FL1 TD4 head gasket question please ...

Hi all,

Could I please pick your collective brains regarding the above ??

I have an FL1 TD4 which I intend to replace the head itself purely due to coking up as it’s seriously restricted due to lack of prior care really. The head intake ports are seriously gunked up as I suspect is the rest of the head etc ... Now I’ve picked up a light skim’d head, cleaned and valves lapped in, and now I’m at a quandary on where to go in regards to the gasket. So questions I have are:

1) what is the thickness of the head gaske from the factory? Is it 1.45 thou?

2) I’m thinking with only 3-4 thou skimmed off the head to use a factory gasket rather than 10 thou oversize which will lower the compression... is this a bad idea ?

3) how can I tell what thickness it currently has while it’s built? I don’t believe I can ?

Thank you guys, this is my first Landy so I’m getting it right from the word go.

Cheers. AndyG.

If I was faced with your issues.
You offered me the skimmed head for free.
So
Replace a good Td4 head that is merely clogged and married to its block with no warping etc, for one that has been skimmed, valves ground in, questioning the gasket.
Or.
Clean up the head, smooth any cast flashes in the ports, make sure valves are nicely seated, use genuine gasket.
Well, you would still have the skimmed head, that is for certain.

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