The original head gasket has been superseded several times, I don't think that the original design has been available for over 10years.

Could it be a bent rod? Certainly. The bent rod has been by many blamed on a head gasket failure causing hydrolock, which might have already occurred on your engine. Since the head is flat, and the piston protrudes above the block/deck at TDC, the head gasket provides all of the clearance for the piston at TDC, ... you can easily understand how little oil (or water) it takes to hydrolock the engine.

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