I completely forgot about this post till now, so sorry for the delayed reply. I have done a lot of reading on this engine and am very familiar with diesel engines in general. I was originally gonna just get this motor fixed and running, but after seeing all the leaks, and soot in the cooling system, I decided to pull it out and rebuild it. I've collected all the parts and gaskets and just waiting on getting the time to do it. My head gasket solution is gonna be to get the top of the sleeves machined down flat with the deck. Then get the head the o-ring treatment. The o ringing is where a groove is machined in the head that is right where the compression ring is on the head gasket. Then a .020" diameter stainless steel wire is pressed into the groove. when the head is torqued down the wire clamps down on the compression ring super tight, holding tight enough to hold back 70psi of boost on hot rodded diesel trucks.
I think getting all the sleeves machined perfectly flat will be a big help, Im sure there would be a few thou difference between them stock. I think starting with a flat, solid foundation and clamping the head gasket good in the right spot, with best in the world fasteners, I can say bye bye to head gasket problems. I'm gonna follow the other fellows advice and install an electric fan to keep air moving when its shut off, sounds like a good idea. Also did you follow the 4 step head bolt tightening sequence? ARP are not torque to yield like the factory bolts, so I was just gonna torque em down to 90 ft/lbs and see if there is any head distortion.
Thank you for the very informative reply, there aren't many of these out there, but the people who have them seem to be more than willing to help others.