Aluminum Head ?s

ok well if you guys remember i swapped in a newer 350 with aluminum heads into my K5.....well the only problem with the motor was supposed to be that someone put the intake gaskets on wrong....they did and the motor was full of water so i diassable it and put new gaskets and put it back toghether and its now in my truck BUT........its still chugging water!! so ive got the heads off today and notice the one side all the pistons have water while the other only 2 have water....this make me think that the heads arn't cracked but rather warped which is why they leak water into the block.....so um is this a legitamte reason?? ima take em to my machine shop and have they pressure test em anyways and deck em to get them nice and straight again.....dosn't decking increase my compression??  
solid axle chevys cant be beat
78 K5: 350 V8,700r4,np208, 8 lug D44 4:88, 14 bolt 10.5 4:88 with detroit locker and 35 inc parenelli jones dirt grip tires

comeone theres a couple of you online right now....  
solid axle chevys cant be beat
78 K5: 350 V8,700r4,np208, 8 lug D44 4:88, 14 bolt 10.5 4:88 with detroit locker and 35 inc parenelli jones dirt grip tires

I have never been a big fan of aluminum heads on a engine. If you get them used you do not know what kind of shape they are in and they tend to warp when overheated.Decking heads does raise CR but unless you take a big cut it is no cause for concern. Also when you take/cut more than .010 to .012 off them you need to angle mill heads and intake surface or intake may not bolt up or seat. (it is not like a inline where you can cut .050 or more off head and still just bolt it on and roll.)  

thnx for the reply snoman......yeah i was just woundering about the decking...and yeah im not a big fan of aluminum heads either but i like that they are so light and that this set is supposed to make more power thatn my old cast iron ones...and also true on getting them used cuz look at my situation..so you agree that warping is a resaonable cause to this.....i really hope there not cracked but all the hints point to warped heads, oh well ill find out at the machine shop.......  
solid axle chevys cant be beat
78 K5: 350 V8,700r4,np208, 8 lug D44 4:88, 14 bolt 10.5 4:88 with detroit locker and 35 inc parenelli jones dirt grip tires

Cracked aluminum heads can be welded most of the time.  

yeah but i don't have any extra cash to throw around now so if they need work im  just gonna put my iron heads on the 350 since those were just rebuilt back in august......i havn't had a chance to test drive the truck now that it has the 4:88s and locker but will report later.......  
solid axle chevys cant be beat
78 K5: 350 V8,700r4,np208, 8 lug D44 4:88, 14 bolt 10.5 4:88 with detroit locker and 35 inc parenelli jones dirt grip tires

all right so i took the heads in to the machine shop today and had them pressure test them and surface them...they checked out okay for the pressure test....they said the heads were warped so they surfaced them for about $195 total and now ive got a nice flat and straight head..yea i got them back the same day!! anyways i asked the guy aproximatley how much compresion i should expect from the motor with these heads as compared to the cast iron 76cc heads and he said that with the smog pistions ive got i should have around 9.5:1 compression vs the 8:5 with the other heads..fricken sweet!!!! its a good compression ratio for the street and i can of course run pump gas but its probaley gonna have to be at least 89...anyways he also told me these are lt1 corvette heads so thats cool too!!    only bad news is that all the auto parts stores closed and i have no gaskets yet....i gotta wait till friday man i sure hope this thing is responsive..it should be with the higher compression and the new lower gears i put in the axles.....    
solid axle chevys cant be beat
78 K5: 350 V8,700r4,np208, 8 lug D44 4:88, 14 bolt 10.5 4:88 with detroit locker and 35 inc parenelli jones dirt grip tires