Thanks for the info Charlie. I'll see what Cometic say about the gaskets without coolant holes, if it's no go, then I'll try them as they are. My block will need boring/honing to 4.090" - so I can get the decks and heads lightly skimmed to the correct finish at the same time. (After I've welded/brazed up the valley, 3/4 filled the block and fabbed the new mains girdle.)
I dry decked my previous /59 block turbo combo ,and as George said,it's pretty easy, if a bit time consuming.
I bought a few boxes of Pioneer steel Allen head NPT pipe plugs from Summit and then drilled out and tapped the coolant holes in the heads faces and block decks to suit the plugs, then screwed them in with Red Loctite on the threads. If you tap deep enough on each hole ,the plug will sit just below the deck and no machining is needed, if they sit above the deck then you would need to get the decks skimmed.
I reverse cooled mine at the same time so that the heads get the cooled water first (helps with detonation and probably the hot spots in the heads where the ali goes soft around the centre exhaust ports). I put the water in from my electric pump to the intake crossover using AN10 fittings and braided hose, then took the water out at the rear heater/core plugs, through AN10 hose into the rear side of the block just below the heads (drill and tap a hole each side for 1/2" NPT fittings) . A hole is then drilled at the front of each bank of the block and tapped for 1/2" NPT fittings again, these hoses are routed to a Moroso water filler neck with a radiator pressure cap, and then on to the radiator top hose. It's called a 2 pass system. Hope this info helps.
On my 'new' '59 block I will be putting the water into the heads on the exhaust side where the core plugs are at the front of the heads, and out the back of the heads ,again on the exhaust side where the core plugs are, before routing back into the block. I'm trying to encourage the majority of the water to flow through the passages along the exhaust side of the heads .
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