Everything went back together great. Once the head was off you could clearly see that both the front and rear exhaust stud holes were indeed wet bolts. I used teflon thread sealant.on all bolts anyways and replaced the old rusty fasteners with stainless. Used a composite gasket for later model comanches, and torqued according to the manual. Also tested and replaced the t-stat. Since the fan was missing when I bought it, I have installed an electric fan. I really need to get a temp guage hooked up to see what the temps are doing.
It seems to be running on the hot side and now I realize I have no heat. I flushed the heater core, that's fine, checked the heater box controls they are working fine. I filled with water, bled the air and refilled 2x. Still no heat. The problem lies between the water pump and the heater core line. It is not plugged, so I suspect water pump. It is pulled now, just hoping to get a recommendation or what to avoid for a water pump, not sure if they are anything special. I may as well do it as it may be on its way out anyhow and its really easy to get at.
Sorry for the long winded upate and thanks again for all the great help.