Thanks everyone! I really appreciate the input. Glad to hear you think I can get by with the piston damage...I was definitely worried about that.

"Pin syndrome" Troopersphere? Can you fill me in on what that means? I will defenitely give the head a thorough exam before/if it goes back on, meaning take it to a shop and have them perform whatever diagnostics they can. Both my manifolds are still in place...I haven't had a chance to take them off yet, since the trooper is at my parents house about 3 hours from where I live. I don't recall seeing any problems with the rear exhaust manifold stud, but I will take another look at it next time I go home. I do have a rocker arm bolt that broke off in the head during removal, but so far that is the only stud/bolt I have managed to break...still not quite sure about the best way to deal with that.

Speaking of cylinder heads, are they pretty dependable unless they over heat? If mine checks out fine I am wondering if I should put it back on or bite the bullet and get an AMC? I have been running cool ever since I put a new radiator in 4 years ago...and even before that the engine never had a major overheat/boilover. It was getting to the point though where I could tell it was running hotter than it should, thus the new radiator.