[blykins]

All:

See what you think is the problem with this scenario:

I was putting the body on my SVC to see if the engine will clear the hood (and of course it doesn't)...I also noticed that the body needed to be moved forward a little bit...but it was rubbing against the headers. So I then realized I had the headers on backwards (passenger side on driver's side). So I smacked my forehead and proceeded to change them.

After I changed them, I decided to fire the engine up to see how much it will shake the car idling...I fire it up and it sounds totally awful on the passenger's side. It was really resonating on that side...sorry I can't describe the noise better. I shut it off because I thought I blew a header gasket. So I pulled the header off and checked the gasket...it looks fine, but there's a little soot around the #2 and #3 cylinder exhaust ports on the head just right above the head studs. (BTW, one of the header bolts was a little loose.) So...I put it back on, tighten all the bolts again...and fire it up again. Same noise. I let it run, take a stethoscope and check around to make sure the thing isn't coming apart from the inside-out...sounds fine. I shut it off. I keep the headers covered up on the end so wasps can't get in while it's sitting...and while I was putting the covers on, I noticed that header was about 30-40 degrees hotter on the end than the other side.

So anyway, there's my situation, and I'm worried sick. Do I have a blown header gasket, or is there something else wrong?