well I finally put everything back together after doing my head gasket.

The engine fired right up and is very responsive.

but it still smokes.

and the valves are really loud now. they werent before the project

once it finally warmed up I was letting the coolant system burp but there wasn't any flow in the radiator. the upper hose was hot and the bottom one was cold .

when i shut off the engine some coolant leaked out from the bottom somewhere I think behind the timing cover. It just leaked a little then it stopped.