well got word back from the machine shop. good news is head will be done tmrw. bad news is the bill.......... $399.00
after magnafluxing the valves they found cracks in most of the intake valves and some exhaust valves. the valves on # 6 being the worse, he said were not too far from breaking clean off on the stem. the valve springs all checked in at half or less the rate the specs call for. and to top it off pretty much all the guides need replaced. so i'm getting all new valves, springs, guides, seals, valve job, decking .008 and a complete head gasket kit for the above mentioned price. i guess its a fair price for the parts and labor, i'm just glad one of those valves didn't break before and destroy my clean rebuilt shortblock. will be throwing everything back together this weekend and i'll post the results along with some pics.
