Well guys, I'm going to say some things that are going to make me sound even greener than you already probably think I am...I took the head to a shop that specializes in cylinder heads, and the guy told me right away the seats hadn't been ground. Which makes sense, because I thought the sealing area on them looked a little thin on the exhaust and a little wide on the intake. I asked the guy at Old Car Parts in Portland, OR (where I bought the head) 4 times if he was sure they had been ground, and he said yes all 4 times. He said all I needed to do was lap the valves in and assemble it. Now I'm feeling a little hacked off because I paid him for that "machining" that apparently never happened.
Also, the cylinder head guy I just took the head to said there is some pitting in the head surface (which I noticed), and he said the gasket should take that up (as these wonderful old engines are pretty forgiving), but he said if it's level it shouldn't be a problem. So, hopefully they didn't sell me a junk head at Old Car Parts. I'm going to call them sometime in the coming week. I feel I should be reimbursed at least part of the extra money I paid for installing and grinding new seats.
This new machinist seems legit. All he works on is cylinder heads, and seems to stay pretty busy. He seems quite knowledgeable, and I learned a lot just walking around his shop as he explained what all the machines did, how valves and seats were ground, how heads are milled, etc. He showed me a couple heads he just milled with his new machine, and those things were smooth as glass and as shiny as a mirror almost. I was impressed with this place, needless to say.
