Quote Originally Posted by backyardbuilder View Post
after what i've been through i'm not pulling this block apart again.
The dowels are in it and there is no gaskets on the intake or ends. it's just dry sitting.
JMHO, I have never seen a SBC that does't have a large gap at the china walls to the intake. A .015 deck cut should not be enough to raise the china wall a 1/4". And if it did, the machinest should have cut the china walls accordingly. Maybe it's just me, but decking usually moves the heads inward slightly, usually when decked any interference is between the intake manifold and heads.
Again, JMHO but I would pull the heads and check the alignment, if dowel pins are present look at the compression marks on both sides of the gasket to be sure chambers and cylinders are aligned. It will only take a couple hours and new head gaskets to be sure, you have spent more time than that waiting for opinions here.