head re-assembly on my 1983 xj1100

[colddrakes]

hey folks. just getting ready to re-assembly the head on my 83 xj1100. i ordered in a gasket kits with all the necessary gaskets. i have 2 questions that i'm hoping someone can help me with. I do have a service manual but these to items dont seem to be covered.
1) can I use the gaskets dry or should I be using a Shelagh?
2) My kit had 12 small o-rings. I didnt see any on dis-assembly, but I can see on the cylinder head bottom area that there are 6 indents molded in the metal plus 2 more for the positioning pegs. That takes care of 8. Problem I am seeing now is the with only 4 left, I need to use 2 on the lifter side for the positioning pegs, but I also see that there are 4 on one end of the cylinder top, some kind of rail system that just seems to sit against a dead end with the cam/lifter assembly goes back on. Am I missing something or am I shot 2 o-rings?? Any recommendations on this would be appreciated.

[DAVINCI]

8 of those o-rings are for the valve guides, which are pressed into the head. Unless you're replacing the valve guides, leave 'em. The others could be for a number of things depending on their size....oil pump, special oil nozzle, crankcase oilway, etc. None of which are needed for a head re-install.

No o-rings go between the head and the cylinders.

The cylinder head gasket goes on dry.

The valve cover gasket can go on dry, but...and this is just my personal preference....I like to use adhesive to attach it to the cover. It makes valve clearance checks and cover re-install a bit easier.

[colddrakes]

all of the 12 o-rings that came with my kit are the same size. but thanks for the info. theses are smaller o-rings. i think the ones for the valve guides are the other 8 that came in the kit, they are different, they have a brass colored metal housing around them.

[petejw]

all of the 12 o-rings that came with my kit are the same size. but thanks for the info. theses are smaller o-rings. i think the ones for the valve guides are the other 8 that came in the kit, they are different, they have a brass colored metal housing around them.

those 8 metal coloured rings are the valve guide oil seals that sit above
the valve guide,
davinci was refering to the o rings that sit inside the head around the valve guide, ive never used them.

[natemoen]

Pete is correct there.

[colddrakes]

Thanks all.