Reply to "Headgaskets"

Heine, there's one thing you can check: is the block you screwed the heads on perfectly square? Alloy heads are soft enough to permanently bend if torqued onto a warped block.
Second, it's often possible to 'correct' alloy OR iron heads that are up to 0.060" warped (sometimes, even more).

In a nutshell, you lay a straightedge across the full length of the head and by using shim-stock, you determine how bad things are warped. Then add 1/2 the thickness of the warpage to each end of the head, torque it down with all the bolts on a deck-plate. Set the whole thing in a 450F oven (no more!) for at least 4 hrs, followed by VERY slow cooling back to ambient.

This is common practice at big engine shops, who may be able to tease a warped head back to flat without any machining, using multiple treatments as above. There's an article on this featured in the Dec 2014 POCA Newsletter in more detail. Might save you having to ship parts back & forth across the Atlantic.

Note- warn your lady first: using your home oven this way will 'flavor" your dinners for a few days, and women often get grumpy when their pot-roast tastes like engine oil....