Skimmed thru this quickly but did you have the head resurfaced before everything was put together? I ask because when I blew the head gasket on my VE I had the machine shop resurface it and it def was a good idea because the computer comes up with minor difference and corrects them. After much debate I went with a set of new OEM NISSAN head studs and the VE metal gasket from Greg @ Gspec. Heard too much stuff about the Mazworks and APR studs, both good and bad, they are too short, too long etc. So I saved about $100 and stuck with Nissan. I still have a full set of OEM Nissan studs from my old DE actually sitting around.