Some advice on head bolt problem please

This site contains affiliate links for which LandyZone may be compensated if you make a purchase.
N

Neoneil

New Member
Posts
11
Location
Essex
Hi I have a problem which I cannot seem to get my head around no pun intended. I am by no means a mechanic but have worked on all of my own vehicles with my friends mr Haynes and mr google. We have a 69 series two with a rover 3.5 v8 engine with 14 bolt heads, this week I have attempted to do a head gasket change and so far I have got a sunburnt head and a few square inches of knuckle skin missing but with a lot of Agg and sweat got the heads off which all looked in good condition, cleaned up all the surfaces and was happy that It was just assembly and so out I went this morning with my shiny passenger side head and my landrover manual. I fit the gasket and head and tightened the bolts in order to hand tight, then started in order to the next stage of 20 lbf I got to no. 10 n it just kept turning uh oh. I took it back out and there on the bolt was what I presume is a helicoil. So I came back in,washed my hands,smoked and sulked,kicked the dog (metaphorically before the RSPCA come round) until writing this. Any advice on my next step would be great and if possible a low cost option as the pockets are as empty as my head at present. Thanks
 
Any help or advice would be welcomed please. Should I be looking for a second hand original engine or even possibly sell the car and start again or even break it for parts
 
Hi thanks for the reply. My problem is that I don't know if the helicoil was correct for the hole or if the hole was drilled to the wrong size, I have been looking at engines and they are out of my price range. I didn't want to buy a helicoil kit and it not fit so is there a way of knowing? As I said the helicoil came out with the bolt but because I have never used them I don't know if it is complete or if some is left in the hole. I wish I could afford to give it to someone who does know but due to not having spare cash around that is out of the question so I was just after some sort of reassurance that I could possibly fix it or wether to out it. As I said I have basic skills and can follow instructions but I ain't a mechanic and this is our first land rover
 
look down the hole and see if theres anything left in there

engine swap isn't hard just a bit time consuming, this is going off the assumption that yours has the correct engine mounts in it unlike my V8 conversion by previous owner

your other option is to see which hole it is and then see if you can get away with swapping over to 10 bolt heads instead of 14s
 
It is bolt number 10 which is the furthest forward inside the head itself and I am not sure about the mounts but the engine sits way back against the bulkhead and the gear lever is slightly off centre towards the rear.
 
thats how the engine should sit, no idea on the bolts as I cant remember the diagram

but look at the mounts and see if they have a 1.5"-2" vertical slot rather than just a single hole in a plate which has just been welded onto the originals

the prior are the ones you want for an easy life when swapping the engine over
 
Thank you very much for your replies, the weather has not been great but I have had a look and it appears I have original engine mounts so if it comes to an engine change I am hoping that the only modification is the plate between engine and gearbox I am only guessing from what I have read so if I'm wrong please put me right. So firstly I have ordered the 7/16 v-coil kit and will have it tomorrow, I chose this one at 35 pounds as it says it is compatible with the original helicoil system and I'm hoping it is a lot better quality than the draper kit for 20 pounds. I am also presuming as it has been helicoiled previously I will not need to use the drill but but just run the tap down the hole to clean it up then fit the coil with the supplied tool. If this fails I think I will just get a standard 2.25 petrol engine and have myself a v8 coffee table. Thanks for the replies and any other advice is always welcomed
 
Just a little update. The helicoils seem to work :) I took the passenger side wing off too get the right angle to drill the block at the right angle and being my first ever repair of this sort I was pretty anxious but I drilled it and the tap in the vcoil kit was very good quality and threaded the hole with ease it then took me a very long time to remove the debris from the hole with a flat screwdriver as a rudimentary scoop.anyway I wanted to do the job properly and not rush. so next I wound the new flimsy looking coil into the hole with the supplied tool thinking the whole time that there is no way that thing ain't going to pull 70 lbft torque when I fit the head. Happily it did hold up I did the head bolts in order to 20lbft then to 45 lbft then nervously to the 65-70 lbft and voila. Just the inlet manifold to go. Thanks again all
 
Nice one fella
Stuff like that is all down to patience,

Wot really got you through was the thought of going back to a 2 1/4 from an 8 :D
 
Yea your right on both counts lol. Hopefully Friday I can get my inlet manifold and rocker tops on and have her running for the weekend....... Cycling is killing me lol. I just wanted to update the post in case anybody else was in the same situation...... Massively outa depth with arms flailing. And also to say that the vcoil kit I bought was brilliant
 
All back together and started with a few turns and I ran it for about half an hour and all seems fine except for a slight ticking sound from near side. So once again thanks all
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

L
DISCO V8 NO HEAD GASKET FITTED!!??
Replies
8
Views
1K
Stanleysteamer
Stanleysteamer
A
Ingenium head gasket
Replies
0
Views
457
Adrian1994
A
J
Leaded additives for unleaded head
Replies
3
Views
845
kermit_rr
kermit_rr
Captain Cavemen
Series 3 petrol 2.25 head gasket
Replies
14
Views
2K
Captain Cavemen
Captain Cavemen
L
110 19J Temperature Gauge Reading High
Replies
2
Views
445
Landysteve9607
L
Back
Top