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wideblock
i had a bad intake gasket once. they hadnt punched the crossover holes large enough. might be worth looking at, a lot of the new gaskets arent made properly for the older engines

Older Polys had water passages in the heads, newer ones do not,although the passages are still there but plugged off from the factory. Every head gasket I have seen is a "universal" type and still has the deleted holes in the gasket, even though the holes are not present in later heads.
It's also very easy to flip the gasket 180 degrees and install it backward, as the head bolt holes will work either way, causing the oil and water passages holes to be off by approx. 1/2 of the hole.