I'm going to ignore Neil's petrifying pun :)

Tom,

I'm in the fortunate position of having a spare engine from which to scavenge parts, and a collection of odds and ends gathered over the years.
But here goes with an "off the top of my head" additions to your list:

(oh, one caveat - with my head swap, I am purposely trying not to get dragged in deep. You know, like doing some minor work on an old house....)

- engine coolant pipes - watch out for rusty pipes around engine
- engine cooling hoses - ditto on having a good look at the ones around engine
- head/pushrod tube plates - what ever you call them, the pressed steel protection under pushrod tubes. The tabs that affix to exhaust bolts might be rusted off. I need to weld mine up.
- exh manifolds and fasteners if needed
- water pump - right on cue, mine WP is making noise and has some play. I have spare sitting waiting.
- fuel line replacement - good time to do it of you haven't already?
- clutch replacement  - see how the job expands?
- that conical gasket between throttle body and intake plenum is NLA up here. Looks like a job for some sealant.
- valve adjusters - the threaded feet on the rocker arms. Some of yours might be worn badly, might be a good idea to replace, or it might not be a good idea. I don't know.

- I have a tube of "The Right Stuff" sealant in addition to the Renszoil that came with the gasket kit. I haven't decided which to use on the head gaskets.
- degreasers - solvent of choice for tanking parts, brake cleaner or the like for getting sealing surfaces totally grease free.

The marble slab as a crude lapping plate worked quite well. I didn't take pics of a straight edge on lapped face, but it was pretty flat. Mind you I only lapped long enough to take the excess JB Weld off.
And parchment paper worked great. No sticking to the JB at all. Has a little more heft than wax paper.

And now it just occurred to to ask - are you going to try and re-use your old heads? If so, you should check the valves (need a valve compressor or use a make-shift set up as I did) which involves visual inspection and a little measurement (see Bentley).

I'm sure there must be more.

cheers

alistair

On 2013-05-22, at 6:51 AM, Tom Carchrae wrote:

> Thank you so much Alistair!  You say 'quick and dirty' - but that looks
> pretty clean to me.
> 
> I am still looking with fear at my van and have not yet had the guts to
> pull the heads off.  I'm going to order a gasket set sometime soon.  Aside
> from JB weld, the gasket set ( http://www.busdepot.com/025198009b ) - is
> there anything else good to have on hand?
> 
> Tom
> 
> 
> On Tue, May 21, 2013 at 10:43 PM, neil n <musomuso@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Marble-ous!
>> 
>> I know.   < groan >
>> 
>> I bet this job will hold up longer than you need.
>> 
>> Nice to see the detail in the images!
>> 
>> Neil.