project 1980 Austin Princess

[SilverMachine]

just found this, could be useful?

https://www.angclassiccarparts.co.uk/products/austin-morris-bmc/morris-marina-ital-allegro-maxi/engine-gaskets-seals/head-gasket-set-marina-17-ital-princess-ambassador-oseries-engine

also the company name, could be a good omen?

[24vdiamond]

Worth checking if the head has been skimmed is the length of the head bolts, you need a vernier or something really, screw a head bolt right into the block and measure from the block face to underside of the bolt head and then measure the thickness of the head where the bolt squishes to make sure youre getting plenty of squish when its torqued down! 

[vulgalour]

ANG is my usual for getting parts, they're often the only supplier with what I need in stock.

Dropped the head off at the garage and the vibe was actually really positive.  Some mild ribbing from the younger lads about the Princess being an ugly car, not had that in a while, but the guy actually doing the work seemed keen to work on something properly old for a change.  We'll see what the report is from them soon.  I did ask for a couple of other extra things to be checked over so I'm not expecting that 24-48 hour turnaround since there's more work than a skim and pressure test to do, just little things I can't check or fix myself that they can.  However, on initial inspection they didn't spot anything glaringly amiss and were happy that I'd done all the stripping down of the head for them, so hopefully it all goes very smoothly.