a mechanic put a graphite bovic kit in mine lasted less than a month.
i then used acl stainless gaskets $30 the latest ford au multi layer black metal head gasket $80
use ford o rings aswell cause they actually seal $10
hylomar both sides (which i heard they use in aviation)$18,head bolts$40
its amazing how much better your car goes without the cylinders being internally cooled
if it hasnt already been said the tourqe setting is differnt between gaskets,
saying this i didnt remember and tightned it down to what the book said ,but yeah no leaks at all.
i got the timing round 180 and had to remove the rocker gear because it wouldnt rotate past 4,5 valves.
just get somone to put there finger through the cam sproket while you slowly spin the balancer.
my sproket mark was no where near 3mm off the head either .
not releasing your tensioner when reinstalling the sprocket is the best way to break brittle
guides

but thats how they are right??
i lined up the gaskets and they looked exactly the same ,i may be wrong but im pretty sure the holes are bigger in the mls then the standard original brown ford ef one

I have pictures on m y phone, except I am way too maggot to even try anythin with my phone and PC right now... so maybe another time. Block n head = inch long, gasket = 1/4 holes,if that.

Yep the oil/coolant holes in the gaskets are much smaller than the actual gallery ports.

The question is, has anyone tried opening these up? Or knows what effect this will have?

First thought is that these are restricting flow so open them up.. but maybe they are designed that way to manage pressure and flow around the block/head?

I found a picture as to why it IS a good idea to use Hylomar on the head gasket.
This is a good example of why & where.
Ideally, remove engine and strip engine, skim the deck and reassemble.....would cost more than the car is worth......an EBII.
This car didn't have a blown head gasket.

 

 

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This was the culprit.....a cracked head.
It wasn't easy to spot till I cleaned the head.....coz head gasket didn't look blown.

 

 

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i agree if there is any issues with the block surface then hylomar is a good idea..

i had a v8 valiant engine that was re built and the lazy a** machinest/builder had an issue with a power outage during machining the block deck, and they didnt check the block when the power came back on and just re started the machine leaving a curcular low spot.
so long story short after a week of driving it appeared to have a blown head gasket,
so after a small legal battle i got a refund..
but rather than start again the surfaces were coated with hylomar and 10 years on the engine is still going strong...