Yeh the dowels were definetly in place wouldnt put an engine together without them, have found engines in the past without them and I just machined up a new set to replace, but not in this instance, heads were perfect I checked them for trueness and CC the chambers prior to fitment, the only thing I couldnt give a definative answer on is whether the block has been decked at some stage in its life, realigning the manifold wont help either because I have a perfect 1-2mm gap on each side, all it is, is the relief area on the underside of these heads just behind the front water passage is slightly greater than the original parts, manifold plonked on perfectly all holes alligned up central to the manifold so there was no "stretching" of the item as you may call it. Still not knocking the product very happy with it just a dob os high temp sealant fixed the oil mist.
Steve