Thanks for the reply, the surface of the block looked damn near new when I was done cleaning it so the head is probably warped. Rock auto sells a new head for around 300 bucks, just the bare casting no cam/valvetrain. I've rebuilt motorcycle heads before but never one of these, really not looking forward to tryna get this fixed since I've done so much to the truck since I've owned it...

Any chance those "head sealer" pour-in type formulas will do anything? Usually that stuff is a waste of money and I know a magic cure-all in a bottle doesnt exist but I'd wanna try whatever I can without tearing the whole top end apart again. Sucks cause I'm moving at the end of the month and I dont have my daily driver!