I shifted from PM to "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" at about 200k mi. It is at about 260k now.

I had a slow seep of water on the passenger side of #3 cylinder for years before I got around to replacing the head gasket. I understand that a water leak in that spot is quite common on late model bricks, and does not necesarily indicate a warped head or any other problem.

Radiator stop leak stopped the leak for a couple of years, but it also partially blocked water passages. The car still cools fine, but I would not do that again.

I did no other work other than head gasket, timing belt and oil seals, and the temperature sensor. I didn't even check the head for flatness. That was last fall, and it seems fine.

Oh, I did take the opportunity of having the intake manifold pulled back to clean the passageway below the flame trap, and I cleaned the crud from all the vacuum and EGR passages that I could get to. I have always used Chevron gas, and valve stems and ports had no buildup at all. There was no carbon in the combustion chambers other than some on the tops of the valves cyl #4, which I scraped off. A fellow brickster said that carbon on the #4 valves is common, but he did not know why.

P.S. Getting the head bolts out was a bear! I broke a six-point 3/8 drive Snap On socket on the first bolt, so I had to stop and go to OSH for a 1/2" drive six point. It took a 1/2" breaker bar with a 3' cheater pipe on it to get those bolts out, and that job finished off my breaker bar as well.