I don't know if this will be of any help in the seal/don't seal conversation but here goes. Waaay back in the 70's sometime, I had the cylinder head off and asked at the dealer how to stop leakage out of the head gasket. He sold me a gasket that had some kind of 'stickum' on it and told me it seemed to solve the problem. I don't remember if the gasket was OEM or not. As I recall it "looked" OEM. Anyhow, it seemed to solve the problem. I don't notice leakage anymore. I'm surprised because the head and block probably don't expand at the same rate - the head being hotter - and it seemed to me the glue would come unstuck. But it seems to work. So maybe some goop would help. Love to hear the results. Great thread.
BandEn - your work is very impressive for someone who's 'not an expert'. I think you'll be successful with your rebuild with all the care you're taking.
I have a question about your paint. Is that Duplicolor on the engine? That's pretty much the look I'd like to go for.