An odd HG repair Q...
 

so it looks like the D2 has an outside head gasket leak. it's at the line where the gasket sits, kind of behind the LH manifold. sounds like there's a machine gun under the hood when its running. no fluid leaks or mixing of fluids, although a bit of oil is getting spewed out the hole with the exhaust gasses. anyway- is this the type of thing that would require the heads to get decked/leveled/planed, or just the HG replacement? thoughts... Happy Thanksgiving! safe travels...

You won't know until the heads are removed and checked while off the engine. Anything at this point would only be a guess.

And don't just eyeball them. Regardless of the surfaces it'd be a shame to not spend a little extra money to have a machine shop do a valve job while you have it apart. Any decent machine shop will check the surfaces as part of the valve job.

To not do so would be penny-wise and pound-foolish. If you don't you might get lucky but if you want to keep your truck for a while you'll have more peace of mind and may sleep better if you get the job done right.

I agree. Exhaust games and pressure can groove a head, or not. But it is worth checking since you'll have to take the heads off anyway for the gaskets.

If the block deck is grooved it is a bigger deal.

That's the same way my HG blew, same side even. I got my heads decked just to be sure, and had them install the new valve stem seals that came with the Atlantic British kit, I have done 5 different HG now, none had overheated, but I got them all decked and had the fuel injectors rebuilt too, it seems like cheap insurance

Mine went like that, but on the RH side.

Spend the extra few bucks to get the heads cleaned up, lest you find yourself having to do the job all over again.

Sounds like getting them decked and valve stem seals done it is. next- anybody recommend a shop in the DC area to get the work done?

Fix it yourself in a parking lot like this:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/76579732@N07/

That's what I do, in my driveway. That's how acorns got in my coolant!

Well, doing the fix in the garage of my building while trying to be stealthy about it is the plan. Not much of a plan, but it's the only one I've got. I'll just need to skip the repetitive use issues on my wrists and elbows of planing the heads by hand.