To close out this thread: I bought a new head gasket from Kumar Bros, and it seemed like a better gasket. For one thing it had a silicone sealing ring all around. I added a blue oring around the oil supply in the block, which I neglected the first time. I tightened it up in stages over a few days since its been cold here. I used a click style torque wrench for the final 5 lbs finishing at 35 ft/lbs. The tractor started up much more easily the first time I tried and ran nicely so I***8217;m happy with the result. The first gasket came off eBay as part of a
complete set. It was not as good a gasket for some reason. Don***8217;t know what was exactly my problem in the end.