I was helping a friend fix the engine in his 4-cylinder non-turbo XT. We put the left cylinder head on (new head gaskets, of course), and got it all nicely torqued and everything. THEN we discovered that the sparkplug hole right near the distributor is royally messed up. Couldn't get the plug in at all.

 

In order to re-tap the plug hole properly, you need to tap from the cylinder side of the head, because that's where the good threads are. Therefore, "off with the head!"

 

The question is, "Can we get away with not replacing the almost-new head gasket?" Consider that the head was under full torque-down for no more than an hour, and the engine has not been run (obviously).

 

I'm not asking for advice on what to do about the messed-up plug threads -- I'm already aware of my options.

 

This question is also being posted on the XT6 board.

You should be fine to use the head gasket again.

I agree as the gasket s/b fine. Just make sure that none of the coating has been removed from the gasket.