It turned out that the full gasket set I had ordered included the wrong head gaskets - Fel-Pro Permatorque 1017's which, when I studied them a little closer, turned out to be for 4.500" bore, and I needed 1027's for my 4.310" bore. But good ol' Summit got them here in 2 days, and I finally got to put those ARP stainless steel bolts in place.

Learned something new along the way - I noticed that there was a chamfer on one side of the ARP washers, I wasn't sure what they were there for, so I called ARP and the guy said because their bolts are radiused under the head, the chamfered side faces the bolt head so there is good contact - so there is only one right way to assemble them.

Next up - install the rest of the valve train (lifters, pushrods, and rocker arms) then set initial valve lash (easy to do with hydraulic roller lifters), then intake manifold, then ...

And I found a local shop that has an engine dynamometer, I will visit them soon to check out their setup, however I will wait until Autumn to take the motor there since it is too hot now to be taking it out of the garage, loading/unloading it, etc.

I will have my 56 on the road with the 496 this Winter - which is prime cruising time down here, eh?

Dave