Hi Mark.

Oh, where to begin...

If you post under the Diesel Discusion Forum, the dieselheads there might spot the question sooner and be able to help you better. Of course, it might help if you can post with the answers to some preliminary questions, such as:

How many miles on the engine, and why you are replacing the head gasket? Any other unusual symptoms, such as excessive oil consumption?

Do you have the factory manual with its instructions, torque values and installation sequence?

Are you familiar with engine head removal and reinstallation in general?

What sort of tricks did you have in mind?

Anyway, welcome to MercedesShop.

Best Regards,
Jim