Guys - thaks for the help. I finally broke down and bought a timing light - hadn't had the need for one over the last 20 years.... Well, the timing was off by one tooth. When I slipped the distributor shaft back in I was off. It runs now, but instead of having a leak to the outside in teh rear of the engine, I am blowing some radiator fluid out the exhaust. The middle two cylinders are wet inside (pulled the plugs and they were swamped). I pulled the valve cover and loosened the head bolts, then retorqued them a second time. A little less coming out through the exhaust, but still a leak into both #2 and #3 cylinders. When I pulled head, I did not send it off to the machinist to flattent the head so I assume that I have too much warp in the head to fully seat and seal the head gasket.... Anyone had any luck with stuff like Blue Devil or Bars at this point? The pickup is just for "farm use" and a 5 mile daily commute. It has nearly reached the end of life after 150K miles and 25+ years. It would be nice to get another year out of it before retiring it.

I'm looking for solutions that are cheaper than doing a macining job on the head.