Guys, thanks for the advice. I'll leave it as is and install it.
The head gasket that came in the 261 Best Gasket kit from Patrick's had a weird looking head gasket. As I mentioned above, it was made by Felpro. The number stamped into it showed a discontinued part number. It was a shiny metal gasket on both sides. I couldn't tell if there was anything sandwiched in between. It fit the design of the 848 head and had the correct steam holes in the correct places, but several water jacket holes were missing and several were under-sized.
When I showed it to Patrick, he said that it was probably a very old gasket and had no idea what head/engine it fit...even though it looked close to correct for a 261. He had no idea where or how Best Gasket sourced it and why they would have put it into the kit. He was going to check with them. I'll report back if I hear anything just because others might find it interesting.
Thanks again for the advice,
Matt
