Well everything is progressing really well. I managed to get the head completly off in around 3 hours, it was definatly the gasket that was blown in two spots. It was a factory mitsu one. The EVO3 one is really nice. Its a metal one with 5 layers, and pressure fitting seals. I spent around an hour scraping off the old gasket sealant from the head, it was totally smooth. I got the head on and torqued it to 70 ft lbs. Then i was putting on the cam gears and it turns out that the tensioner pulley decided that it wanted to tighten up. so tomorrow i guess im gonna need to loosen that, unless someone has another way of putting on the cam gears or any tricks for the tensioner pully. We had marked them and zip tied them to hold it to the belt so i didnt have to take off the belt and such.
What made this so easy is that when RRE did a factory head gasket around 10 months ago they took off the bracket that bolts to the intake mani so we didnt have to take off and of the bolts for the manifold, just pulled the head and mani off at the same time (Which REALLY REALLY REALLY sucks because on wednesday i have a Magnus Intake manifold coming. DOH)
Ill post some pics tomorrow after shes done.
You know Im actually kind of glad this happened at the time it did. for two reasons. A) its coming at a time where im not financially unstable. and B) Its another thing that I am learning how to do myself. This car has been a huge learning expirence that i cant trade for anything. I have replaced a tranny, clutch, a head gasket, and much more on this car, and the knowledge i have gained is priceless. Makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.
-Tom