That doesn't look like the surface Mike leaves after milling the heads.
That's the new'r head pictured..
It wasn't mikes work. Another guy up there Dustin was using way back in the day. Mikes works on these engines all been top notch. He narrowed the rods, cut and balanced the flywheels, along with a bunch of other small stuff. We just started with heads before we had the cranks, so Mike came late to the party...
IMO don't think the surface was an issue because it showed no signs of leaking anywhere. Such a low amount / volume of pressure leaking you'd likely never catch it in a truck. Just so happens my cooling system on that engine has a flaw, in that a thermostat housing top where factory O-ring seals to top rad tube got bent / tweaked somewhere before powdercoating. I attempted to straighten it, or round it back out with a exhaust pipe expander some time ago. Got it close, but not perfectly round so it leaked before cap release pressure.
Last night after some sersious trial and error time, I stuffed a thicker 0-ring I picked up inside the housing before installing reservoir tank. Seals against end of tube, and then outside ring secondary.. Now she's holding 15psi again. I may have slightly over-engineered that reservoir design, because tank was custom fitted to thermostat housing and the Banks intake. Would need make a new housing to exact specs of this one, or weld this one up and machine out to repair. Was about to go the GMS route, but think I've got it licked.. Just watching that $52 a gallon Evans coolant smoking off the serp belt makes quarters flip in your head with every squeal. Love that stuff, but when ya piss $100 away in about 3 minutes, makes one reconsider your choice of coolant...
