Hello everyone, I'm going to go and rescue the brick in a few weeks from singlton, where it is stranded with no head. I was wondering if some clever people could proof read my action plan and tell me if I left anything out.

Once I've taken my head in to the machine shop (need to sure up some funds for that) I'm going to take it 250 kms on a bus to where I was forced to ditch my 245 last week.

I'm hoping to have it reassembled in a day (bus gets into singleton at 8:30 AM) from a 3:25 AM start) This gives me about 8 hours working time to have it back on the road. If need be I'll sleep in the back, then retorque in the morning and drive home.

Anyway, I've written myself a shopping list of things to take on the bus with me. Could someone please tell me if I've missed something, cos I'm not going to be in a position to just pop down the shop for anything I forgot

1. Resurfaced and bead blasted head with camshaft and valves refitted by shop.

2. Elring overhaul kit (have a cheap source) incl gaskets for intake port, exhuast ports, exhuast flange, water pump O-ring, head gasket, front and rear cam seals, and valve cover gasket. Should be some new injector seals too.

3. 10L Shell Helix multigrade
4. 5L coolant concentrate
5. Oil filter.

6. Misc stuff I took out of the head (injector brackets, heater hose fitting, temp sensor, thermal time switch etc.

7. Muffler putty (long story)

8. Thread tape for heater fitting.

9. Sealant for head gasket (should I be using a sealant? If so what kind of stuff would work best?)

10. Toolkit (most of it still with car) including torque wrench, spanners, sockets, ratchet, breaker bar, screwdrivers and jump leads and 10mm hexkey socket.

As well as this list, there are a few questions still on my mind.

Can I reuse the 10mm hex key headbolts? bearing in mind that this is my second top overhaul with the original bolts?

What would be best way to clean and check the mating surface of the block, as I can't have it checked by the shop?

Any advice on greasing the bolt heads? What's the best stuff to use? I noticed when I took the valve cover off that there was less grease on the bolt heads than when I put them in, so the grease has presumably mixed with my oil. Is this a bad thing?

Should i clean out the injectors, as they have had coolant all over them? Same goes for the bore, which was literaly full of green stuff when I pulled the head off. It's probably still got puddles of the stuff on the piston crowns. What's good for that sticky green stuff off with?

What would be the best procedure for warming up and retorquing, given that I really need it to go over 250kms of mountain road within 36-48 hours of starting the job. Hardly ideal for running in I know.

Is it a major drama if I'm unable to retap the head bolt threads in the bore? If I'm lucky I can borrow a tapper, but I may not have one.

I'm inexperienced, unqualified and have no margin for error on this one, so I really need to have it all planned out. Any advice you guys can give me would be very greatly apreciated.
--
Drive it like you hate it