As you will know, water pumps in V8 like to go, and when they go, you face the dreaded "frozen-seized bolt syndrom", as there are steel bolts in a aluminum block.
Sometimes it's possible to undo them, sometimes they break, and some times they strip the threads.

To avoid all this and using the law of physics, I used heat. Just started the D2, took it fpor a spin (around 10 km) so the engine was nice and warm.
Aluminium expands far more than steel. So I took cowlings, fan and pulleys off and just cracked the bolts, less than half a turn, and nipped them again to prevent leaks and scalding, one by one.

I let the truck cool and all bolts came out surpisingly easy, as well as the gasket (when undoing the bolts the pressure just softened it.

Just to help any other enthusiasts
Best regards from the other side of the pond
Robert