Got the old head off everything fine so far.. discovered the head gasket had come apart near the oiler hole just not all the way yet so I guess it's a good thing I tore it apart now. That gasket would have left me stranded sooner or later.

Get the front head on but the manifold wont fit.. now I notice the intake nipple and how much bigger it is ..hey what's this chun nipple doing on this thing!

Maybe my manifold was too wide .. I had an old skinnier manifold rusting somewhere.. found it .. but nope even the jenny craig manifold wont fit. Yes!! I have just wasted my time.

I'm over the moon with joy. Put the whole thing back together with the old tired head just like it was before.
* just for the record I used the word Head 5 times in this post 6 including the title