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Did a total rebuild on my 261 engine just started putting fluids into it seems that the head gasket is leaking on both sides checked the torque on the head bolts which were tightened in sequence a little at a time to 80 ft pounds is this common does the engine have to warm up to seal or do i have a problem?

Hy gregs 52, I think we have a problem. Did you have the block and head checked for cracks before rebuilding? was this engine a runner before the rebuild, or did you buy it as a rebuildable core?

did you check the head and block against a straight line to make sure they weren't warpped. I don't know off hand what the older engines can tolerate but 5-7 thou is in the ball park of too much. Also did you use a scraper to remove the old gaskets or some kind of abrasive disk?

I am pretty sure that your head bolts should be torqued a lttle tighter than that. However the leak is very unusual. It is almost like there is something preventing the head from sitting down properly.

Hi, gregs 52 ,from your description, it sounds like something is trapped between the block and head.(IE, old head gasket not cleaned off, head gasket shifted on assembly, that flat washer you could not find on assembly, wrong head gasket or installed the wrong way, etc.) Remove head and check.