Well, I never said that I wasn't going to take the head off, but I waiting for my new best buddy (the engine builder) to look at the engine and take care of that himself.
In a fit of energy today (don't worry it won't last) I unbolted the head, kept the bolts in a numbered box that I punched holes in to held the bolts in the order they go back into the head/block. I also removed the head gasket and did a preliminary clean up job on the block, but haven't looked at the head yet.
Just an update.......
Any suggestion on how to clean the block and the head?