Rover 200 & 400 Owners Club

Well, I knew it would happen eventually, no matter how carefully I've treated the old girl, there's oil mixing in my 214's expansion tank so it looks like the head gasket is on it's way out. I've read that the improved Land Rover head gasket (part nos. LVB500190) should provide me with the best replacement. One quick question, will this fit a 1400cc K (being designed for a 1.8 ) and do I really need to use Land Rover spec head bolts and the improved lower rail as well? (head bolts work out at over £50 from LR, the lower rail seems like a bit too much for a SPi 1400 K.... )

Firstly yes it'll work on the 1.4

The headbolts on the K series are stretch bolts so if yours are stretched too much then they'll need replacing. The landrover ones are probably stronger but as you say it might be a bit over the top for a 214spi. Also people have fitted the head gasket without the lower ladder rail before without any problems. What is CRITICAL with the new landrover gasket is that the height of the liners above the block is within specificiation. If not it'll actually be worse than a standard gasket.

I've changed many K-series head gaskets and never had any problems wth the o.e rover gasket and metal dowels that replace the plastic ones,i've only ever once found the stretch bolts out of tolerance so have re-used them.
Oil in the water is usually hard to get out of the system as the white sludge doesn't like to budge!.

Cheers for the help guys. I'm having the cambelt changed too, it was not changed since the last time the head gasket went, at 110,000 miles, it's now on 160,000. (I believe the K has 60,000 mile intervals, but it does need doing now)
The chap at the Land Rover dealer was a bit surprised when I asked for this item, partly because most Land Rover owners seem to let the garage do the work for them and partly because it was suggested that this was part of a set which are changed in one go, with the head bolts and the lower rail.
I'm having the head ever so slightly skimmed too, it has never overheated to my knowlege and I have known the car since it was new but just to be on the safe side I guess. On the subject of the liner height, I'll double check this, I have heard that this could be an issue but one never knows just how much to listen to non specialist websites.
The car is still driveable, but the amount of oil entering the water is getting a little worse each time its driven, which it does without any hint that there is a problem... (Hense the need to check the coolant level on a regular basis!)

On a side note, what is the maximum a K head can be skimmed?

From memory i think the minimum height depth for the head is 118mm but can't be to sure whether that was for the 1800 or not. :?: