I blew a head gasket on my 1985 22RE 4 runner last month.
When I pulled the head, I found cracks between the cylinder ports and the water jackets. A local machine shop disassembled the head and welded the cracks closed - then machined the head. Valve job with new guides, seats and stem seals.

I used a Fel-Pro head gasket, a new timing chain set and replaced the oil pump. The engine runs good !

My problem is that it is now smoking at idle speeds - white smoke and smells like oil burning. It did not smoke or use oil before the head repair. Yesterday, I performed a compression check and here are the results: 165,170, 170 and 165. I have not performed a leak down test yet. I also readjusted the valves with them warm yesterday.

I'm suspecting the repaired head still has issues - I don't think my rings are bad with compression readings this close to the manual specifications of 171 lbs. I am not down on power and the engine runs good - it just smokes at idle speeds - red lights and stop signs.

Any thoughts that you may have would be appreciated. If it is warmer tomorrow, I'll attempt the leak down test.