary but inspect for excess wear along with valve guides. They don’t always need doing but if your removing the valves you may as well change the stem seals. Guides aren’t usually an issue.
-check the head sealing face for softening around the fire ring. If it’s suffered an overheat the exhaust side especially will have an indented ring where the head face has softened. This will not reseal and will require a skim.
- remove the piston and rod assemblies and check for bearing and journal wear. Measure bearing clearances while assembling.
- measure the liner heights using the aforementioned method
- remove the liners and inspect for damage or wear. There will likely be some unusual wear and may require changing. If it’s had a head gasket change in the past there will almost certainly be some water damage.
- clean the liner seal location and corresponding locations in the block. Using hylomar, apply a thin bead around the seal location and reinstall.
- check the rings for damage and measure the gap by installing a set of rings into the liner and measuring with feeler gauges. Also check the oil drains are clear in the piston itself
- Having checked the bearings, lightly buff with scotchbrite, wipe clean, smear with oil and reinstall the piston and rod assemblies
- remeasure the liner heights to ensure they are in tolerance. Liner clamps will be required to prevent the liners lifting while installing piston assemblies.

Strengthened oil ladder not a necessity, but an improvement over the old design. You won’t be able to measure the head distortion without the help of a surface table and feeler gauges. Not something many have kicking around. But asses bearing in mind it will likely need a skim anyway. I personally dont like the mls gasket, even if the liner heights are in tolerance. I use the elastomer whenever I rebuild an engine but much of that is personal preference. I’ve never had any issues with the elastomers.

[BigRuss]

Yes, lapping the valves in is a necessity, it's amazing how many cars I see where this hasn't been done

Saw one just the other day where this had obviously not been done.

Once the head has been done it really needs the adaptions and settings done properly on T4 to get everything set up properly.
Without doing that the engine won't run at its best

Russ

[Mogmike]

Many thanks rrobson and BigRuss..Some excellent detailed advice.. I have used the metal straight edge and feelers but I admit my finest feeler gauge is 1.5 thou so perhaps not fine enough.
I'm looking to put the car back on the road as soon as so not wishing to do a belt and braces job but thorough enough. I will look at lapping the valves in and checking the seals. The car has done 56k and from experience I would say the block, head and the head gasket do not look cooked ..
I confess I don't fancy taking the liners out.. is there any way of visually checking their seal while the sump's off..?
No visual signs of fire ring damage on the head..I've attached a low res pic but hopefully good enough to see...
Once again many thanks for taking the time to vive some very welcome advice...👍👍

[mh007]

Remove the valves, get the head skimmed (only my personal opinion), lap the valves in & replace the stem seals.
Reassemble with the Payen replacement for the original Elastomer design head gasket (if your liners are not sitting as proud as required).
The Elastomer design is much more forgiving than the MLS item with regards to liner height.
Use new head bolts (yes, this is a must) & replace the oil rail if you want to.
Use new cam seals back & front along with all other associated gaskets.
Fit a new timing belt kit & water pump, new oil & filter & OAT antifreeze.
I would also recommend checking/changing the thermostat.
Only remove the sump if you intend to change the oil rail or to remove the big end caps/pistons/liners.

[shona13]

I bought a rover 75 with a stuffed engine and am in the process of rebuilding it ,I have a question, when reassembling the cylinder head ,it mentions to seal the camshaft bearing housing to the cylinder head and am wondering why that would not alter the journal dimensions by adding the thickness of gasket goo,!

[Fred Byrne]

Seal with Hylomar blue. Use the sealant sparingly and spread it on the mating surfaces with a credit card or something similar. I used the wooden stick from a Magnum ice cream bar. Tighten down the bolts in the correct order and do this gradually so that it takes three or four passes before the bolts are all tightened to the proper torques. The film of sealant that remains between the two mating surfaces is neglgible as the machined surfaces should mate precisely.

Fred

[Fred Byrne]

Make sure the head is not distorted. Do this carefully and thoroughly as I have just had a prologed sequence of events from not checking this properly before re-asssembly.
Fred

[torque2me]

Originally Posted by Fred Byrne

Seal with Hylomar blue. Use the sealant sparingly and spread it on the mating surfaces with a credit card or something similar. I used the wooden stick from a Magnum ice cream bar. Tighten down the bolts in the correct order and do this gradually so that it takes three or four passes before the bolts are all tightened to the proper torques. The film of sealant that remains between the two mating surfaces is neglgible as the machined surfaces should mate precisely.

Fred

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Kev