Chris. You seem to be one of the most knowledgeable people on engines on the forum. Boat is in being worked on. The cast iron Dart heads have grooves and the block has o-rings. The head gasket has copper rings that seat on the grooves and o-rings. My mechanic said I'd probably be better off and cheaper getting new head than welding the corrosion pockets, milling the head and then re-grooving. My leak in #8 was caused by one of these corrosion pockets. I guess this was a Lingenfelter idea to o-ring and groove. Can I have your expert opinion on my situation?

Sorry to hear that you have o-rings. Your mechanic may be right. Dart Iron Eagles are fairly cheap for a performance head, about a thousand a pair bare. I don't know why people still use o-rings. Fel-Pro is good for about 10 lbs of boost and Cometic is good for as much as the heads or the head studs can handle. If it were mine, I'd tear them down and remachine the heads and decks to get rid of them, then use a combination of proper thickness Cometic gasket and piston machining or new pistons to eliminate the o-rings. If you continue to use o-rings they will probably give you trouble again. Sorry.

Thanks for the compliment. Most of what I know is courtesy of others- much from the other knowledgeable people on this board.

I have a local welder thay performs miracles and doesn't charge much. For me, it's a no-brainer. If you can find a local guy who can do this for you, it shouldn't cost much. If you don't mind boxing & shipping to Ohio, I can put you on to my guy but that might get expensive.

Since we're this far into the engine, decided to pull the block and mill it removing the o-rings. I think i'll be better off in the long run. True?

I think it's best but I do most of my own work. I hate to think what it's costing.

You better find out what your current deck height is. You can get a thicker Cometic gasket. What block is it? Some are generous on deck, others are right at spec.

My engine guy is going to do that. Thanks Chris! He's going to do his magic mojo **** on it for more horses.