I have a 95 Z28 5.7L A4 that I am currently in the middle of installing a rebuilt Lt1 into. The old engine blew a head gasket because of a cooling system problem that allowed the engine to overheat while my wife was driving it (what check gauges light, I didn't see anything!). Anyways, I took off the head from the old engine to check the place of failure, and noticed that the coolant ports on the head and the cast iron block are quite large, but the hole in the gasket is very small. Is this normal?

 

Which gaskets are you using?

 

These are the old gaskets on the old motor.