[Walt Fricke]

Mark - I have the same confusion - you are correct that the CE rings should have zero effect on heights and such, since they crush until the heat is tight against the top of the cylinder. But these are the larger, earlier ones, right?

However, perhaps in some way you can't discern you didn't get that bank torqued all the way down, or something got in there to prevent pulling everything all the way down, and the loosening and redoing got rid of that?

An evil thought - if the cylinders on that bank are not all of the same height, I can see how torqueing once might leave the cam carrier tilted a little toward one end, and on redoing toward the other end, or somewhere in between. This is a mag cased motor? Many engine builders recommend making sure that the spigot surfaces are dead even with the crank centerline, and that is part of every rebuild. I realize you didn't split the case, but perhaps relaxing the tension on the head studs could also allow a relaxation distortion to occur? I guess you put a level across the cylinders when you installed them and snugged them down with something?

And did the same when you put the heads on across the tops of the heads? The cam could have been a little high, and the squish of the large O ring seal to the cam carrier could accommodate a little upward or downward misalignment? Maybe one of the guys who rebuilds lots of engines for a living has more light to shed on this.

Though I'd accept victory and move on if this were mine, and just keep an eye on possible leaks which might happen if the cylinder tops are not all at the same crank distance.