I noticed that if I can lift any area of the gasket I can pry up with a scraper, put something under it to leave a little tension and walk away. The gasket will lift slowly and leave less stuck material behind.
Then, when I have worked my way across the gasket and have it removed, I brushed a little of the newer safe paint stripper, (not even the good stuff) and it will quickly soften the outer layer of black gasket that was left behind.
I use a gasket scraper that holds a utility knife blade, a few layers at a time and in a half hour the head was cleaned off.
Now, into the solvent tank to remove the stripper residue. It's also removing a lot of carbon from the combustion chambers.
