Forgive me, but I'm new to the whole taking engines apart thing.
I took the head off my b16 just to see what was going on in there. I didn't really see anything that stood out as bad. Can I reuse the head gasket if it looks decent or do I have to get a new one since I cracked it open? It doesn't appear from the outside of the engine that it had ever been leaking.

I just went ahead and bought a whole gasket set. I won't use all of them, but I will use most of the set.

Most B16s have copper (not composit) head gaskets. This appears to be the case for your engine. If the all copper gaskets are undamaged they can be reused. Be sure to anneal (heat) the gasket before re-using to remove any "work hardening" in the gasket so it will conform to the head and block.

Cheers!
OK

What you say is true for a solid copper gasket, like they make in Phoenix.
The one in the pic is much thinner copper over asbestos and it should NOT be
annealed because there may be moisture or oil in the asbestos and the annealing
temperature would blow it up. Besides it wouldn't help much. You can probably
use it over if cleaned with lacquer thinner to get the shellac off it and then
use permatex or some other gasket cement.
--
George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

Some head gaskets can be reused--steel embossed type, for instance. Your gasket appears to be copper. I wouldn't be surprised if there is a brush on sealer available -- such as the one I use from FelPro in the valley cover gasket sets for my Oldsmobile aluminum 215 V8 -- that would allow you to reuse your gasket. I do not have any spent tubes around to provide you with a product name.

Head gaskets should be replaced with a new one any time the head is taken off, because they are compressed when it is tightened down, and won't seal properly if used a second time. This is true of most gaskets on an engine.

If you are planning to do an authentic restoration, your engine should be painted red instead of turquoise.

Have any of you ever used Hylomar in this sort of situation?

Bob S.
--
"62 PV544 (B20, M41), "71 142E, "93 240 Classic Wagon.