For those of you who are reading this because you also have leaking head gaskets - I decided to try delaying this chore so I tried some radiator sealant. I don't recall the brand, but it was gold/brown pellets that you crush to powder and put into the radiator.

I figured it had about a 25% probability of success.

It took two weeks of daily driving for the leak to stop, but that was a year ago and it is still dry!

After the leak stopped, I drained that crud out of my cooling system and put in fresh water and antifreeze.

Have a good Torque Wrench. And a can of PBlaster will also come in handy with the exhaust manifold! Spray the bolts a day or two ahead of time and let them soak. Now is the perfect time to replace the timing belt, tensioner, front seals, intake/exhaust manifold gaskets, vacuum hoses, etc..

Two years ago, I blew a cylinder head gasket on a 240. I order a head gasket kit online, gathered everything over the weekend, and started the job early Monday morning. I pulled the head and dropped it off at a machine shop well before noon. (Cleaned, resurfaced and pressure checked.) I picked up the head the next morning, and had everything reassembled and running again by mid-afternoon. This was going extremely slowly, torquing everyting to spec, replacing various belts and hoses, performing some minor electrical work, etc.. (NOTE: This car had been converted to an eletrical engine fan, so I have lots of work room in the engine bay.)

Take your time, keep parts and screws separated and/or labeled, and everything should go smoothly.

[[ southern fried volvo '91 240 164k mi ]]

No special tools needed. You'll need SAE and metric, a decent manual and some patience. I changed the head on my 240t with 'spark plug changing' knowledge. Make sure you follow the manual when it comes to tightening sequences and torque specs and you'll be fine.
Mark
--
'94 940 NA Wagon, '84 244t, '84 245 DL