Head Gasket change

[PeterAllen]

Hi all,
as luck would have it, I am preparing myself for a head gasket change, pretty sure it has blown from No 6 to the outside as can feel air movement around there and exhaust manifold looks good and air movement is below manifold from my limited estimation. Will do a pressure check before getting too far down the track. No oil leaks or water other than the heater o ring but thats for another day.
Given it is the head gasket, what should also be replaced, camshaft? valve seals, timing chain etc.
Have looked on 4 x 4 island site and wondered what was in the head gasket kit..that is what else do I need to order above and beyond.
Engine is a 4.6 96 Gems and has done 310K unknown service history pre 230K.
Engine has not made any unusual noises and seems to run sweet so not sure if I need to look at other stuff when doing the gasket change.
The gasket kit is pretty cheap at 42 pound plus shipping but if I go the camshaft,lifters, valve seal etc then things start to look uglier.

Any thoughts?
Has anyone bought from other recomended uk sites?

[Porchy]

G'day mate,
With 310k on the clock it would probably be worth grabbing a VRS kit and doing all the top end gaskets. While the heads are off and being faced the machinist should be able to check whether you need the valves reseated and if so, a three angle cut on those shouldn't cost too much and he can fit the new relevant hardware from the VRS kit. In regards to cam, unless you are experiencing the symptoms of worn lobes it should still be good. It's up to you in terms of lifters as they wont be too hard to replace if the valley is off. If you do all of this the top end will have effectively had a rebuild then (minus the new valves etc).

cheers
Porchy

[MacMan]

I've disassembled my 307,000km old 3.9 v8 and found that even though the internals looked clean, heads needed doing (5 new valved due to water exposure) and the cam is definitely past its best. Timing chain was very loose. For the sake of a three or so hundred do cam and lifters too with new timing gear. A new set of lifters and the old cam will be worse than doing nothing in my opinion because they wear into each other. New "perfect" lifters will accelerate wear on the cam and beat the lifters about in the process.

[Porchy]

Yep my bad. Good point. If you do one you should do the other.

Porchy

[wayneg]

As a matter of interest has anyone changed the cam. Can it be removed with the Aircon Rad in situe or does all in front of the engine need to be removed.

[Hoges]

Ron P38arover I think has achieved this... the radiator is fairly simple to remove, other stuff can be held aside while the cam is extracted, if you have 4 arms or a helper :D