How bad is it?
 

So I was cleaning underneath the intake manifold since it was off and when I got to the passenger side I noticed this between the valve cover and cylinder head:

http://i306.photobucket.com/albums/n...psrw36dzsk.jpg

I am also concerned that so much of the gasket is protruting on one side but is so much lower on the other. Essentially my question is does the entire gasket need to be replaced or can I fill in that gap some other way?

Re: How bad is it?
 

To me it all looks normal.

See the photos of my engine. I trust the arrows point to the detail you are looking at.

I used steel gaskets so they look different.

/T

-edit: BTW, you're looking at the head gasket - between the head and the block, right :-)?

Re: How bad is it?
 

Whew!

Thanks for that. I didn't want to use the other side as a comparison since I didn't know the entire history of the block.

I can continue working without worrying about it. Thanks Tapani

BTW - After spending hours cleaning my engine, I can appreciate how clean yours is.