OFFSET HEAD GASKET HOLE-MYSTERY SOLVED

[Cal_Gary]

Hello All,
When I replaced my blown head gasket a few years back, I was faced with an odd scenario where one of the head gasket bolt holes was misaligned. In reviewing a couple of You Tube videos over the weekend I watched two different guys working on Dodge flatheads: a CDN 251, and a 218. BOTH showed the offset bolt holes specific to those blocks, where the 230 hole is parallel to the vertical alignment.
I grabbed photos off my TV to show here:

218 headbolt hole.JPG (40.72 KiB) Viewed 241 times

251 headbolt hole.JPG (52.1 KiB) Viewed 241 times

The 218 offset hole is on the lower right, while the 251 is the upper-center below the distributor cap.
I always wondered why my new gasket was punched that way-now I know. And no, you can't flip the gasket over to make it align on the 230 block.
Gary

mis-aligned 230 head gasket hole.JPG (8.89 KiB) Viewed 238 times

Some good info you might need down the road.
Gary

[T. Highway]

Great bit of information Gary, thanks for sharing it.

Regards,

Bert