Im just curious who out there has used the Cometic head gaskets after a top end refresh with only having the heads surfaced not the block. My heads were rebuilt and decked so Im sure there smooth enough. The block however is still in the boat so I cleaned the surface with sharp razors and gasket remover. Everything is very smooth to the touch and sight but I know that could be deceiving. My Cometic instructions say the surfaces need to be a smoothness of 50RA. Just wondering who has had success with a refresh doing it like this? Its a '04 525EFI

Have done that exact same thing with 525's probably 50 times, maybe more. As long as the deck of the block is clean and flat, you will be fine.

other head gaskets report the same with a least 50 ra factor for the finish head & block surface, You will be fine like above said.

Thanks guys, that's good news since those bad boys are torqued down.