>If the gasket is bad will the head warp?
Only if you overheat it due to loss of cooling. Just keep an eye on the coolant level until you figure out its habits.

>I am optimistic about the headgasket since the oil is
>not milky and the exhaust has no smoke.....
That is good news. You might consider putting a low coolant sensor system in the car. Very easy to rig on the coolant reservoir. A simple float switch(normally open) that will complete a circuit when the coolant gets low. I have a red light on the removeable panel to the left of the radio on my 240's that will be activated by low coolant. Gives me peace of mind.

Randy