[aussiblue]

The other interesting observation from my machine shop friend was the need for machining the head on these Ford sixes was most often that someone had previously gouged or scratched the head (and block) when removing old gaskets. When this damage was minor, many customers also chose to go with a composite gasket to avoid the high cost of machining both the scratched/ damaged head and block (especially) to use a MLS gasket. If the head were warped from overheating he noted that machining was often not a fix as the head frequently had also gone soft from the overheating and needed replacing (although customer often asked for a short term fix avoiding the cost of a new head and planning to sell or trade the car before head flutter from the soft head caused another head gasket failure). He observed that these head often seemed to survive overheating without warping more than expected but when it was so extreme that the head warped the head was also usually also softened or even cracked.