well i am going to have to pull the heads off my p38a 4.6 but looking at it can someone tell me which is easiest .
1 unbolt the downpipe/ manifold joints ?

2 remove the manifolds from the head in situ ( ive read on here some horror stories )
the fact that i will be doing the job outside my home and not at work in the workshop i am obviously looking for thee most straight forward route if possible cheers.
rick.

I just did the head gasket on my disco 300TDi and I was amazed at how easy everything came off. Including the exhaust/inlet manifolds. If you give everything a good soaking with WD40/Plusgas beforehand you might be surprised.

Removal of the heat shields around the manifolds is a pain in the ass as the screws holding both halves together are usually solid. Remove the nuts at the downpipes but get yourself some M10 studs and nuts first in case the studs break because of the nuts. When the heads are off, if the exhaust manifold gaskets are o.k., don't disturb them. I had a cracked weld on the r.h. manifold (Common fault) and had to wrck the heat shield to get it off as the rear manifold bolts are almost impossible to remove/refit with it on. It can be repaired by using M5 rivnuts and new screws.

thanks for your input guys .
rick.