That does help. Thanks. For the record, I do have an H pipe exhaust. Also, I checked the valve lash on the passenger side today and thankfully it is spot on. So I am glad to know that I don’t have a wiped out lobe on the cam.
My thots are , ''fix the exhaust leak'' , and reduce the back pressure in ur exhaust system , less back pressure will help w/ blowing gaskets .
I have reused header gaskets on 3 diff. engines , (383 sbc , 406 sbc , and now a 505'' wedge ) , the headers have no welded ring on the head side of the flange, and haven`t had a leak yet , I dont have much to very little back pressure .
