Robert wrote
I would recommend that if you are going to replace your head gaskets, go

 ahead and pull the barrels off and replace the seals under the
cylinders.
 Also pull the rods off and put in new rod bearings and bolts and nuts

Robert and the list
while pulling the cylinders and checking the rod bearings is sound
advise in general
I caution the week end mechanics about tugging the jugs and thinking
that they can just reinstall
them without pulling the pistons or going threw great pains to get the
jugs back on the pistons while the pistons are still on the rods. I have
never heard of of the lower cylinder O-ring leaking and have never seen
any signs of leaking in the engines that are stripped here at the shop.
I have often written about replacing the 2.1 rod bolts and nuts BUT that
does not cure the problem of the big end of the rod being out of round.
the connecting rod and cap needs to be ground flat at the matting
surface and the big end then needs to be resized to the correct
dimension

Bob Donalds
http://www.bostonengine.com
as always
all rights reserved.