Head Gaskets

[Bossman115]

My stag has been using water a lot lately causing it to overheat. I couldn't find any leaks and there wasnt any water in the oil so I have been stumped until today. Today I have the dreaded milky substance in the oil so fear that the head gasket has gone. I cant decide whether to do the fix myself or not. Are there any tips I should know if I do make the repair.
I have read lots of different things like leaving the gaskets to seal overnight etc before replacing the heads.
Will I be able to see if the heads have warped etc?
Any advice would be appreciated, some encouragement would also be nice.

Paul

[Giles]

I have not done the job but plenty on here have so if you do it yourself there will be plenty of help. I would just want to be certain that is was the head gaskets before i took them off. You can get a tester to check for exhaust gases in the water etc. There are other places water can leak to, trouble is if it has overheated then they might have gone now? You will only be able to check the heads are true once they are off. Others will have plenty of advice.

[Bossman115]

Thanks Giles, I have spent the last hour reading older posts with regards to water leaks etc. I think I will do a pressure and chemical test first. You never know, I may just be lucky.

[flying farmer]

Pressure test is always a good place to start, I once needlessly changed the left hand head gasket when I started getting steam out of the left hand exhaust, I found afterwards it was the inlet manifold gasket letting water get drawn in to the cylinders. However if it has been overheated a few times it will not have done it any good.
The most difficult bit of a head gasket change is often getting the studs out, there is plenty of advice on the forum about this.
Heads can be checked for warping with a steel ruler and feeler gauges
Neil