Which 200TDI head gasket?

I have now stripped my (Disco) 200TDI donor engine and cleaned, checked & refreshed the block including a lick of gold paint and am ready to reassemble.

Now buying all the bits I need and I've hit a snag - there seem to be different types of head gasket identified by notches / holes, trouble is my old head gasket is long since in the bin....

Is there a way to tell which gasket I need from the block / head alone?

no you need to fit pistons first to be exact

As James says, you need to have pistons fitted and measure the over step of the piston crowns, I know most people seem to fit a 3 hole (the thickest gasket) on and call it done.

thanks for the replies, I've got a fair bit to do and I am going to port / polish the head which will take some time, so I'll get the pistons in and go from there.

dieseldog69 said:

As James says, you need to have pistons fitted and measure the over step of the piston crowns, I know most people seem to fit a 3 hole (the thickest gasket) on and call it done.

Click to expand...

So three holes is the thickest? I am going to up the boost so may make sense to fit the thickest gasket anyway.

EvangelicAtheist said:

So three holes is the thickest? I am going to up the boost so may make sense to fit the thickest gasket anyway.

Click to expand...

Be sure to get a pyro gauge if you are going to tune it to within an inch of it's life, but fit a better intercooler as well to reduce the intake temps from higher boost which will help reduce the EGTs.

dieseldog69 said:

Be sure to get a pyro gauge if you are going to tune it to within an inch of it's life, but fit a better intercooler as well to reduce the intake temps from higher boost which will help reduce the EGTs.

Click to expand...

All planned I have drilled & tapped the 200TDI manifold to take a 300TDI EGR blanking plate with an 1/8 NPT boss so I can fit the EGT sender, although I am not going mental with the boost, my fast days are over I just would like to be able to keep up with regular traffic (!) and will be towing a heavy boat. I plan to custom fit an intercooler, oil cooler and rad rather than go with a 200TDI unit as well to get max cooling.

EvangelicAtheist said:

I have now stripped my (Disco) 200TDI donor engine and cleaned, checked & refreshed the block including a lick of gold paint and am ready to reassemble.

Now buying all the bits I need and I've hit a snag - there seem to be different types of head gasket identified by notches / holes, trouble is my old head gasket is long since in the bin....

Is there a way to tell which gasket I need from the block / head alone?

View attachment 173947

Click to expand...

Just put the 3 hole gasket on.
I did on all the 200tdi builds I did and all were good.

Here is the finished product, my fully rebuilt 200TDi with ported head and matched manifolds ready to be fitted in a couple of weeks along with a reconditioned R380 gearbox fitted with a Defender selector rail.

I will be having nightmares about puddles of oil for the next two weeks!!