I initially dropped the oil pan to work on the bottom end of the engine to fix a major oil leak at the rear main. While investigating, I discovered the head gasket problem. At that point I chose to pull the engine from the chassis with the transmission attached and complete this work myself.
Here are some of the steps completed in the process of making the repairs, after the engine was removed from the chassis:
[list]
[*]-Removed transmission, pressure plate, flywheel and placed engine on stand
-Removed cylinder head and cleaned the deck, head and piston crowns
-Cleaned the glazing from the cylinder walls
-Used a bottom tap and compressed air to clean out the threads in the block
-Used a straight edge and a 0.002" feeler gauge to check the deck and head for flatness
-Magnafluxed the head to look for cracks
-Put a small amount of ATF on the crown of each piston to check for stuck rings
-Made up four guide pins to align the head onto the block
-Installed a new copper head gasket on the guide pins after copper coating both sides of the head gasket
-Installed the cylinder head
-Retired the original head bolts
-Installed new grade 8 head bolts after oiling lightly
-Torqued the head bolts to an interim setting of 40 ft-lbs using the prescribed pattern in 20 ft-lbs increments
-Rotated engine and dismantled the rear main bearing
-Checked the center main thrust clearance
-Checked the slinger clearance to the back of the oil trough
-Examined the rear main check ball and determined the path to be clear
-Examined the rear main babbitt bearing surfaces, cleaned cap and block mating surfaces
-Counted and then discarded old rear main bearing shims
-Installed new shims and used green plastigauge to set bearing clearance to 0.001" (cleaned plastigauge residue from bearing surfaces)
-Used a small amount of Permatex Aviation Form-A-Gasket on the mating surfaces of the rear main cap and the block at the oil trough surrounding the slinger (the oil trough had been damaged by an engine shop in a previous re-build)
-Cranked engine by hand to confirm that it was not locked
-Replaced front and rear main cap cork gaskets and installed oil pan and gasket with a small dab of Permatex Aviation -Form-A-Gasket on the block where the rear of the oil pan meets the block
-Rotated engine right side up, examined, cleaned and installed lifters, push rods and rockers after oiling
-Installed push rod cover with gaskets and used a small amount of black silicone sealant on the cover in two spots where the cylinder head meets the block (on this engine, the cylinder head and the block do not form a flat surface for the push rod cover gasket to make a seal)
-Installed engine into chassis with transmission attached
-Torqued head bolts to 75 ft-lbs in approximately 15 ft-lbs increments
-Set interim tappet clearance on a cold engine to 0.010" intake and 0.012" exhaust in preparation for initial start up
Before the sunset at 4:30 PM EST (which was one hour earlier than it set yesterday) the car came down off the jack stands for the first time since November 2010. Without floor boards or an accelerator button, no headlights or horns, I warmed the engine up, waited for the excess oil and ATF fluids to burn off. I backed this LP down to the end of the driveway, found first gear and drove back. It wasn't a long trip but after sitting idle for a year, it wasn't bad for a car that turns 80 this month!
There is still plenty of work that needs to be done before I can take this car out on the road again and now I may be motivated to get it done before the snow is here to stay.
) 
