Hi all
Happy Bunny here..... finally got around to finishing the head gasket replacement on the RR after two weeks of rushing out between showers and dusk (mental note - buy a house with a GARAGE next time).
Thanks to all that gave me advice on what to do, and not to do, for the job. End result is that my V6 is, once again, a V8 and no longer pours steam out of the exhaust. You can get a stuck rotor arm off the dizzy shaft by clamping it judiciously in a vice - mole grips are not man enough.
Big downers were: water temperature sensor finally decided to lose the male connection that has been threatening to fall off for four years - new ones are cheap but what a poxy place to have to get to with a spanner. I (again) managed to get the dizzy back in 180 degrees out but, having previously done this countless times, fixed it in a jiffy. For the first time I managed to get the timing gun wires wrapped around one of the pulleys - I think I got the timing set about right but I need a new gun :-(
Not for the first time - just how much better is the design on a 3.9 over the 3.5? The 3.5 EFi is plainly evolved from the earlier ones I have owned but, frankly, it is patently obvious where they have cobbled on the extra bits and it makes the whole thing a monumental pain in the glass to work on - did they design out the fiddley bits on a 3.9 or is it just as bad?
Graeme