Still waiting on my new headgasket and bit to arrive, but I wanted to fix my clutch plate issue anyway, so I began the complicated task of pulling the motor.

Since the head had to come off anyway, I opted to pull it before I pulled the motor. So this evening I pulled the header, carbs, fan, radiator, PCV hoses, alternator, valve cover and eventually the head.

The headbolts came off with a nice little 'crack' and came out so much easier than on the ancient 500,000 mile B18.

Anyway, despite Ron's optimistic suggestion that I put a hole in my #1 piston, pulling the head confirmed my hopes that my pistons are nice and intact.

Anyway, a few issue are present.

The head gasket came apart, but left some "pithy" residue along the outer opening for the tappets. I scraped this off as carefully as possible with a razor, but a small bit of the residue got into the oil well. What's the best way to flush this junk out? Due to coolant contamination, I'll need to dump the oil anyway.

Since I already have the head off and am waiting for my new gasket to arrive, is there anything I ought to do while it's out?

Any advice or suggestions is appreciated. Thanks