Well I have both heads off. Gaskets, bolts will run what 50, 60 bucks? Maybe have the heads checked. I could think about making it run and selling it or using it for some easy task around my home. Gotta think about it. At the moment Im mad at it so I guess I could let the mad wear off and see how I feel later.

I'd like to see a photo of these scored bores.

https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.ran...71290eb84f.jpg
Here is the one that caught my attention. In the left part of the cylinder, there is a deep pit and it caught the flashlight reflection and could be felt. Id say it was 1/32 deep.

Looks like someone left the bore full of anti-freeze for years and parked it.

well it did end up parked at my house for a couple of years prior to last aug when I started working with it. Fired up fine though. I also found a cylinder in the other bank with a similar issue but not as bad.

So does anyone think it would be worth getting gaskets and bolts and putting it back together and running it some? Would it hold up even with the cylinders damage?

No crystal ball here, it will run until it doesn't, like all engines

But did you find the reason for the over heating/coolant issue?

Best I can tell, the head gasket does show some signs in various water passage areas of a disintegrating gasket. The one that fits with the pitted cylinder does show some good disintegration along with a discoloration across the gasket steel ring surrounding the cylinder. I see other areas too on the other bank so I think the head gasket was compromised probably due to a badly neglected cooling system and several running hot episodes. After seeing some you tube videos, I think I'm going to check the head for cracks using a spray kit. I did a water test and air pressure test and found several valves leaking so they would have to be pulled anyway. I think I will quick check heads for warp, then pull valves and clean heads and check for cracks. If no cracks, and warping is mild, I think I will self true the head surfaces, lap the valves and put it all back together. What advice would you have in this case? I'm looking for this to be as cheap as can be since the rest of the truck is a mess anyway.

Anything over 5 thou warpage will require a resurface.
For a point of reference, the thickness of a human hair is around 4 thou.

It can't be checked with any real accuracy with a yard stick, a proper straight edge has to be used with some descent feeler gauges.
Head gaskets just don't fail, something has to cause the failure.
Look for cracks around the valve seat, however cracks also form underneath the seat where they can't be seen, only a proper pressure test can reveal these type of cracks.

well first base check with the naked eye does not show any obvious cracks. A quick check using a 2 foot carpenters square and feeler gauge shows a .003 gauge will just slide through on one place between cylinders on each head so I don't think they are too bad off. I feel OK at this point in pulling the valves, cleaning the junk off the heads and checking for cracks, in order to move forward. If I don't find any cracks then I will source a good straight edge and go to checking for warping and setting up a jig to surface the heads. I think this guy just might live.

Well I have all valves out and have done a quick cleaning of the heads and engine block deck. Nothing too detailed. I need a straight edge to check the block deck I suppose but don't want to buy one. So far the heads look good. Some of the valve seats have some pitting I think. I know many would say to take them to a shop and have them taken care of but I really wanted to back yard this project for as little cost as possible while getting some hands on knowledge and fun out of fixing it. Im kind of at a stall wondering what to do with everything now. I think I can surface the heads well enough, but not sure if lapping the valves would make them seal properly. The engine seemed to run ok the way it was aside from wanting to overheat. May have had a slight miss at low rpms. I did not want to move forward with the heads if the block has an issue.

Well have pulled valves and did a half way job of cleaning and lapping the valves. They seem to be better looking now. Not new looking but I think they will work for my use. Cleaned heads and have looked all over for cracks. None seen. I have not magnafluxed or used a spray crack finder, just my eye. Using sand paper on a granite slab to slide head on to give it a resurface. Will check further for cracks, gather parts and put it back together.

Just to finish off this thread, I resurfaced heads, no cracks found. Put back together with new gasket and bolts. Running fine so far.

Ya-hoo on a 20 month old project / thread.
You wanted to keep the costs down etc. Do you recall how much you spent?
Also, did you hone the rough cylinder walls at all?

Total spent on the head gasket replace was about 125.00 for gaskets, bolts etc. Total spend on the engine overall was roughly 200.00 which included replacing the timing chain cover gasket and the timing chain. As far as honing the bad cylinder, there were several, so i figured it was too much issue that I could create by honing.