Ok, I got the valve cover off. I've got some good news and some bad.

The good: The gasket had a small piece broken out of it on the inside near the #1 cylinder. I consider this good news because its an easy fix and could be the source of my leak. Check the pic of the gasket damage below. You're looking at it as if you were inside the cover

The bad: My valve cover has a slight warp. I placed it on a couple of different "flat" surfaces. On the worst (an old kitchen table), I can slide an x-acto blade (wish I had more exacting tools) underneath one end while putting pressure on the other. On my kitchen countertop (perfect place for an oily cover), I was barely able to get one end to pop up at all while putting pressure on the other end. Is there a set of tolerances I should be aware of? What do you guys think? Should I replace the cover too?

One more question. If I decide to adjust my valves say 6 months down the road, will I need to replace the gasket again?

Thanks much.