Well, nothing else worked so I drilled and tapped them another half inch and then drilled them about the depth of the head wall and that did the trick. They had pretty much welded themselves to the head. Not the best design for something that will need to be removed during the lifetime of the engine!!

Okay, so all that is done, next issue: this is oviously the original head gasket, so it is stuck pretty hard to the engine block. Pulling up on the intake manifold does nothing. I can't see any decent pry points, so I'm guessing I need to rent an engine hoist to yank it off. Any other suggestions? Should the head be coming off easier than this?

Thanks for any help!

Steve