newbie and lots of trouble!

Hi everyone and thanks in advance for your expertise!
I have to complete some work on a friends 1.8kseries freelander (1999)
It has a number of issues.
1 it uses coolant and as far as i can tell has no exterior leaks (so i assume with the engines reputation) this is going to be the cylinder head gasket. Is this a straghtforward job and will i find any suprises like a cracked head??,I hear that their is a modified multilayer metal gasket which will cure the problem permanently.its just failed its emmision test and i wonder if the antifreeze has ruined the kat or do they just fail anyway?
2 their seem to be a wheel bearing type noise from the drive train( i renewed the prop bearings (2) about a year ago) (no vibration just a rumble/ roar)
3 their seems to be a lot of axle wind up when manouvering the car using lots of lock (the front cv joints click and crack when doing this) It seems fine when in a straight line,but as soon as you put on steering lock it feels as if the brakes have been applied. is this the vcu problem ive just been learning about fom other owners and is that unit the big drum in the prop assy or is it inside the gearbox?
4 I need to buy a cv boot kit for the rear prop cvjoint at the front of the propshaft,why do landrover only sell you that if you buy the whole prop!!!!
if the vcu is part of the prop and i need that as well ill buy the whole unit otherwise i need to get a boot kit.
i thank all you experts for your advice Christian

1. There is an updated gasket set available which is believed to be much better. The big surprise can be that a liner can recede rendering the block scrap. Use a straight edge & feelers to check this. If the engine is using coolant then a sniff test will confirm this & the engine probably won't run well enough to pass an emission test though it's best to prepare for requiring some more work after. Try using a product called cataclean in the fuel once everything else is sorted to see if you can help clean your catalytic converter. It's always being advertised in Car Mechanics magazine.

2. Any serious tightness on full lock means the VCU warrants further investigation, plenty of info on here if you search.

3. There are places who sell cv boots if you can give them the two diameters, though usually for driveshafts. Try your local good quality old school motor factors or do a web search.

Good luck with your repairs & I'm sure you'll get more good advice from the other guys. Chaser is usually quite good with these sort of problems.

liner height is critical - so much so that LR have changed the spec. If I remember correctly, it used to be 0.001" proud - now 0.005" proud. Look in the Q&As bit.

May not be hgf?

Coolant cap, inlet gasket, IRD o-ring, heater matrix, all possible.

What were the emissions values, CAT could be dead, totally unrelated to coolant loss.

Just for the record, my FL passed its MOT with minor hgf cylinder 1.

Sealey do gaitor kits

Check this thread to test your VCU
www.landyzone.co.uk/lz/f9/vcu-again-52387.html