What Doug posted makes sense. The gasket on the right in Phil's picture has smaller holes on one end. Both gaskets appear to be symmetrical between cylinders 3 and 4 (could be installed with either end to the front). It's possible that the used gasket was installed with the smaller holes to the back instead of the front, which would restrict flow to the rear cylinders and increase it to the front, increasing the normal short-circuit flow thru the front of the engine (path of least resistance.) I have seen head gaskets that have "this side up" stamped on them, probably for just that reason - keep someone from installing them with restricted flow holes to the back.
