Some background:
The blow-by and oil consumption on my current engine are getting OLD. Blow by could be worn cylinders/piston rings or valves not seating properly, but I know for sure that the head needs rebuilt, as it leaves black burnt-oily streaks on my spark plugs, plus if I park facing uphill oil drains down into the cylinders and creates a nice little cloud of smoke upon subsequent startup.
My abiding fear is that I've never built a head before, and I would like to have something that works well and keeps on working well for another 200k miles. I don't know if my skills are up to doing this the first time, especially without any valve grinding equipment. Given the volumes that have been written about how rebuilt engines fail sooner, I am sometimes haunted by visions of my rebuilt head being as bad as the old one. That said, I don't see how a head can be that complicated, and I may take your vote of confidence as a reason to try
