The new head gasket came today - an Elring listed for the B20E (and others..?)

As George suggested eariler I applied a light coating of grease to both sides of the gasket before installation.

I took a few minutes to wire-wheel the top of the compression chambers and valve surfaces. This was previously noted as safe for the head and it cleaned up the valve surfaces nicely.

Given the mixed responses and the fact that I couldn't find them, I did not try to change the valve seals.

I carefully installed the head and gradually torqued up the head bolts in the clockwise-from-center pattern recommended in the volvo green book. I hand tightened, then torques to 25, 35, 45, and 55 lb-ft before I halted.

I'm having difficulty getting the engine to start, but I did do a quick compression check on the cylinders. #1 is 155. #2 is 155. #3 is 175, and #4 has 0 compression...

The compression test before the head came off was #1 10-15 and #2, #3, and #4 were an even 180.

I'm very confused now. This makes no sense at all...